I didn't play right now.

Yeah, that's okay, so I can move to do that while I'm making my panelists.

That's good.

No, I have a lot of problems.

I'm thinking now she can put three like a rough.

So I try to do all the things that I can do.

Exactly.

I don't know if that's a week.

Yeah, I'd like to see that.

Yeah, I'd like to see that machine.

I might get me one of those.

Was it expensive?

Okay, yeah, I might say this was the Mercedes Band.

Yeah, no, I'd like to see that.

Thank you.

Um, you gotta do it.

What's your district?

No, I'm with you.

Still uh, but I'm with you.

I still want to have us a picture.

Yeah, so we can have a and whatever um I had one when I left the office and I went by the bank.

I guess I left it in the bank or in my car or something.

I think we'll bring it to the internet.

Yeah, is that an agenda meeting?

I want to tell it's a meeting meeting.

I'm gonna make sure you want to.

Hey, Renee, please.

Yeah, how they called already.

Okay, whatever it's gonna be on.

Can you get somebody to do the screw?

Yeah, or I can give it to you.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, great.

I'll enjoy it.

Uh special meeting to order.

Uh Mr.

Fundell will lead us in the prayer.

Mr.

if you don't mind leaving from the pledge.

Uh we pause recognize that thou are and without the we know no one.

Lord, we want to thank you for this day.

Thank you for light screen.

And we play your pray your blessings be on this city council meeting, and may your spirit guide us in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

One nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all.

Mr.

Bilbo.

Yeah.

Mr.

Young, Mr.

Harvey, Mr.

Marks.

Here.

Mr.

Vizeno.

Here.

Mr.

Fondale.

Yeah.

And Mr.

Weatherford.

We have a quorum.

Before we get started, I want to make sure we're clear on the cards.

This is the special meeting, and I'm looking at these cards, and it doesn't say is this for are these people for the uh agenda meeting or the special meeting?

Okay, and Mr.

Moore.

Agenda meeting?

Okay.

All right.

All right.

We are here today to discuss one item.

Let's see what it is.

That's number one.

It says uh an artist accepting the lowest responsible being and authorized the city of Lake Charles to enter an agreement for project number CP 3242 Golf Highway Lift Station Force Main.

It got me on there, but we don't oh cheap.

Um the fact sheet says that engineering is recommending gun to construction and the base bid of the amount of eight million two hundred and nineteen thousand forty seven dollars and seventy cents.

Any discussion?

I have a few things that nobody have anything.

First of all, is it possible for anybody to explain the bid process to us?

Anybody here can explain it?

No.

In terms of in terms of uh what is the basic process of it from submission to the awarding?

Yeah, what happens is uh once we come up with a project, uh the the uh consulting engineers go in and and uh help put together the the uh the formulation of what's gonna be required for this project and put together a bid package.

Uh huh.

Once that bid package is put together, it's put out on bid X and people invited to come in and bid, and then uh and then based upon the bid specifications, what is requiring, then the by law we have to accept the law's responsible bid that's responsive to all the specifications.

Okay.

Who is responsible for okay?

Once the bid process go in and the consultant reviews it and gives his recommendation to the city, who's responsible for reviewing the recommendation from the consultant.

Uh the most engineering engineering department does that, yeah.

Okay.

And so the engineering department is responsible for making sure all the D's and all the T's are tied uh crossed and all the I's are dotted.

Yes, so to speak.

They look at they look at everything.

They look at the uh whether the bid, uh the the requirements for the bid have been met, then they also do some due diligence and see if if any of the people that's on the bid had had any type of issues with the city before.

So they go and look at it so it's really a uh due diligence uh inquiry.

So at that point, like you said, to see if anything is um arrived with the with the contractor that they're picking, that is um and also Mr.

Marks to ensure that the bid was in accordance with all the specifications.

And that's what I was getting at.

Uh that's the responsible part.

Right.

Responsive, responsive.

So it's not responsible, yeah.

Responsible is vetting the contractor and the subcontractor.

Responsive is does it comply with all of the bid package, which includes instructions to bidders, the bid specifications, all the all the bid package has to be complied with for it to be a responsive bid.

