I'd like to call the meeting of August 22nd, 2025 to order.

Do we have any special intentions?

I have a few.

First off, um, special intentions for our good friend and a longtime Kenner resident who is recovering from a stroke and is in need of your prayers.

Secondly, Joe Salter, former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, has recently passed away, and we asked for your prayers for him and his family.

Lewis Lambert, a former Louisiana State Senator, former member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and once a well-known candidate for Louisiana governorship, has a life-threatening illness, and he and his family are need of your prayers as well.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Seeing no others.

Uh if you will lead us in the prayer, uh Councilman Lahat.

Sure.

Father, son, Holy Spirit, I'm in.

This is the prayer of the uh St.

Natius of Loyola.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and to not heed the wounds, to toil not to seek for rest, to labor and to never ask for any reward.

Except that of knowing that we are doing your will.

Amen.

Amen.

Councilman Branagan, if you lead us in the pledge.

Place your hand over your arm.

Pledge allegiance of the United States.

Madam Clerk.

Yes, sir.

You have a quorum this morning.

In accordance with council resolution number B, 14550.

Please be advised that all cellular telephones and other devices of this nature must be deactivated or silenced throughout the council meeting.

Mr.

Chairman, I've received a request this morning to change the order of business to take item 18A at the beginning of the meeting.

I have a motion by Councilmember Branaghan, seconded by Councilmember Brennan to change the order of business to take item 18A at the beginning of the meeting.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing nine motion passes 7-0.

Item 18 is new business.

Item 18A.

At the request of the administration, a presentation will be given by Mr.

Ben Laping LePine, Jefferson Parish Drainage Director.

Mr.

Le Pine.

Yeah, thank you.

So I'll keep this short.

Uh it's just a quick presentation regarding uh drainage 101.

So stormwater drainage systems at its basic really has three components.

It's the collection system, conveyance, and discharge.

Uh collection is starting on your streets with your drop inlets and catch basins, and then the subsurface system will get it to the major canals where it conveys all the water to the pump stations, which then finally pumps the water over the levee protection system.

A little about the parish-wide drainage system.

We operate maintain 72 pump stations with 194 pumps, 340 miles of open canals and ditches, 1465 miles of subsurface drainage, 80,000 catch basins and inlets, 5,500 manholes, and 2800 canal outfall pipes.

One is run by the airport, which is 600 cubic CFS and four pumps.

The other two are the Parish Line Pump Station, which is 1,250 cubic feet per second and four outfall pumps.

And then we have the Duncan Pump Station at 4,800 cubic feet per second, and it has six outfall pumps.

All three of these pumps combined can fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 13.2 seconds.

And then Kenner also has an interior lift station that is the lake trail, which is 36 cubic feet per second and two pumps.

And the system can handle one inch in the first hour and half an inch every hour after.

Uh here's a map layout.

You can see on the west, you have the parish line and airport, and on the north, you have the Duncan pump station.

And it's kind of hard to tell on the map, but the dark green lines, there's major canals.

Um, and we also have east-west canals, which is beneficial to help equalize storm water so other stations along the lake can assist with you know, if you get a heavy rain in you know, west of Kenner, there's east-west canals can equalize and other stations can assist.

So pump station operations, we have the ability to man stations 24 hours a day.

We remotely monitor weather, rain, and pump status.

Our operating procedures has us pumping canals down before rain events, and then we start pumps to maintain canal levels to keep up.

Uh we also have safe rums to operate during hurricanes, and we carry a five-day supply of fuel to last for any extended energy outage.

The drainage side, um, there's always work to do with sweeping canals and dredging dredging canals.

Uh keeping up with canal bank stabilization, uh, clearing culverts and major canals, uh, keeping nutria under control, uh, cutting grass, weed control, and cleaning pump station screen during rain events.

Some of the challenges we face, Kenner and all Jefferson Parish has is a low elevation, and the land continues to sink.

Conveyance of water to the pump station, major canals are landlocked, which limits expansion.

Uh high intensity rain events uh can lead to street flooding, and the soil quality is not the best for canal stabilization.

We also have an aging infrastructure with metal drain pipes, which a lot of it's hitting its service life.

Future improvements.

There's several on the books.

There's the Wood Lake Pump Station, which is in the final permitting stage.

Uh, we're also in the process of selecting an engineer to design a future vintage pump station that's at the very end of vintage.

You can see on the west side those green boxes on the map there.

Uh that will be at the end of vintage.

Um, and it is a 600 CFS pump station, which is a major undertaking and a major funding source, so that projection is hopefully eight to ten years out.

And then we have under the process of selecting uh engineer to design the expansion of the parish line pump station, which adds one additional pump.

And uh Kenner also has on the books the Kenner pump to the river in South Kenner for 200 CFS.

And with that, I'll take any questions.

Anyone have questions?

I do.

Councilman Brannigan.

Uh Ben, I just want to thank you for being receptive to things that happened in my district, and you know, you guys on the ball.

And thank you for sharing this information.

A lot of residents don't realize that water gets in the street and they get all bent out of shape, and as long as it's not going in the houses, basically that's the goal.

Uh water has to pool somewhere.

And with Canada sinking and things changing, it's gonna cause more streets to have water in it.

I'm uh at my house, I get water in front of my street and in my side, but I'm the last street in the subdivision, so they don't understand that the flow's got to go out, and the front of the subdivision drains before the back of the subdivision does.

Exactly.

But you know, the water's not going in the houses on when we get these downpours, that's the goal, and I think that's what's been achieved.

But I want to thank you for everything that you do for us and being Johnny on the spot for us.

I know when I call you or I touch you know, need something, uh, you answer immediately.

So I just I appreciate that.

Absolutely, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilwoman.

Yes, thank you again for attending the meeting.

I just have one question.

Uh, when you talked about the aging pipes, is there something in place in the future to take care of that because of this thing?

I mean, I've seen some of the pipes that was really.

Yes, ma'am.

We always have uh capital projects, we inspect pipes.

Um, we can line pipes and uh through capital projects we can practically replace them.

Okay.

So there is something in the first place, and in every year we we do projects that replace pipes to keep up.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

And thanks for coming.

Hey, Mr.

LePoine, I'd like also like to add uh as well as Mr.

Branaghan, Councilman Branagh mentioned, uh, we appreciate you coming here to give us an update on on um uh just how the pumps work here in Kenner because Jefferson Parish oversees those operations.

And also I'd like to thank the Kenner administration, uh namely Mr.

Gonzalez as well as I know um he had lined up, and I believe and the mayor have lined up for you to come and speak to us today, and we appreciate that, and it keeps us informed.

We need that information for our citizens.

Um I do have one or two questions if you don't mind.

Would you we you you mentioned uh during your presentation how many pumps are operational in Kenner uh well they're all operational right now?

That and that's my question.

How many pumps do we have?

So we have six at the Duncan Pump Station, uh four at Parish Line, and then the airport has four pump stations.

And all of them are fully operational.

Correct.

Okay.

That's that's that's all I've had.

Anybody else?

