Town Meeting Minutes – Monday, May 8, 2006

May 8, 2006

Town of Brusly
Brusly, Louisiana

The regular meeting of the Town of Brusly was held this date, May 8, 2006, at the Brusly Town Hall. Mayor Joey Normand called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Casey Landry, Brusly High School Wrestling Team member, led the Pledge of Allegiance. A roll call determined the following officials present:

Mayor: Joey Normand
Council Members: David Rodrigue, Ronda Perrault,
Joanne Bourgeois, Shane Andre’, Chris Kershaw
Town Attorney: Jamie Fontenot
(until appointment of Thomas Acosta Jr.)

Mayor Normand nominated Mr. Thomas W. Acosta, Jr. to replace Town Attorney Jamie Fontenot. A motion was made by Council Member Bourgeois to appoint Mr. Thomas Acosta Jr. as the new Town Attorney; seconded by Council Member Perrault and passed with a unanimous vote.

The Mayor asked the Council’s permission to amend item #12 to present certificates to Brusly High School Wrestling Team. Council Member Kershaw made a motion to amend the Agenda to issue certificates to the wrestling team. The motion was seconded by Council Member Bourgeois and passed with all members in favor.
Certificates were issued to the entire wrestling team along with the head coach, Jimmy Bible and assistant coaches Barrett Wilson, Blake Saucier, Jake Gaudet and Shane Marionneaux.

Sharlot Edwards with the Citizen Corp Council was introduced by the Mayor. She explained the purpose of the Citizen Corp Council. Their goal is to train volunteers to assist with disasters and help free the police and fire departments. This order was issued by the President of the United States, and he requested that each volunteer put in at least 4,000 hours over their life span.

Mayor Normand introduced Mrs. Sharon Stam, West Baton Rouge Tourist Commission who gave a financial and statistical report. She stated that the number of visitors in the parish was expected to exceed last year’s numbers, but fell short due to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The tax revenue was up 25 percent and the usage of the Conference building was up 53 percent.
The Parish will host a new festival in October called “Oldies but Goodies” which will feature antique cars, a jitter bug contest, a twist contest and a limbo contest.
Future plans for the Tourist Commission include construction of a massive Louisiana garden and walking trail behind the center; a hotel is also planned for the property.
The Food Bank will be having a “Can Castle Contest” between the East and West Bank to help with collecting food for families for the holidays.
A motion to approve the minutes of the Town’s Regular Meeting of April 10, 2006 was made by Council Member Bourgeois, and seconded by Council Member Kershaw and passed with a unanimous vote.

Public Works: None

Planning and Zoning: A motion to approve the Planning commission recommendation to resubdivide Tract X-1-B and Tracts X-3, X-4 & X-5-D into Tracts X-1-B-1, X-1-B-2 & X-1-B-3 and Tracts X-3-A & X-4-A located in Sections 15 & 16, T8S, R12E, SLD, WBR Parish being a portion of the additions to Cinclare Plantation was made by Council Member Kershaw and seconded by Council Member Andre’ and passed with a unanimous vote.
Council Member Perrault made a motion to approve the Zoning Commission’s recommendation to approve the rezoning of the western portion of Lot X-4-A to R-6 (Town Homes). The motion was second by Council Member Bourgeois.

A roll call vote was had with the following result:

Yeas: Rodrigue, Perrault, Bourgeois, Kershaw
Nays: Andre’
Absent: None
The motion passed with four Council Members in favor and one Council Member against.
A motion to reappoint Mr. Shane Sarradet to the Planning and Zoning Commission was made by Council Member Bourgeois. Council Member Andre’ seconded the motion and it passed with all members in favor.

Finance Committee: The following vehicles were declared surplus equipment with a suggested minimum price: 2001 Ford Expedition $3,000, 1994 Mitsubishi Galant $500, 1991 1500 Chevrolet Pickup $500 and a 1997 Plymouth Neon $500. A motion was made by Council Member Perrault to declare the listed vehicles surplus at the suggested minimum price and second by Council Member Rodrigue. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
The Mayor issued the Council Members and Police Chief a copy of his budget message that will be discussed at the June committee meeting. He urged each of them to review the budget ahead of time.

Personnel Committee: None

Recreation Committee: None

Police Committee: None

Grant Committee: None

Consideration of Vetoed Ordinances: None

Hearing and Final Action on Ordinances: None

Introduction of Ordinances: Council Member Andre’ introduced Ordinance #4 the General Fund Budget.
Council Member Perrault introduced Ordinance #5 the Sewer System Budget.
Council Member Bourgeois introduced Ordinance #7 Chapter 22-Junk.
Council Member Rodrigue introduced Ordinance #3 Chapter 24-Weeds.
Council Member Kershaw introduced Ordinance #6 Chapter 17-Brusly Oaks Speed Limit.

Resolutions and Commendations: The Town will not collect property taxes for the 2006 tax year. Council Member Kershaw made a motion to dispense with collecting Town property taxes for the 2006 tax year. The motion was seconded by Council Member Andre’ and passed with a unanimous vote.

Fire Department: Fire Chief Mike Alleman gave the Fire Chief’s Report for April. There were four first aid calls outside the Town and four first aid calls inside the Town. Inside the Town, there were no motor vehicle accidents and one outside the Town. There were two mutual aid calls to Addis. There were no fires inside the Town and one fire call outside the Town. There was a fallen tree blocking Allene Street and a debris fire on the River Road by Antonio Plantation. Total calls for the month were 17 and 120 total calls for the year.

Police Department: Report for the month of April was given by Chief Whaley. He stated that there were nine wrecks, seven assistances to other agencies, 11 traffic arrests, two damages to property, one bench warrant, one battery, five thefts, three alarms and one burglary and 11 miscellaneous calls. There was one juvenile matter, for a total of 63 calls and 192 citations for the month.
Police Chief Jamie Whaley recommended lowering the speed limit to 20 mph in the Brusly Oaks Subdivision.
The police department received their traffic speed awareness trailer.

Correspondence: The Town was named a Tree City for the second consecutive year.
The Mayor thanked everyone who helped with the prom after party.

Mayor’s Report: The Allene Street and Live Oak Drive project has been completed.
The Culvert Program for the 2005-2006 is complete. Wal-Mart will be opening some time in October.
Mrs. Gail Alleman gave the results of the Relay for Life. The Town raised over $3,500 dollars and placed 2nd in the tent contest. The overall total for the event was $43,000.

Remarks of Personal Privilege: Council Member Bourgeois read the definition of “slander”, “defamation” and “calumny” in response to recent remarks made via email regarding the character of the Mayor, Council and office personnel in the Town Hall.

Announcements: The Town Hall will be closed for business in May 29th for Memorial Day.
Planning and Zoning’s May meeting will be held on May 31st.

A motion was made by Council Member Andre’ to adjourn; seconded by Council Member Perrault. The motion passed with a unanimous vote; the meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

/s/ Joey Normand, Mayor /s/ Debbie Berthelot, Town Clerk