Responsible is directed towards the suitability and the the ability of the contractor to perform.

So when it comes from the consultant, does the consultant deem responsible or does the engineer deem responsible?

They can both make recommendations and note and observe issues, and then if they note issues, they escalate those to the administration or to my office.

Okay.

Now there's a portion in reading through these contracts.

I'm learning a lot of stuff or bids, not contracts.

There's a good faith portion.

But I I've been seeing on a lot of bids, that portion is not filled in.

Are we holding them accountable for the good faith portion or not?

I'm not sure I know exactly what you're saying.

There's a good faith portion that well, it it gives it gives the city the understanding that the contractors who are trying to bid have gone out and try to get minority participation.

In other words, there's a portion of those contracts where you're supposed to sign and say, I reached out to so and so, but they don't qualify for whatever the reason is.

So your question is, are we vetting whether or not they're doing the good faith portion of it?

We're we're relying upon the consultant and the engineers to tell us if that's been done.

Okay, and if they note that there's a problem or a concern, then they escalate that to the administration and or to my office.

But but that's the responsibility of the contractor who's submitting it, right?

Not the city or the consultants.

Correct.

And he's and he's required to certify that he's done that.

Okay.

Gotcha.

Okay.

Well, I'd say I asked all those questions to this particular item could have gone by and mistakes happen.

People make mistakes.

I don't care if you're the city or the contractor, whoever the case is.

My concern is that we do our due diligence when these people turn in their contracts to make sure that they have what we need to be responsible and responsive.

You know, and I think that I mentioned it before, but I want to go on record again.

I think that all of the bids, whether it's RFQ, RFP, bid process, I'd like to have all that sent to the council.

So that's the marks.

Just real quick.

Yes, sir.

On most of these projects, I think probably all of them.

We had pre-bid conferences.

At that pre-bid conference, the engineers there, we also have someone from the fifth floor who is responsible for making sure that that compliance is met, and they advise the contractors at that time, those requirements, and that it's going to be enforced.

So just as an example, anything that the contractor fell short on, he's informed at that meeting.

Yes, sir.

And so if not if something is not done, it's on the contractor.

It's on the contract.

Yeah.

But on the other side, we're responsible for making sure that all the bids are compared right, all the things are met right, and that we're awarding it to the proper person.

Right.

So, but I think that the council is at a disadvantage because a lot of times we hear about these bids.

We've already gotten a bid, we're reading out the back of the book who's it been awarded to, and we're going from there.

So going forward, I would like to recommend that those bids be sent to the council.

That may be logistically a little more difficult than normal.

I give you an example, the uh the the sports complex.

We did a RFQ for bids for the design of it.

We got 15 um 15 responses in.

All these responses are uh at least 50 pages or more.

Well, but the bigger problem is that a lot of them contain uh proprietary information that's confidential to the businesses of those people.

They part of the bid specification, they have to disclose uh their financial status, they have to disclose their experience, what they've done, and some of them uh they have their stamp that they have confidential business proprietary information that's in those packages.

Well, I I do understand what you're saying, Mayor, but I think even if it's down to the one that we choose, we need to get that information to the council before we vote.

Because I believe that if the council have time to look at these documents, we'll understand better of who we voting for.

Because in this particular incident, I think it just came about because the council didn't know a lot about it.

We could have very well gone and voted on it and went on about our business, you know.

So I'm I'm asking that as much as possible we get these bids because I know it used to be done before.

I used to get every bid that came through the city.

And they would they would send it to me.

And I would go through and I'd read, you know, when it when it was warranted to do what I need to do.

And I'm saying that because we got a lot of council members that are new and going through these things for the first time, and a lot of things we are being told that's not correct, and I'm not saying the city is telling, it's just in general.

And so I believe to get a clear understanding, like with this one.

The meetings we had worked, you know, we got a good understanding.

It was explained to us in depth, you know, because it's a lot of it's still a lot of questions.

This is my I'm going into my sixth year, and I still got a lot of questions about the good faith.