Yes, Councilman Sworth.

Thank you, Council President.

Um the pumps themselves.

Try to explain to the citizens how the pumps work.

It's actually an engine doesn't turn the pump.

Engine creates electricity, and it pumps are actually electric.

Isn't that correct?

Well, we have two different types of pumps, electric and diesel driven.

Uh the electric pumps is an electric motor that couples directly to the pump.

Uh spins the impeller, and then the water moves through and through the levee.

Uh the diesel pumps is a diesel-driven engine, which is a drive shaft that connects to a gearbox, uh a right angle reduction gearbox, which then uh spins the impeller and and moves water.

So um trying to think of how large are these engines.

How do you know how about how many horsepower you Darren Deach ones are?

Yeah, the big ones are 3,000 horsepower and the electric motors are 700 horsepower.

Okay, because I know we had um problems with transferring from when electric failed, and they didn't go straight over to the diesel.

Um the last one.

Has uh those problems been addressed?

Do you know?

Yes, they've been addressed.

Deb in?

Yes.

All right, cuz a little short history.

I worked at Avondale Shipyards in the engine room.

Okay.

We had all sizes of diesel engines, and some of the things that happened just don't happen.

Okay.

I know firsthand, so I just like to see more preventative maintenance done and more putting these pumps online, especially the diesel ones, simulating loss of power, making them transfer manually.

That way you know they work and not depending on, oh, we did this six months ago.

Yeah.

There should be a regular maintenance once-a-week thing, if possible.

Absolutely.

We do have that.

We test all our system every Monday.

Uh we also ensure that every automated system has manual override and backup.

Well, yeah, we have an extensive preventative maintenance program that we follow.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

We have another question from Councilman Lahat.

Yeah, thank you.

Thanks for coming today.

Um, this might be a councilman a readable hand in question, but I'm just curious about the status of the really relationship between Jefferson Parish and Orleans as it relates to the airport pumps.

And I know since the events of Francine when that occurred, I know there's a capability now of the pumps being able to be activated manually in the event of a hurricane or large rain event.

Um but since then are there any updates?

I mean, what is how do you feel about the relationship right now if there is a hurricane as to communications between the parish, Kenner, and Orleans or I just I'm just curious if there's any updates at this point.

Yeah, I mean I think the relationship is good.

Uh I don't have any specific updates for the Kenner Airport station, but uh you know we are in open communications and I think we have a good relationship.

Yeah, we do have the ability to monitor the airport uh via our SCADA system.

And you know, the past two events over the past three or four months, the SCADA system showed everything was working accordingly.

Okay.

So thank you.

Sure.

Councilwoman, yes, thank you, Council President.

Um thank you, um Mrs.

Lapine for uh for attending and presenting.

I just have a quick question.

If could you share the presentation with us?

Yeah, yes, great.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

So just just one more follow-up with uh Councilman Lahat's questions.

Um I presume and I uh I strongly presume that you have contact uh information and so forth with our Kenner officials, Doug Dote and uh Mr.

Gonzalez, as far as any any thing that's that's uh communication that we need to have open, correct?

Yeah, absolutely.

Very good.

Okay, that's we want to keep those lines of communication open, especially during any rain, heavy rain events and uh hurricanes and so forth.

So we appreciate we if anything comes up, we'll definitely reach out to you and everybody updated.

Very good.

We appreciate you coming today and informing us and our citizens of uh the pumps and so forth for the Jefferson Parish overseas in Kenner.

Thank you.

Absolutely, thank you.

Thank you.

Next, Council Clerk.

Yes, next up we have correspondence reports from the mayor, CAO, or department heads.

Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you.

I believe last meeting someone asked for tax uh information.

Citywide sales tax revenues for last month were up by 3.14 percent, which equates to 120,053 and 66 cents compared to the same month last year.

For the current fiscal year, we're down 6.61 percent, which is 533,629 and three cents compared to this time last year.

And next up, I have uh these are truly exciting times here in Kenner.

We have several projects being built that will attract visitors to the city.

By now, all of you have heard about the amphitheater, and we welcome Jefferson Powers Councilwoman Arita Bohannan here and her thank her for her continued commitment to the city of Kenner.

We'll argue about other stuff later.

We need more money.

Today it's my pleasure to announce another win for Kenner that we've been working on for uh approximately the the past year.

It's my distinct pleasure to welcome a representative from American Cruise Lines to today's meeting.

We are grateful is here to discuss exciting new venture, a new development of the development of a new pier and dock in historic river town.

Under their proposal, American Cruise Lines plans to clear the site of the former pier along the levee at La Salle's landing and construct a new modern 325-foot walkway and docking facility.

By introducing a new cruise destination here in Kenner, we anticipate increased visitor foot traffic, local spending, decreased tourism, increased tourism activity in Rivertown when the ship is docked.

With that, and now welcome to the podium our guest, Mr.

Frank Clips, former mayor of Davenport, Iowa.

That's probably why he looks like he does, and current and current director of city partnerships and special projects on the Mississippi River with American Cruise Lines.

And not only is he a representative for American Cruise Lines through the past year we become to know him very well, and he's an absolute wonderful person.

Mr.

Cliff.

Thank you, Your Honor.

That was very nice.

Um in spite of the hit on my appearance, that was great.

After being a mayor, I can take a lot of that kind of stuff.

Um, I tell you, after walking in here today, um, and first I want to thank the mayor, the council, the staff, and all the citizens that are here today.

Um I've been here a couple times in Kenner, and as I walked in and talked to a number of you, it's great to be amongst a group of friends.

You can tell these people are warm, and I've gotten to know many of them a lot better than others, and I'm looking forward to meeting with all of you in more detail.

Uh what I'd like to do is talk about the company first and uh as well as set up a time to answer at the end any questions you may have.

Uh again, we are American Cruise Lines.

Uh we are the largest American river cruise company in the United States.

And which button do I push?

This one?

Just the space button.

Uh this one.

There we go.

Um just a little bit of an overview, as you can see.

Um we're 100% American.

We are built by everything we have is owned by Americans, built by Americans, staffed by Americans, and we go throughout all U.S.

waterways.

So that's important to us.

All our ships are flagged as American vessels, and that's important.

And I think it's important to people here in Kenner in this part of the world, but also throughout the entire United States.

Uh in addition to that, um, I'm ready.

Ready?

No.

I'm not ready.

She's anticipating me.

That's good.

Yeah, one back.

Can you go back?

There we go.

Um I think we have at this point we have 140 stops around the United States, 35 states that we dock in.

We have 21 river boats now, and we're building nine more.

We have our own shipyard in uh in Michigan and Maryland, I mean, uh, Salisbury, Maryland.

And uh it's very successful, and the growth is happening quite a bit throughout the country.

We have these are not the 4,000 cruise line boats.

These are ones that are between 175, basically 175 passengers, guests, and uh we stop into a community, and then we come and move throughout the community, spending money in your town and your activity.

And as we're looking for sites, we're looking for new itineraries all over the United States and beyond, literally coast to coast.

Um is one I think our guests are going to enjoy.

