The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council held its regular meeting on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at City Hall. The meeting began with two recognition presentations, followed by the regular council agenda which included consent items, public comments, discussion on multiple contracts and ordinances, and several emergency items. Key debates centered on federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS funding, a professional services agreement for interstate mowing, and an emergency resolution authorizing an antitrust lawsuit on contingency.
Note: The meeting included two separate segments—a presentation session followed by the regular council meeting. All votes were recorded as unanimous unless otherwise noted.
That's it. Councilman and five. July two. Welcome to the Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026 Council presentation meeting. We'll open our presentations this evening with a presentation from Metropolitan Councilwoman Laurie Adams recognizing Jacob Smith for his outstanding Eagle project in the old Goodwood neighborhood. Councilwoman. Thank you, Councilman Hudson. If I can ask um Jacob and his family and um GPOA president Ronnie Harris to join us, we'll do this presentation. So as um as all of y'all know, um placemaking, um nuisance and litter abatement and beautification are all really, really important things to me as a councilwoman, and they are um their um principles and their ideals and their goals that are also shared throughout the district. And so I was um absolutely thrilled to see um Eagle Scout Jacob Smith um decide to make his Eagle Scout project um one that would improve a neighborhood and improve Baton Rouge for the better for everyone, and also so thrilled to see um the Civic Association for Old Goodwood neighborhood embrace Jacob, embrace his project, and um and work alongside him. So um I'm so pleased to have Jacob um and his parents here today, and his sister is here as well, and of course, Mr. Harris. So I we're I'm gonna start by reading this certificate of recognition so y'all hear a little bit about what took place, and then give Mr. Harris an opportunity to speak, and of course, um Jacob as well. So, Jacob, in recognition of your outstanding achievement in earning the rank of Eagle Scout and for your exceptional commitment to serving the Baton Rouge community through your Eagle Scout service project, your dedication to refurbishing the Jefferson Highway and Lobdale Avenue Median in the old Goodwood neighborhood by installing solar powered lighting at the neighborhood sign, beautifying the landscape, and completing additional cleanup efforts has created a lasting improvement for residents and visitors alike. Your initiative, leadership, and spirit of volunteerism exemplify the highest ideals of scouting and demonstrate the positive impact that one individual can have on an entire community. The Baton Ridge Metropolitan Council proudly commends you for your selfless service, leadership, and commitment to making our city a better place. May your accomplishments continue to inspire others to lead with integrity, compassion, and a dedication to community service. Thank you, Jacob, and congratulations. Let's go ahead and let Mr. Harris, if he doesn't mind, say a few words, and I'd love for you to say a few words, and then we'll take some pictures in a minute. Uh members of the council, thank you very much for being here. And I'm so proud that uh my our councilwoman, Laurie Adams, is taking time to recognize Mr. Smith. Uh our city, first of all, we met Jacob when he volunteered for a litter pickup. We sponsor one every fourth Saturday of the month to clean up around the neighborhood. He and his sister show up because they wanted to help. We get to talking to him to find out he's a uh a Boy Scout, and he's going for an Eagle Scout Award uh medal. And hey, do you have any projects? So we thought of one, and his mentor, Dennis Vedrine, could not be here today. And I'm really sad because Dennis worked with uh Jacob so closely. But one of the aspects of Eagle Scout is you have to provide leadership skills. You have to come up with a project, uh basically manage your troop to get the project done, but also fundraising. And let me tell you what this gentleman did at our meeting. We had about 125 of our residents sitting there, and he said, ladies and gentlemen, I don't want big donations. I want small donations because I want everyone to share in this success of this project. And he was successful. We raised 750 dollars that night passing the hat. So he has done an outstanding job. And I'll close with a comment that I made at that meeting. What were you doing when you were 16 years old? Jacob, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate the neighborhood appreciation. Yes, um, I just want to say when I was listening to her read um this award, there was one word that stuck. It said individual achievement, and I um think that couldn't be farther from the truth. When I came into this, I had the whole GPUA board behind me, Mr. Harris, Mr. Vidrine, um, the whole board, and especially like the members of the community.