I got a quite a lot of questions about the responsible and the responsive, you know, and some bids don't warrant that much attention, but some of them do, you know, especially this one.

We had eight million dollars uh uh on board, you know.

So I'm just asking that maybe we can come up with another way.

You know.

And and we'll make I I think we can make the bids uh available.

I mean, we we do meet regular with you guys, so we can always do that, but to send them out and disperse them, especially with with proprietary information.

That that that I do have some concerns about that.

But isn't that all submitted to the city anyway?

If we was in the bid meeting, we could see it, couldn't we?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So uh that's that's all I had uh in regards to that because my concern is you hear a lot of times, well, you don't hear it, I don't know if y'all social media, but I'll be on social media, and the city takes a beating, you know, because they say we don't give contracts to such and such people, and we don't do this and we don't do that.

They don't understand that the city puts out rules, like Mr.

Cardone said about the meeting.

Everybody who wants to bid has an opportunity to bid.

And I think when we understand that, the public would be more aware to not have that cloud hanging over us like we doing something illegal or out of order.

So if if you don't, I I'll tell you, I would we would prefer to have as many bids that come in as possible.

I think competition is good.

We I remember throughout the years we dealt with different types of barriers.

One of the the biggest barrier was always the bid requirement.

I mean the uh bond requirement.

A lot of people just couldn't go out there and get bonding.

We even tried to be innovative and said, look, let's do rolling bonds instead of having to have a bond that covers the entire project, which is almost you gotta have cash in the bank to do that.

If the if you break in the project in the fourths, you can have a fourth of the bond, then when that's completed, then the bond rolls over, things like that.

So we've tried to we've tried to do things innovative like that because the bonding has been a lot harder.

There's people out there that that's what they do for a living.

They they offer bonds on contracts.

So that's there's a number of ways to solve that, but we we I would prefer to have as many bids as we can, especially if they're qualified.

Yeah, if I can.

And if you don't mind, I I want to I I think I understand what he's asking for, and and the way I've my experience tells me a bid, let's say is open at 2 p.m.

At 2 p.m., you can't accept anything else.

Right.

And at that time, you open the bids, make sure that they're responsive and they have the bid bond and their their contractor number and all those things, and all that's recorded on the bid sheet.

Right.

And it's it's got categories, and you check and yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

And at that time, you know who the lowest bidder is, but that's only the first step.

Right.

I think if we were given that piece of paper, and we had more questions, then that would start the process of us being in the loop a little bit, knowing what's coming.

And that's good because that's not disclosing any proprietary information.

And that's the thing you hand out to every bidder, they also get a copy of that sheet at that time, also, right?

Yep, they're entitled to that.

I think I think that'll get you a step closer to what you're asking.

And it also puts a little bit of responsibility on us.

You know, because if we vote on something and we passed it and something was wrong, that's on us.

We didn't do our due diligence.

It's not on the engineering department, it's not on the consultant.

We didn't do our part.

You know, so I just want to make the council more aware so when we voting on this, it don't just become second nature, but we're reading it and we're voting on it.

Right.

Mr.

Marks for me, you know, we always try to, well, not always, we do.

We always sign a sponsor to one of these projects.

Right.

And typically, what staff does, they should be doing it, is contacting that sponsor and saying this is the recommendation, this is the provisions of it, this is what we see, and try to answer any questions the sponsor may have because the sponsor is the one that typically looks at it and reviews it on behalf of the council to make that recommendation.

So typically we've been going through that with the sponsor of each one of these projects.

So every one of them has a sponsor, and if we can maybe we need to do a better job of communicating with the sponsor on what that is.

That's a very good point.

That's what that's what is was the intent that we get with that sponsor to make sure you have all the questions you may have about that particular project is answered.

And if it's been vetted through our consulting engineering and our engineering department, and they got a concern, they reach out to the cons uh to the sponsor and they try to say this is our concern, this is why we're recommending this.

And if you have questions, then we respond to you at that point as the sponsor representing the council.

And to add to that, uh, I think that it's good with the sponsor, but I think the other councilman need to get it as well because the first time we're going to hear about it is in that meeting.