Uh they they are come from all over the United States, and here we go, all over the United States, and these are a few copies of the vessels or pictures of the vessels that we have.

They're they're designed by us to be into different ports and locations.

Uh, for instance, we were ones that during the low water, we were the only river cruise company that stayed cruising the entire time.

Um we design our boats to fit where they are being where we travel, and that's extremely important.

You can see how beautiful they are, and they go all over the United States, you know, from Alaska to Washington, DC, from all over Key West Florida and Alaska all over the world.

So, and we're designed we're delighted about that.

Uh, in addition to that, you can see these are luxury hotels on the water.

So, a little bit about the process that we have.

Our cruises are typically seven days, uh seven nights, eight days.

You get on at a start point, and then you take that cruise to the termination of the cruise.

Example, it might be New Orleans to Memphis.

It could be St.

Louis to St.

Paul, Minnesota, or St.

Louis to Pittsburgh, uh, as an example, or and all over the uh Columbia and Snake Rivers as well.

These are ones that really are high level experiences, and uh we're delighted to be able to bring that service.

This is some of our state rooms and some of our dining and common areas that you can find on board there as well.

Um we have our own shipyard, as I said, and uh we hire a lot of people, and we kept building ships through COVID.

We knew we were gonna have very aggressive young family, but this is a family-owned business.

It's been around since the early 70s, but the sons now are running the company, and they were very progressive and proactive during COVID, and we kept building ships, and we continue to build ships today, and we're filling them all up, which is exciting.

But they're all U.S.

employees and more jobs with that as well.

Um we share America's story and all these these communities that we dock, and it's important that you all understand that you have a lot to offer here.

Uh historic facts, and again, all the communities we we do go into some large cities.

We do a lot of medium and small size communities that need to be seen and need people to visit.

And our guests come literally from coast to coast, all over the United States.

So as I get on board meeting meeting our guests, they are literally from California and Oregon and on the east coast, the west coast, all throughout the country, and they're gonna come, want to see this part of the country, and I know they're gonna want to visit historic river town here as well, uh, as an example.

When we come, we're gonna be then bringing a number of people into the community, and they'll be here to share the community.

They can live, typically most of our guests can live anywhere they want, and they're coming here to explore this community and others, and some of them said I like this so much, I think I'll move here.

And that happens quite a bit.

Um as you can see, our demographic is a more mature audience.

Uh this isn't the uh the spring break cruise as an example.

It could be a spring break, but for an older demographic uh as an example.

They they're lifelong learners, they want to learn new things, so the things you have to offer uh are part of what that's going to be, and the historic nature of this is something that attracts them all as we bring that along.

So I think the interesting part is they can spend the time on board if they want, but then we have four usually luxury coaches, buses that we travel that travel with us.

So we'll come here, we can do things on board, we bring people on the boat, but then in addition, we take people throughout the community to explore the community as well.

And some can get off and take a walk exactly to that.

You're not that far from some great areas here.

People could go and take a walk around those areas as well and explore it.

We have example is our the cruise, I mean our bus tour, our take the tour of the community, drop you off and pick you up at different areas to experience different parts of the community.

Itineraries are all over visiting Louisiana.

You can see some of those there.

We just isolated those, but we have them all over the United States.

And we think this is going to be one of our better stops here for us as well.

And as I was telling, excuse me, somebody earlier, uh, I get calls every day.

Would you please come and dock in our community?

Literally from coast to coast.

This was an easy choice.

We wanted to be here.

We met you, we met your people in this community, we saw what was here and decided this is a place we want to have a dock and bring our bring our luxury cruise ship here and visit.

There'll be not just one, there'll be multiple cruise ships stop at different times, but those are some examples that I showed you earlier.

Um the Lower Mississippi impact, and I'm going to put on my glasses so I can read this.

Um we had 107 dockings in 2025.

It's going up to uh in uh higher in 26, more in 27, and we're shooting for 140, 45 planned dockings in 2028.

So it's growing, all our boats are full, people are coming and they want to stay, and we're gonna have more dockings along the way.

The average uh over 20,000 passengers per year.

So, and we're not ones that overtake a community like some of those large cruise ships do.

We come in and integrate with the community, go to your local vendors, go to your excursion opportunities that you have and enjoy and employ that as well.

Um port development, we come into communities like this and build ports.

Build I'm gonna show you some of the pictures.

Here's some that we have here.

There's one we did in Kenner not too long ago.

We're gonna we're working on one in Kenner.

We have one in Vashery, uh, but literally coast to coast.

We work with the local government to improve or build upon their docks or their docking facility, or we build them ourselves.

We have engineers and captains literally that work together to build all those happening.

And this is an exhibit of what we're planning on doing here in Kenner.

It's uh an early exhibit with the pictures.

You can see the long gangway taking out to the boat and bringing people into the community as well.

The mayor told me I could only talk for a little while, so uh I'm trying to wrap that up quickly.

Uh and it's tough for a former mayor to talk this short of a time, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Um I'm just pleased and honored to be working for American Cruise Lines.

It is, like I said, a phenomenal opportunity to provide quality experiences to people all over the country, and we think this is going to be one of those quality experiences.

As soon as we get uh the dock built, we'll have boats here, and we're gonna build up as time goes on.

We won't have necessarily a full docking experience that first time we run, but we're building up the number of stops we make as time goes on.

So I think I'll just open it up to questions and come with anything you want, any question you want about the cruise itself or about us or anything else you want or about me.

And give me an uh add the mayor's comments to how I look today, or whatever you want to say.

Any questions?

Councilman Brannigan.

Um Frank, I just want to thank you for choosing this uh location.

Uh it's gonna be incredible for our city.

Also want to thank Mag Lazen administration for having the vision and seeing what into the future for what this can do for the city.

I mean, the River Town area has mushroom.

Um Lake Town area is uh is taking off and it's gonna take off tremendously once the amphitheatre is there, but it's a situation where we got two ends that kind of working and we working towards the middle, but I think that by you guys picking our area to do this, our city to do this, this is tremendous.

It's huge, and I just want to thank you for doing that.

Well, it's it's my pleasure and our pleasures to be able to do that, and I don't want to make sure I don't want to minimize the fact that what Mayor Glazer has done and his staff.

Um, you like to come to a community that's a can-do place.

You know, we came in with ideas and working with them.

We found ways to come up with ideas to do what we're doing and expand upon this, and the opportunities that you share.

Um, there's a lot of things you're in the process doing, and I'm saluting Kenner for what you're doing and your building going on here and the expansion that you're doing.

So we feel we want to be part of that.

Well, again, thank you.

We we appreciate this opportunity.

Councilman Brennan.

Yeah, thank you.

Council Chair.

Thanks for being here, sir, and thanks to the administration and all the work you've all put into this.

Um I had some comments asked about parking and such.

And just to clarify, this is not gonna be a spot like the cruises on the Mississippi downtown where people actually board the boat.

This is just going to be a stop along the way during a cruise.

Is that correct, sir?

Correct.

We will start in one community.

