Town Meeting Minutes – Monday, September 10, 2007

September 10, 2007

Town of Brusly
Brusly, Louisiana

The regular meeting of the Town of Brusly was held this date, September 10, 2007, at the Brusly Town Hall. Mayor Pro-Temp Joanne Bourgeois called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Council Member Rodrigue led the Pledge of Allegiance. A roll call determined the following officials present:
Mayor: Arrived at 6:33 p.m.
Council Members: David Rodrigue, Ronda Perrault, Joanne Bourgeois, Shane Andre’, Chris Kershaw
Town Attorney: Thomas Acosta, Jr.

A motion to approve the minutes of the Town’s Regular Meeting of August 13, 2007 was made by Council Member Kershaw and seconded by Council Member Perrault; the motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Public Works: Council Member Andre’ gave an update on the Allene Street Project. He commented that the Parish is doing a great job digging the ditches to grade.

Planning and Zoning: None

Finance Committee: None

Personal Committee: None

Recreation Committee: The Town will sign a Cooperative Endeavor with the Parish and the School Board to purchase a lightning detector for Brusly High School. Mayor Normand stated
that the Town will contribute $3,000 towards the purchase. A budget adjustment will include this line item.

Police Committee: None

Grant Committee: None
Consideration of Vetoed Ordinances: None

Hearing and Final Action on Ordinances: Mayor Normand read aloud and opened a Public Hearing regarding Ordinance #10-Creation of Landmark & Heritage Commission. Hearing no comments from the public, the public hearing was closed and opened for discussion between the Council Members. Council Member Rodrigue stated that he liked what the Committee put together and thought it would benefit many. Council Member Perrault feels the effort will be a work in progress as the years pass. A motion to approve Ordinance #10-Creation of Landmark & Heritage Commission was made by Councilmember Perrault; seconded by Council Member Andre’.
A record vote was taken and the following result was had:
Yeas: Rodrigue, Perrault, Bourgeois, Andre’, Kershaw
Nays: None
Absent: None
The Landmark & Heritage Committee was commended for all their hard work by Council Member Andre’.
Council Member Bourgeois shared with the public a brief overview of how they arrived at this point and she mentioned all who contributed their time, including Marianne Berthelot, Attorney Thomas Acosta and the Town Hall Staff.

Ordinance #12-Fireworks was read aloud by Mayor Normand and the public hearing was opened for comments. Town resident Mr. Darrell Jones stated that he thinks this ordinance is great. The public hearing was closed and moved to the Council for discussion.
Council Member Kershaw wanted to clarify that the Fire Chief and his subordinates have the authority to enforce the ordinance. The ordinance was amended to include the Fire Chief and Designee can carry out Ordinance #12-Fireworks.
Council Member Andre made a motion to approve the ordinance with the change as amended; seconded by Council Member Kershaw. A record vote was taken and the following result was had:
Yeas: Rodrigue, Perrault, Bourgeois, Andre’, Kershaw
Nays: None
Absent: None

A public hearing was opened after Mayor Normand read aloud Ordinance #13-Town Budget Adjustments. The following adjustments were recommended: an increase in income of $3,300 in Vice Taxes; for expenses an increase in Administration Salaries $3,550 and Benefits $550; Maintenance Salaries an increase of $600 and $300 in Benefits; Mayor Salary decreased by $4,800; Special Projects-Drainage an increase of $15,000 and Recreation $3,000. Hearing no comments from the public, the public hearing was closed and discussion ensued between the Council Members. Council Member Bourgeois stated that almost a year ago she realized how busy the office workers were on a daily basis. She asked about their job descriptions, then crossed referenced those descriptions with the Parish workers doing similar jobs and the rate of pay for Parish positions. Council Member Perrault stated that the salary ranges in the Personnel Manual are outdated and need to be updated.
Mayor Normand volunteered to update the salary ranges.
Council Member Kershaw asked the Mayor if he was recommending the raises for both maintenance and administration.
Mayor Normand answered that although he did not make the request, he does support the raises. He apologized for not doing this during budget time.
Council Member Rodrigue expressed that the Town has a great staff and in order to keep a good staff, you have to keep up with everybody else.
Mayor Normand stated that he felt it was important to mention that the employees being considered never hinted that they were not happy, nor asked for more money.

Council Member Bourgeois made a motion to accept the Budget Adjustments; seconded by Council Member Kershaw. A record vote was taken and the following result was had:

Yeas: Rodrigue, Perrault, Bourgeois, Andre’, Kershaw
Nays: None
Absent: None

Introduction of Ordinances: None

Resolutions and Commendations: None

Fire Department: Fire Chief Mike Alleman gave the Fire Chief’s Report for August. There were 12 first aid calls outside the Town and five first aid calls inside the Town. There were two motor vehicle crashes outside Town and four motor vehicle crashes inside Town; five mutual aid calls and two investigations. Total calls for the month were 33 and 268 total calls for the year.

Police Department: Report for the month of August was given by Chief Whaley. He stated that there were eight wrecks, 30 assistance to other agencies, 32 traffic arrests, seven alarms, three thefts, 5 bench warrants, one robbery, one burglary, one damage to property and 40 miscellaneous calls. There were eight juvenile matters, for a total of 136 calls and 291 citations for the month.
Council Member Rodrigue inquired about the Junk Ordinance and was informed that it is getting there.

Correspondence: Received a letter from Donna Carville stating that she will be the led Government Affairs person at Dow and Stacey Chiasson will be the Public Affairs Leader.
The West Baton Rouge Fair Association announced that there will not be a Parish Fair this year.

Mayor’s Report: He attended two meeting relative to the Baton Rouge Loop. He explained that the Loop is not a study, but an implementation plan that will be paid for by the private sector. This will shorten the completion time from 20 years to 8-10 years.
He also attended the Fire Banquet and several Central Communication Meetings.
He taught three Civics classes at Brusly High.
Wal-Mart has made changes by hiring more employees and bringing in employees from other stores to help resolve some of their problems.

Remarks of Personal Privilege: Council Member Bourgeois thanked the Police Department and the Fire Department for cleaning up the burned house site on Gwin Street.
Parish Council Member Kershaw met with Anatole Vincent, Parish Program Director, and he will check with other parishes regarding recreational programs for seniors.
Fire Chief Alleman asked the Mayor and the Council if they considered asking the Town of Addis to help fund recreation and other beneficial programs at the schools. The Mayor’s answer was, “yes,” they have been asked by some organizations and, “no,” they do not choose to participate as far as he knew.
Announcements: The new date for trash pick-up will start on the second Monday of each month. The Baton Rouge Loop Meeting was held on September 12th at the Addis Community Center from 4pm to 7pm. The Oldies but Goodies is scheduled on October 14th from noon until 7pm at the West Baton Rouge Tourist Information & Conference Center.
There was a lengthy discussion about drainage in the Town and the parish.

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 7:38 p.m.

___________________ _________________________
Joey Normand, Mayor Debbie Berthelot, Town Clerk