You know, if the sponsor don't get it to us, then we just rely on whatever's being read in the book.

But that was the sponsor was to get with the rest of the council members that they have concerns about it.

That was why.

Yeah, but I mean I it's simple.

If we just send them to Renee and Renee sent it out to everybody, and we'll have it.

Whatever that whatever you decide to come up with.

Okay.

Any other questions or comments in regards to this?

A yes is in favor, and a no is against.

Please vote.

This meeting is adjourned.

Now we're opening up to our agenda meeting.

CP 3242, Southern Sewer Loop, South Highway, Lift Station.

Appointed chairman to review this for project number CP 3507, Lake Charles Event Center Green Room, and amend the budget as necessary.

Appointing chairman to review bids and purchase roll-based livestock active purpose.

Specifications for use by the public parts department review.

Appoint a chairman to review bids purchase replacement, retractable, telescopic, rising seating, and the Coliseum at the Lake Charles Event Center, review it.

Appointed chairman to review bids for the purchase of bus stop.

Signage for use by the Public Works Department Transit Divisions.

Appointed chairman to review bids for the purchase of one new service body crane for use by the public works department wastewater division.

Appointed chairman to review bids for the purchase of water infrastructure maintenance and repair parts by the public works department water division.

Public hearing and consideration of the late Charles Planning and Zoning Commission's decision to deny a request for a variance in order to construct a new addition united way.

One construction of single-story building versus required two-story, and two allow channel letters and a six-foot logo, thereby exceeding the allowable three foot in height within a T5 Urban Center Transect Zoning District at 815 Rhine Street.

An ordinance ordering demolition and authorizing the city of Lake Charles to enter to an agreement for demolition of a structure located at 1400 North Shaddock Street, Cleveland Nash, and Elvira Nash owners.

Another demolition at 411 Gelpie Drive.

Another demolition at 902 Carmelia Street, Garage only, Matthew A.

Mackintosh owner.

Another demolition at 2725 Louisiana Avenue, Holly Rider Bruyer, and Zoe Gaspard Rider owners.

Another demolition at 2110 Railroad Avenue, Andre N.

Walker, Brittany Ann Walker, Denver Jerome Withers, and Javon Ramsey Yocham owners.

Another condemnation at 2107 Corinda Street, Julius Lee Fontnau Sr.

and Jennifer V.

Fonteno owners.

Another condemnation at 2105 Clorinda Street, Julius Lee Fontno and Jennifer Valmont Fontanau owners.

Another demolition at 819 Moss Street, Brian Keith Design LLC owner.

Another demolition at 1751 6th Avenue Burn Structure, Rose M.

George Size Owner.

Another demolition at 1701 North Adams Street Burn Structure, Robert Billings Poochie, Robert Billings Poochie Sr.

Nancy Artuis, Gidry Poochie, Brenda Diggs, Arfay, Robert Willie Poochie, Alvin Willie Poochie Jr., and Alneta Pucci Gatewood owners.

Another demolition at 2310 Channel Street, Lewis Green Estate Owner.

Another demolition at 2401 Wooded Street, Lachara L.

Stenson, owner, subject to a tax sale to the state of Louisiana.

Another demolition at 1206 Hunter Drive, Brandy, Alexis Henderson, and Edward Joseph Henderson owner, subject to a tax cell to the state of Louisiana.

Another demolition at 1716 22nd Street, Brian Keith Gillary Owner.

An ordinance accepting the lowest responsible bid and authorizing the City of Lake Charles Center into an agreement for Project Number CP 3520, WWTP A Basin, A02 Sewer Rehabilitation.

An ordinance accepting the lowest responsible bid and authorizing the City of Lake Charles Center into an agreement for Project Number CP 3503 2025 asphalt overlays and amend the budget as necessary.

An ordinance authorizing the City of Lake Charles Center into an agreement with the most qualified architectural slash engineering AE firm responding to the request for statements of qualifications to perform professional services to prepare cost estimates, provide engineering and design services, provide construction management oversight and other additional services as needed for the design and construction of an indoor recreation facility in Lake Charles.