It might be New Orleans example, and it may then go to uh go to uh Memphis as an example.

Uh people don't drive to the boat to get on.

They're flying from all over the United States.

When they get there, we help them get to the boat.

We bring their luggage with them and put them in the state room.

And uh there might be people, which happens in a lot of communities.

People we they publish the schedule of when we're docking, so people from the surrounding areas want to come and see the boat there.

And then they come to town and do shopping, come in for lunch, and so forth as well to see the boat.

But typically this will should not have any the cruise and the stops of the crews should have no impact on parking at all.

Awesome.

I I think it's great.

I mean, River Town is a gym, pardon me, and it's improving daily and monthly and so forth.

So I think this will be a real plus.

I think it'll be a real real welcome addition.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And we agree with you a hundred percent.

Thank you.

Councilwoman McKinney.

Thank you, Council Chair.

Um, again, I want to reiterate thank you for the opportunity to per um to come to Kenner.

You know, I I think that's exact I think it's exciting.

Um the details, all the details, River Town is an expanding area.

Um I think this is I've been I think it's very exciting that doing some type of development on the river uh for you know it's kind of been um dilapidated for a little while, so having something out there, having the opportunity to grow and expand um, you know, along the river and actually make it a place um that people you know want to go and want to see and have um I I think that's a very exciting opportunity.

And um I actually just am curious to know how did you find out about Kenner as a gym?

Did the um maybe that's a question for the administration as well.

Um you know, I think this is a great opportunity, so thank you.

Well, we agree with you, it's a great opportunity.

And uh how we found this, we have since we're building so like I said, 21 boats and nine more under construction.

We're looking for more uh itineraries and more destinations.

So we've got a team.

I'm part of that team, but in addition to that, we have others that uh captains and pilots who have trap around the area who brought it to our attention.

I was recently in my home city of Davenport, Iowa, and uh I was telling people I'm coming here, we're meeting with all of you, and they I mentioned going to Kenner, and uh five of the seven people knew of Kenner.

Um and I think that's they were two CEOs, a Supreme Court justice, and uh I have a good group of people I get to meet, um, and a variety of other folks, but they're familiar with Kenner, and uh and that's something we found too, and that's why in talking with again Mayor Glazer and the staff, this is a great place, and they're enthusiastic, and uh we are too.

Great, thank you.

Very good.

Councilman Lahat.

Yes, thank absolutely great idea.

This is very exciting.

I'm just curious about the typical design of one of your boats.

You said about a hundred fifty people at a time, like how many I'm I do cruises, so I'm interested in the how many state rooms you have, what you have on the amenities on the ship, because this will be something I would like to consider at some point.

Well, that's that's a great idea.

Uh well, American Cruise Lines.com, and you can find all the cruises we have now.

Uh but they range between 100 to 175 to 180 passengers.

Yeah.

Um we have about 53 staff on board.

It's divided into three sec two sections.

We have the captain and everything that does that runs the boat, the pilots, the mates, the deck hands, work for the captain.

Then, because of the nature of this, we have a hotel general manager who oversees food service, entertainment, excursions, and housekeeping.

So, and they work closely together.

So, as you see this, this is a luxury hotel on the water, so you have to take care of both sides of those.

Every every guest has an outside balcony with a whole sitting area and overview of the river on either side.

So that's really nice.

Um, and those are available again as we move forward.

I'm not exactly dependent.

We have a variable number of uh suites because of the size of the boat.

Uh some of them are a little bit smaller, some are larger.

But again, we can cover it on double occupancy.

We can easily still cover the 175 guests that we have, and some have single capacity and so forth as well.

The food, the other side is excuse me, this executive chef who does all the food service, and uh you don't have to eat in shifts, you eat when you want to.

Um, you know, all the everything's included in one fee, and that's attracted to some people as well.

There's no extra fees at all.

So everything's included.

So they'll the best example I give.

We were on one of our cruises on the upper Mississippi, and a lady had was having some back problems, so our staff went ashore and bought a recliner to put in a room.

Um, there was have the open the bars in the evening and the bar is open in the evening for for what during the entertainment.

Somebody didn't like didn't have the wine that they like, so we went ashore and bought the wine.

You know, it's all about customer service, but it's also about the experience in those communities that we have as well.

Sounds amazing.

Thank you so much for coming, explain all that.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Dunn.

Thank you, Council President.

You know, I'm probably the happiest person in here just to have the boat coming through.

I just want to ask one question about the pier being built.

Oh the pier being built to go out to the uh waters.

Um you have a timeline on when you maybe well we're finishing up, we just finished up the uh the engineering and so forth as well.

Uh we're getting the final approval for the whole arrangement that we have.

It's coming close.

We're everybody we're on board.

I know I think you've had some general information about it already, but that approval, and then we'll begin working with the city and do the actual work with engineering uh and final engineering and then start the process of building the dock.

Okay, I'll just have one other question.

Yes, ma'am.

Even even on the pier, you're gonna bill it.

Will any of the people in residence be able to just access it when the boat is not there?

Just to walk on the pier.

Yeah, we want to make sure that uh all through safety, we got to relate to city procedures as well.

We will we'll be managing the docking process, and we're one thing about it is we'll have our number of dockings, and then we hope others will come and we'll coordinate with them to dock here too and bring more boats here, different, even some other companies.

Um, we're the largest in the United States, but there may be some smaller groups that might want to come and use it as well.

Um was there another question I could a timeline?

At this point, no, it takes us about a year to build a dock like that.

So once that's all approved, you know, I would guess it's going to be 26 to 27, early 27 before we're able to actually start docking here.

Okay, thank thank you.

Councilman Swarth.

Thanks, sir.

Um, how long?

Maybe I missed it.

How long will you be the docking time that you'd be tied up here in Canor?

It varies somewhat uh because they range somewhere between uh typically six to eight hours, and there may be longer depending on the situation or what cities we're in, uh, but six to eight hours usually.

So they'll come in, we dock, the four luxury buses come, start taking people on trips around the community, and uh some again there may be local entertainment that we bring on to something local in some of the cities in Upper River, you know, they'll bring eagles on board as an example for part of an educational experience as well.

So, but typically about six to eight hours in that range, some are a little bit less, some are some are longer, some maybe actually depending on the situation, even spend the night.

What's your average pricing per trip per cruise or for a daily about how much would uh there's no daily trips, you know, it's all it's all seven, seven days, eight nights, eight uh eight, um seven nights, eight-day trips.

So you can't just jump on anywhere on there.

I use the example, you're taking a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles.

You don't get on in the middle of that, you know.

You uh unless you're Superman, I guess.

Uh you get on, we take take you to the destination as an example.

But it rains starting, it depends, and I I'll preface this.

Uh, you can see it all in that material that's online, but I would guess somewhere between five to eight thousand dollars for a trip.

Now, put it in perspective.

Some people say, Well, that's kind of black.

Well, you're not taking a trip just from you know here to Vashery.

Uh it's all the food, all the entertainment, hotels, everything is included in one costs.

So I vote, I visit my daughter, I fly out and visit my daughter in Los Angeles, and for a weekend I could spend five grand just doing that.

Um so this takes everything in, there's no cost.

Once you get on board, everything's included.

But you can look at the look at our information and they'll share that information with you.

Thanks, sir.

Councilman Branigan.

So, Frank, so basically, anyone that has any traffic concerns and congestion concerns, you you're not unloading 200 or 300 people in one spot.

You come in here, there are people that are going to get on the cruise and mix in with the people that are already on there going to the final destination, correct?

Well, there'll be no new people getting on here.

Oh, okay.

There are going to be groups who are on board when we started the cruise.

Okay.

And right now it's not a turnaround, it's not a start of the cruise process that we're doing here.

Eventually, you never know.

But the people get on, they'll stop here.

Those passengers, some get off, some stay on, they enjoy the time there, whatever, but then they'll go and take a tour of the community and get back on and go to the next city.

Okay, I understand on the boats.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

I just have a couple, Frank, uh, if you will.

Um, first off, I appreciate you coming today and sharing this valuable information.

It's a very important, of course, that that um uh the the dock is being built and so forth, and we're gonna have these uh passengers stopping here in Kenner, and we appreciate all your efforts.

Um as far as the the boarding, I think you just answered that question.

So they're not gonna be boarding here in Kenner.

Where can people go to board these cruises that's nearby?

Well, we're working on the details that we don't have the exact itinerary set up yet, but they'll be somewhere in this area.

It's usually they may actually board initially board in New Orleans.

Um they could be boarding at the other side, they could be boarding in Memphis and taking it down river here, and they theoretically could be getting off here uh as an example.

But the different cruises along again, like I said, we have Vashery right now does about which is similar kind of cruises, does about 120 stops a year.

So it all depends on the different uh the different itineraries that we have, and then they'll come and and again, some people don't get off at all, you know, but the vast majority do.

And they get on and they want to tour and see what again historic river town has to offer and what they can see and so forth.

Do you have any ideas the frequency of the of the stops here in Kenner?

Well, typically, if we use an example, the ones that go from New Orleans to Memphis, they'll go one way, those people get off, a new group comes on and goes back.

So it could be once a week or once every 10 days for that cruise.

But now we have five boats on the Mississippi.

So different ones will be doing that as well in different locations.

So we're still it's still very early in us to work on the exact itinerary of what they're gonna be and where they're going from and to, but it would could be at least once or twice a week coming and stopping here as well.

And I understand that the state rooms are elegant and the food is fantastic, and as far as the uh uh the the actual calmness of the river, I presume that it's a lot calmer on the river than it would be in the ocean, for example, taking a cruise on the ocean, if I'm not correct.

Uh definitely.

Let's just put it that way.

I mean, you you see land on both sides all the time.

Uh you know, so you're not getting a lot of there's not many waves on the Mississippi, you know.

You may occasionally pass a big barge may pass you and get a little bit of movement, but very, very, very little.

No one, I have not heard anybody really has much of a problem with motion-related issues, you know.

And uh, and our system, I won't get in all the details, but our boats are very well designed, and uh they have uh uh an engine system that's with redundance in it, so there's we don't break down at all, you know, we can keep traveling, and we have relationships in all the committees communities along the way.

So if some does need some help, we can get into that community and get the medical detention.

That's why we definitely when we get here, we want the police and the fire chief to come on board for a tour as well.

Well, that definitely sets your cruise lines apart from the others, and it makes it a lot more attractive, in my opinion, especially for folks who might have motion sickness and so forth.

So thank you for providing those services to our citizens, and uh hopefully we can it'll be close by where we can board.

Definitely, definitely thank thank you for coming to the very welcome.

Thank you very much for this opportunity, and thank you all for the warm welcome for us and America Cruise Lines and for myself personally.

Thank you.

Welcome to Kenner, thank you.

All right, and close the mayor's comments.

This is uh a win for the city of Kenner.

Uh this new uh walkway is gonna be a steel supported structure of aluminum uh with a floating barge-like structure on the river that goes up and down with the the uh I guess the height of the river.

We we drove to Vashery to look at that facility.

Uh we've had, I guess the CAO was here just recently.

We've had Mr.

Frank several times and a few other people that plan.

Well the beauty is is if they may not everybody wants to do something differently when you're here.

We have a theater sitting right walking distance from here that they we put them all in touch, all the area businesses in touch with their uh cruise entertainment people that try to come up with uh I guess offshore excursions when they stop here.

They'll know if they got five to eight hours, wherever it is.

They may, if they got a hundred people in the River Town Theater, they may do a production just for this boat, things like that.

So that's the stuff that needs to be worked out.

Uh it's an agreement that y'all will be voting on next week.

Uh scheduling conflicts uh kept them coming from this from coming next week.

We're still trying to get at least one representative from American cruise lines to come here when you all vote on it in case there's any more questions that come up.

But uh we researched this a lot.

It looks like it's a boom for every stop they have.

That's why so many little cities are wanting the stops.

Uh because you put 150 to 200 people on foot in your little community just walking the streets, they're going to spend money.

So, and it really has no impact because it's on the other side of the river levy.

Uh, you really don't see it until it pulls up.

Last time Mr.

Frank was here, we were on the river looking at it, and one of their boats passed right past the city of Canada.

It was coincidental, but it worked out well.

And we really think if you saw the picture of what it would look like, the observation deck, which is out there now that's been closed for several several years.

We have almost a million dollars in a grant that we're putting into River Town.

So this is kind of gonna work hand in hand with this new walkway pier docking system with the upgrades we make until the sour landing.

So it's gonna be a win.

And I know there's two gentlemen sitting in the audience here that are looking to bring something to Kenner if we can find places for them and things like that.

So it we don't have enough property in Rivertown for the interests we have, which is an absolute good thing.

So that's all I got to say.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Not really.

I think uh Justin Paris Councilman Byron Lee snuck in during the presentation.

If he's still here or not, I don't know.

There he is.

All right, Byron, I don't think you heard when I asked to read it.

We need more money.

Thank you, Councilman Lee.

Thank you for being here.

Madam Clerk.

Yes, sir.

Do we have any resolutions, motions or other items from the floor?

Seeing none under the consent agenda.

We have approval of minutes.

The regular council meeting of August 7, 2025.

I have a motion by Councilmember McKenney, seconded by Councilmember Wilmont to approve the consent agenda.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Under the public appearance agenda, we have item eight, public hearings and final passage.

We have none.

Item nine is ordinances for the sale, purchase, transfer, lease, and or alienation of a moveable property.

We have none.

Item 10 is opening of bids, we have none.

Item 11 is reclassification of zoning for final passage.

We have none.

Item 12 is other ordinances for final passage.

We have none.

Item 13 is resolutions and motions by council members.

Item 13, a is a resolution temporarily suspending council rule number 11 of the rules of organization business order and procedure of the council of the city of Kenner and rescheduling the Kenner City Council agenda deadline to Friday, August 29, 2025, at noon for the council meeting of September 4th, 2025.