An ordinance accepting the best proposal received for renewal coverage and authorizing the city of Lake Charles tending to an agreement for property and casualty insurance for the City of Lake Charles effective May 22nd, 2026 through May 22nd, 2027.

An ordinance authorizing the City of Lake Charles to accept North Bridge Road, Westmere Drive, and Pinnacle Road in the ridge at Morganfield Phase 3, including public right aways, drainage, water and sewer lines, sewer and traffic control devices for ownership and maintenance by the City of Lake Charles.

The City of Lake Charles will not take ownership of the detention ponds.

An ordinance authorizing the City of Lake Charles to enter into an architectural and engineering AE agreement with DJ Justin and Associates LLC for engineering services relative to Project Number CP 3070 Oak Lawn Drive and Ory Road Sewer Lift Station Upgrade.

An ordinance authorizing the City of Lake Charles to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with the Calcashoe Parish Police Jury and the Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No.

2, East Calcashoe Parish to share in the cost of the Greenwich Terrace Buyout Initiative Project.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Lake Charles amending resolution number 313-23 to authorize the City of Lake Charles to modify the location and scope of RCIP LDI City of Lake Charl L C R Avenue Revital 0088 in order to transfer funding to the Gosport Community Center to construct a primary community resilience hub in accordance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's National Objectives for the US of Funds from the CDBGDR program.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Lake Charles amending resolution number 313-23 to authorize the City of Lake Charles to modify the location and scope of RCIP LDI City of Lake Charles LC 2nd Harvest 0084 and further authorizing the purchase of a vacant lot parcel number 00751405 from Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church to construct and own a primary community resilience hub in accordance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Developments National Objectives for the Use of Funds from the CDBGDR program.

A resolution accepting project number PR0002 North Beach Restroom Replacement as substantially complete and authorizing the advertising of the 45-day lien period.

A resolution accepting project number CP 3003, Lakefront signage phase one as substantially complete and authorizing the advertising of the 45-day lien period.

A resolution setting date for public hearing on combination of a structure located at 922, Gulf Street, Burn Structure, Benny Patrick Morrow, owner with the companion ordinance.

A resolution setting date for public hearing on combination of a structure located at 1703, Winterhalter Street, Bradley Joseph Calais, Armentine Pete, Armentine Pat, Henry Joseph Calais Jr., Lutter Marie Calais, Mary Collet, Savoy, Louis Collet, Ruby, Marie Collet, Adley Joseph Collet, Gustain Collet, Joseph.

I mean James Philip Calais, Adele Brusard, Norris Collet, Audrey May LeBlanc, and Marjorie Senegal owners with the companion ordinance.

A resolution setting date for public hearing on condemnation of a structure located at 2005 7th Avenue.

Teresa, no middle initial, no middle name, Vital Baldwin, owner with the companion ordinance.

A resolution setting date for public hearing on congenition of a structure located 2007, 7th Avenue, Demetrius Antoine owner with the companion ordinance.

A resolution setting date for public hearing on condemnation of a structure located at 655 South Franklin Street, Norman Goodman, owner subject to a tax lien held by the city of Lake Charles with the companion ordinance.

A resolution setting date for public hearing on combination of two structures located at 210 Cherry Street and 212 Cherry Street, Benjamin Guian Jr., Willie May Jackson, Chester Gann, Claudette May Glienne, Franklin Ginn, and Margaret Haley owners with the companion ordinance.

A resolution setting date for public hearing on combination of a structure located at 2436 Popular Street, John Ladd, James Lee White, Charlie Carter, Willie Rogers White Jr., Marie Thomas, Samuel White Estate, Florence E.

Espree, and Bertha H.

Davis, owners with a companion ordinance.

Ordinances for introduction, introduction of an ordinance authorizing the city of Lake Charles to enter into a rental agreement with rent.

CPRA for administering a grant from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA for construction of a kayak launch.

Skip to number 51 because those are companion ordinances.

Introduction of an ordinance for consideration to amend the official zoning map from a residential zoning district to a mixed-use zoning district, companion with a major conditional use permit in order to construct an accessory storage structure for a business located at 708 East School Street.