I have a motion by Councilmember Wilmont, seconded by Council Member Sharwith.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

Seeing none, motion passes 7-0.

Item 13 B is a resolution ratifying the appointment of firefighter Craig Burkett as Kenner Fire Department Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board Representative for the term that ends on July 30th, 2028.

I have a motion by Councilmember Brownigan seconded by Councilmember Lahat.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

One second, one one second.

One second, if you will, Madam Clerk.

Um I want to abstain on this vote.

Uh and the reason is is that um uh the Burkettes are distant family, but nonetheless, they are family.

So I'm gonna abstain.

Thank you.

Motion passes six zero.

Councilmember Wilmont has abstained.

Item 13C is a resolution ratifying the appointment of Lieutenant Lewis Tusa Jr.

as Kenner Police Department's municipal fire and police civil service board representative of the term, which ends July 30th, 2028.

I have a motion by Councilmember Lahat, seconded by Councilmember Brownigan.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 14 is items removed from the consent agenda.

We have none.

Item 15 is acceptance of contracts and similar matters approved by the mayor.

Item 15A is summary ordinance number 13,915.

An ordinance accepting the lowest response of bid received from audiovisual engine engineering incorporated to purchase two new planetarium shows in accordance with electronic bid 25-3033 and an amount not to exceed $8,000 for the General Services Department.

I have a motion by Councilmember Dunn, seconded by Councilmember McKenny.

Is there any discussion?

Seeing none, all council members in favor, please say aye.

Pose, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 15B is summary ordinance number 13,916.

An ordinance ratifying an emergency purchase to furnish and install one three-ton air conditioning system at the wastewater treatment plant and the amount of $14,689 from Beacon Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Incorporated for the General Services Department.

I have a motion by Councilmember Brennan, seconded by Councilmember Branagan.

Any discussion?

Seeing none, all council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 15C is summary ordinance number 13,917.

An ordinance accepting the lowest response of bid received from Liberty Welding and Iron Works Company to purchase materials for the new press box at Musperino in accordance with electronic bid 25-2181 in the amount not to exceed $10,748 for the General Services Department.

I have a motion by Councilmember Brannigan, seconded by Councilmember McKenny.

Any discussion?

Seeing none, all council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Pose, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 15D is summary ordinance number 13,918.

In orders accepting the lowest responsibility received from SHI International Corporation for the purchase of 25 wireless outdoor cameras in accordance with electronic bid 25-3035 and an amount not to exceed $5,871.50 cents for the information technology and telecommunications department.

I have a motion by Councilmember Wilmot, seconded by Councilmember Lahat.

Any discussion?

Seeing none, all council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 15E is summary ordinance number 13,920.

An ordinance approved in cooperative in our agreement between the City of Kenneth and the Parish of Jefferson to provide a police detail by the Kenneth Police Department at the North Kenner Library at a cost not to exceed 140,000 for a three-year term.

I have a motion by Councilmember Brunnigan, seconded by Councilmember Brunnan.

Seeing no discussion, all council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 15 F is summary ordinance number 13,921.

In order to prove in a professional services agreement with T.

Baker Smith LLC regarding the resurfacing of vintage drive westbound, Duncan Canal to Power Boulevard, State Project No.

H period 016392, Federal Aid Project No.

And an amount not to exceed 201,390 for the Department of Public Works.

I have a motion by Councilmember Lahat, seconded by Councilmember McKenny.

Is there any discussion?

Seeing none.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 15G is summary ordinance number 13,922.

An ordinance approved an amendment number four to the engineering agreement with Shredder Kirkendall and Associates Incorporated to provide additional engineering and resident inspection services associated with the 24th Street and Delaware Avenue Sewer Lift Station Upgrade Project to increase the agreement amount by 185,179.40 cents and to extend the term to the September 26, 2027 for the Department of Wastewater.

Have a motion by Councilmember Sharwis, seconded by Councilmember Dunn.

Mr.

Gonzales, if we can get an explanation on this one.

I can give you some of the explanation.

Joanne also provide some explanation myself.

But this is additional engineering design related engineering that I see require for the project.

But most of the funds that we are asking for is for resting inspection service during construction.

Okay.

If you will thank you, Ms.

Joy.

Yes.

When we bid when we first bid the project, this is being covered under DEQ funding.

The cost were double the funding that we had.

So the project had to be re-engineered in order to try to bring down the cost so then when we rebid it that we can stay within our DEQ funding.

So this is what was done.

We took out some bar screens, added pumps to try to bring the cost down so we can go out to rebid.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Thank you.

See no further discussion.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes 70.

Item 15H is summary ordinance number 13,897.

In order to prove in an agreement with Parish Engineering LLC for professional architectural and engineering services pursuant to SOQ-25-6906 related to the installation of a generator at the Kenner Food Bank for the Department of Federal Program Compliance.

Mr.

Chairman, we've received the request to amend this item.

We will be amending section two to read the not to exceed amount will be 43,425 dollars.

I have a motion by Councilmember Dunn, seconded by Councilmember Brennan on the amendment.

Any discussion on the amendment?

Seeing none, all council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero to amend back to your original motion as amended.

All council members in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, please say nay.

Seeing none, motion passes seven zero.

Item 16 is ordinances and resolutions and motion and summary for first reading.

Item 16 A is an ordinance approving an agreement for lead-based hazardous inspections and related services for with materials management group incorporated and an amount not to exceed $99,000 annually for the Department of Community Development.

Item 16 B is an ordinance accepting the lowest responsibility received from Reliable Foundations, LLC to Repair Foundation at Hispanic Resource Center at 4312 Florida Avenue, in accordance with electronic bid 25-2178 and an amount not to exceed $19,750 for the community development department.

Item 16 C is an ordinance approved an amendment number six to the agreement with Linfield Hunter and Junius Incorporated for professional services relating to the Rivertown South Kenner drainage improvements.

Increasing the agreement amount by 118,530 to a total not to exceed amount of 71,480 and extending the term of the agreement for the Department of Federal Program Compliance.

Item 16 D is an ordinance amending ordinance 12,620, which approved an agreement with Canon Cochrane Management Services Incorporated to add annually to section two of the ordinance.

Item 16E is an ordinance accepting the lowest responsibility received from Jack B.

Harper Electrical LLC to provide emergency repair of traffic control disaster on an as needed basis in accordance with sealed bid 25-6909 and an amount not to exceed $500,000 annually for the public works department.

Item 16F is an ordinance accepting the lowest responsible bid received from box wheelchairs to purchase three WCMX sports chairs funded by NPRA in accordance with electronic bid 25-2180 and an amount not to exceed $16,785 and 74 cents for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Item 16G is an ordinance accepting the lowest responsive bid base bid received from BLD Services LLC for 25th and Salem Sewer Lift Station Replacement in accordance with seal bid 25-6911 in the amount of $882,500 for the Department of Wastewater.

I have item 16H is an ordinance accepting the lowest responsive bid received from Beacon Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration Incorporated to remove furnish and install one new air-cooled rooftop unit at Office of Motor Vehicles in accordance with electronic bid 25-2179 and an amount not to exceed $23,500 for the General Services Department.

Item 16 I is an ordinance accepting the lowest responsive bid received from Triad Paw Prints to purchase screen printed T-shirts in accordance with electronic bid 25-2171 and an amount not to exceed $6,523.35 cents for the Kent Fire Department.

Item 16 J is an ordinance approving a cooperative endeavor agreement with the parish of Jefferson to grant a servitude for the construction of the new Wood Lake Pump Station.

Item 16K is an ordinance amending chapter 15-traffic and motor vehicles.

Article 2, Section 15-18, subsection G 13 of the Kenneth City of Code of Ordinances.

Item 17 is reports from the Council and our special committees.

Council Woman McKinney.

For uh the director for responding to I had an email from a young resident who was interested in learning about all the the wastewater repairs, and she responded very detailed and very quickly for for to my request, and I appreciate that.

She's always this is just one example of how she's very responsive and always at the top of her game.

So kudos to you, and thank you.

Anyone else?

No one else.

Next up is item 18, new business.

We took this item earlier in the meeting.

Item 19 is unfinished business and emotions to reconsider or remove from the tabled position.

We have none.

Item 20 is persons wishing to address the council on special subject matters.

Vanessa Matthews.

Yes.

My name is Vanessa Matthews.

I live in 1917 Short Street.

I'm in District One.

Thank you.

I take it that most of you all seem that it would be a quality experience for the American cruise lines, but I don't.

And I also heard that you've been talking about this for at least a year.

We have not heard anything about it.

Our representative is D Dunn.

She has not shared that information with our president of Old Kenner Civic Association.

In fact, um with Mr.

Mayor visited our meeting a couple months ago and told us that the peer was going to be uh revitalized, but said nothing about the American cruise lines.

We have not had the opportunity to weigh in at all.

So this information is quite new to us, and it's very discouraging.

We've heard many times said that uh old Kenner was um not being looked at or being excused or um dismissed for many years, and that's true.

And when we heard about the peer coming, we thought, well, gee, that's something that's gonna be an interest to the residents of Kenner, but I guess not.

It appears that other things are more important, and bringing more uh party opportunities to Rivertown seems more important than the environmental impact that it would have on the residents of Rivertown.

I'm concerned about the environmental quality, I'm concerned about the noise in the traffic, and yes, I hear that there may not be any undocking or docking, but also I heard uh the gentleman speak about um traffic for onlookers.

He talked about luxury buses, he talked about excursions, and maybe a hundred people foot traffic.

I heard the mayor talk about.

So, yes, there's gonna be traffic, and there's gonna be noise.

And we're concerned about our property, not just for ourselves but for our children.

And I'm concerned about all of those things, and I would hope that you would be concerned too.

Because when we bring when people are coming into our area with all the noise, we already have lots of trains, and I'm trying to deal with that as best I can.

When people come into our area with more noise, more traffic, I'm concerned about the uh the um the black water, the waste and the incineration of that waste from the ships, all of those things, because we have to live here.

I remember last November, well, I don't have much time when you it was dismissed when a church was trying to get uh parking for their area, and that church it was dismissed because um it was gonna be too much traffic in the area for the residents.

Well, how about all of the traffic that's gonna be in our area?

I am very concerned, and I would think that you would be considerate of the fact that we have to live here, and we're not trying to move anywhere.

We are here to stay in Rivertown, and it seems like little by little by little, we're being forced to accept more things that are being dumped on Rivertown.

I understand progress, I get all of that, but if you thought it was such a good idea, why was it hidden?

Why wasn't it not discussed?

And as far as our district one representative, I see no value to that position for the river for the people of Rivertown.

We have not been informed about anything, we have not had a chance to discuss anything or hear about these things that are being thrust upon us.

Thank you, Ms.

Matthews.

Thank you.

Can I respond, please?

Yes, Mayor.

Ms.

Matthews.

We spent a lot of time and effort in Rivertown in this district.

And one day in the next couple weeks, you and I are gonna drive this this district, and we're gonna point out what you should be concentrating on.

The dilapidated housing, yes, things that are falling down, yes, and you got somebody coming in to want to invest, bring uh progress to this city where you're gonna have foot traffic with people spending money, seeing what Kenner has to offer.

So the train, I'm 60 years old, the trains been here long before me.

The trains aren't going anywhere.

We can't even get uh the cross crossings fixed in a timely fashion.

So this is nothing but good, but I guarantee you you don't have enough years left to address the problems I'm gonna identify for you with some of the structures in this district.

And nothing's been done about that.

And so there's a rats, and there's possible, and there's recording families living there, and I had to increase my policy than I did myself, just to make sure that those rulers are not gonna be in my house.

But I think you would agree with me that you don't want government coming in and putting a heavy hand on residents in this for every code violation.

We could find pretty much every homeowner in this district thousands of dollars with what's wrong with some of these houses today.

And I don't think that's a good government should do.

Ms.

Matthews, if you will.

I I understand.

Uh the mayor has the floor, and and and if you wanted to speak to him after we can discuss after.

Yes.

Yes.

Anyone else?

But I would like to address the issue of the dilapidated homes.

That has already been addressed.

We are just waiting on approval at this time.

We just cannot go in and just tear down a house.

Now I've never been there since I've been here.

We've definitely been working on that issue with code.

Yes, yes, we have.

So that's not true.

And then within this district, we have toned down several homes in this district.

But a lot of the problems that's going on with the area of the residents, some of them that's just not keeping their property up to part, and there's certain things that we cannot do, like go into their backyards and things of that nature.

But is it being addressed?

Yes, it has been addressed.

Thank you.

Mr.

Councilman Branaghan.

Yes, um I tell you, I I guess when you say that things have been dumped on Rivertown, uh I totally disagree with you.

And I know that the recreation department has spent well over a million dollars upgrading facilities in this area for the people that live in this area.

So I disagree with you.

And I this cruise ship deal docking here is gonna be a benefit for the whole city of Kenner, and it's gonna really benefit the Rivertown area.

So I am for that.

And next, and and ma'am.

Oh ma'am.

Go ahead.

Uh to kind of piggyback on Councilman Brannigan's uh comments.

Ma'am, I understand, and I I truly think this administration under this mayor has done a lot of very good things for all parts of the city, but a lot has been done in Rivertown.

As I said earlier, uh this has always been looked at in my eyes as a gem that's been overlooked.

If this cruise ship comes here, as the gentleman said, it may dock every seven to ten days.

So this is not gonna be every day this volume of people being dropped off at the at the river.

The buses, I'm sure they're gonna coordinate it where the buses are gonna pick the people up, and it's it's not gonna be in the middle of Williams Boulevard or the middle of Reverend Wilson Boulevard.

It's gonna be a coordinated effort.

This this company, I would think does a fine job.

There was an article the other day in the paper about the town of Bunky, Louisiana, up near Alexandria, that has been overlooked for many, many years, and they finally had an administration that went in and did some aggressive undertaking and thinking out of the box.

And the city is experiencing an economic boom that it's never had in its in its existence.

This part of Kenner, again, is a gem.

And I think people coming here and getting off a boat and walking up this street and going to some of the shops and restaurants, and probably hopefully a few more that'll come.

And as the gentleman said, this isn't a this isn't a senior trip crazy Key West, Bahamas, no disrespect to any of the people that do that.

This is gonna be well-to-do people that have money to spend that are gonna be walking our streets and hopefully going to visit our restaurants and shops.

And the boat you probably would be able to see over the levy, I assume, but I think the the six or eight hours that that's being discussed, the benefit of it far outweighs that that your concerns.

So I think, you know, as we gain more information and see more information, hopefully it it makes your mind a little bit more at ease regarding that.

Thank you, Council Chair.

Anyone else?

Councilman Bernigan in regards to the money that has been spent in Rivertown.

Uh Buddy Loss in outdoor bathrooms, 371,000, buddy loss and gym doors, 8,000.

Rosemary covered Totlot 103.

Betsy Hammond covered Totlight 102.

Uh exercise pad at Rosemary, 73,000.

Exercise pad at Betsy Hammond, 78,000.

Uh Bertha Totlot, 30,000.

Splash bar, and this is a big one.

225,000.

Splash bark fence in 8,000.

Splash park parking and repairs, 15.

Field lights, 100,000.

So I don't think that this administration or this council is dumping anything in South Canada.

I think we're taking care of South Canada pretty well.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilman.

Um, we do have um uh this nice lady at the podium.

Um I wanted to ask Mr.

Greg Teft.

Do you have a is it okay for her to go in front of you?

Okay, because you're gonna be next, okay?

Yes, ma'am, if you identify yourself, your name and and district that you live in.

Good afternoon.

My name is Glenda McGee.

I reside at 2121 Fourth Street, and I've heard the positive impact that it will have on the passengers of the ship, and also the positive impacts that it would have on the city of Kinner.

What I'd like to know, tell me what are the positive impacts that this cruise line docking would have on the residents, the homeowners of Kenner.

Well, and you have increased people on foot in the uh Rivertown district spending money, your sales tax go up and it's more money to make improvements in this this area.

That's it.

Is that all, ma'am?

One impact.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you for coming.

Next, we have Mr.

Greg Taft.

Uh Greg Taft, Fifth District.

I I was gonna go ahead and not speak tonight, but I I am gonna say this for this afternoon.

I think part of the problem, and it's come up several times with especially District One, there seems to be a lack of communication.

I don't know where it breaks down, but the residents, I get the feeling in talking to some of the residents in District One, they don't seem to be getting the feedback or what's going on or being updated on what the city is doing.

Yeah, for example, like a town hall meeting or something to bring things to light of what's happening and how it would benefit them and this and the city of Kenner.

And I think that's where we fall a little short.

Because sometimes I know as a citizen, and I know several citizens like me, feel like this council really doesn't listen to the people.

It listens to the people that it wants to listen to.

And that should not be the case.

It should be all the people to hear all their problems, and then find a medium somewhere to understand or what it's gonna do, how it's gonna work.

I just think that's where we lack.

And that's my opinion and the opinion of a lot of other people, that we the communication is not coming across.

I think that, yes, this council has been progressive in a lot of ways.

This administration has been progressive in a lot of ways, and we certainly have a big improvement and the quality of life than we've had in the past.

But that seems to be the communications issue seems to keep popping up.

Anyway, that's all I have to say at this time.

And not thank you.

Yeah, Mr.

Taff, let me uh answer you on that.

The only problem with it's not the community, the people.

I speak with them on a daily basis.

I get things done that they want to.

It's basically this particular group that is so disrespectful to me as a council person.

And I will not be disrespected by anybody.

And so when I did go to the meeting on several occasions, they were very disrespectful.

And they don't want to accept me, I'm assuming, as their council person, and that's on them.

I get it.

But I will never be disrespected.

And that's where the disconnect is.

The mayor also went.

He bought the whole administration, the co-director, everybody went to the meeting.

But they were so disrespectful.

So why don't you try going to their meetings and finding out just, you know, how they handle their meetings.

I don't have any problems with anybody else.

And there are people that call me daily.

I do attend the meetings.

But any other time, uh the meetings before I could not be there.

So when they learn to respect me as the council person, and we can have a decent conversation, then I'll be there.

Mayor.

And also I like to since I guess there's lack of communication in nothing's being done in District One.

We're in the process of building an $8 million replacement for the AP Clay Resource Center with the medical component in it, because there is no really a lot of medical services on this side of the city.

So it's it's kind of tough when one small group or very opinionated.

We get emails at least once a week with what's wrong with railroads, uh bushes, stuff that the the apples apple snail eggs that are all over South United States is only a problem here in District One.

So I agree.

I have a very good working relationship with Councilman Dunn.

We communicate a lot.

Viviana in our office communicates with the district a whole lot.

And I would uh offer to say that it's absolutely untrue that the citizens are not informed.

They may not want to listen, but they are informed.

Anyone else want to make comments before we adjourn?

I I'd like to just echo that myself, Jose Gonzalez, and Catherine Toppel have spent a multitude of afternoons and weekends speaking with Viviana and Councilwoman Dunn on a regular basis.

In fact, um Mr.

Jose Gonzalez typically will go on ride-alongs throughout the area to discuss certain certain things that need to be addressed.

So I just wanted to clarify that Ms.

Dunn does a phenomenal job as it relates to representing her district on a regular basis, as she is one of the most frequent callers along with Viviana as it relates to code enforcement issues, streets and drainage.

One last thank you.

Councilman Swarth.

Thank you, Council President.

Um I'd like to wish you and your bride, Sherry, and happy anniversary.

Um how many years now?

38.

Wow.

Thank you, sir, and happy anniversary.

Thank you.

Yes.

Um, yes, I actually just want to ask the police chief if he'll commits to providing services in the future for the uh, you know, for the for any concerns for district residents as a result of the cruise line.

Yes, so I've spoken with the mayor and the council lady about uh when this ship is docked, we would have an officer assigned uh just for the movement of traffic if these buses have to come in and out so it won't disrupt the community, um, and talking with other agencies that deal with the American cruise line.

Noise has never been a problem.

He's a more mature senior uh citizens that uh you know just want to travel and see uh different places.

just for the movement of traffic if these buses have to come in and out so it won't disrupt the community um and talking with other agencies that deal with the American cruise line noise has never been a problem these are more mature senior uh citizens that uh you know just want to travel and see uh different places so you know we have been in touch with the administration as far as a uh a plan uh to work with american cruise lines to make sure that uh not only their passengers uh you know feel the sense of security that all our residents and businesses do uh from the time they get off that ship and get back on the ship but certainly for our residents and that you know our stakeholders that they won't have any disruption of life and certainly any disruption on the quality of life and they'll be part of the enjoyment and part of the uh festivities that occur when these cruise lines come in so you know we have we have been talking with the administration they have a plan going forward to have dedicated resources here uh to make everybody's experience pleasurable thank you chief anyone else seeing no one we're adjourned