Introduction of an ordinance for consideration to amend the official zoning map from a residential zoning district to a mixed-use zoning district companion with a major conditional use permit in order to construct a duplex located on the west side of the 500 block of MacNapp Street.

And that's all that I have.

This shouldn't go to planning and zoning first.

It did.

No, it's not the appeal has to come to us after.

So it didn't pass.

No, it's not that it didn't pass.

They always have to come before us.

Because it's a zone zone.

So that's not like a variance.

No.

Okay.

They probably assume they approved the zoning.

So then yeah, we're the final order on all on your problem.

There's no deference.

You just still have to approve it.

Okay.

Because it's a it's it's a change to the zoning ordinance.

Gotcha.

Number one.

Mayor, do we have to hear that again?

I thought that's what the special meeting was for.

No, number one is the uh this is the the what you wrote, what you uh bid on was the actual the force main.

That's all the piping.

This one is the actual lift station.

Okay.

So is it this project?

Yeah, this project has about seven different pieces, three three different uh lift stations.

So the first bid was on the first part, that was the fourth main.

This is not actual lift station.

Okay.

The other one is I think number 18.

We talked about that before.

That house has already been torn down and cleared out.

I think that yeah, it it will be deleted.

Okay.

Um, Mr.

Stutz, before I ask this question, I'm just asking about the wording.

Should I wait until the meeting?

The wording of the of the ordinance.

I mean of the uh agenda item.

No, I think if you got a question about the wording, you should ask it now.

Okay.

Number 25, it says enter into an agreement with the most qualified.

We're basically giving you permission to enter an agreement with an AE.

Yes.

If we do that, then it don't come back, it don't have to come back to the council.

Uh it comes back after the design is done, it's gone out for construction bid.

Yeah, but I'm saying once y'all make the agreement with this particular company that the the council don't get to review who y'all selected.

Uh because we giving y'all permission to go into that agreement.

Well, we we're gonna come back with a recommendation.

I mean that's so this basically went out for bid.

I know it was RFQ.

You're gonna present us with your findings.

Yeah, that's right.

And we could approve it or deny that particular company.

So I I just want to be clear that enter into an agreement.

We're not giving you permission to sign into agreement with them.

Well, once you once you select this this particular, we make a recommendation.

Once you select the person, then you are authorizing us to enter an agreement.

But after it comes back to the council.

After it comes back to the country.

I just want to be clear that it's coming back to the council.

And the reason why this is happening because the this this this kind of sports complex is a very, very specialized design.

So it's it really we run in qualifications because uh it's it because of the specialty the special nature of it.

Right.

And this one on your vocal.

Yeah.

Oh, you're saying right uh uh councilman Harvey is the sp is the sponsor on this one, so he's gonna and he's he's gonna be part of the uh group that's looking at all these things.

And I understand that, but I'm on the council.

I want to be aware of what's going on with that as well.

Okay.

The other one is the same thing with number 31, the construction of the item.

And and help me to understand if if I'm understanding this wrong.

When we approve this, we are approving the purchase of the land and the project together.

Yes.

I'm wondering why we have why we can't.

Let's say one of the council members want to they agree with the resiliency hub but not purchasing the property, and they vote against it, or we we all four of us vote against it.

Does that kill the whole project?

Uh well, let me back up, because you you can do it separately.

Uh the the to use the funds to build a resiliency hub and then to go ahead and buy the property, but uh for the authorization to go back to the state, they want an ordinance that's saying exactly what we're gonna do and where.

And I I understand that, but I'm saying I'd hate for us to have a situation where for not agreeing with a portion of the project and the whole project gets scrapped.

What I'm saying is should it be word that okay, we agree to move the money and do whatever wants to be done with that, and then we come back and we vote on whether or not we're gonna buy the property.

Once we tie them together, any portion of this fails, the whole thing fails.

Yeah, pretty much.

So I'm asking y'all recommendation.

I mean, I think that's the intent.

That's that's the way you want it, yes, sir.

Okay.

All right.

So let me ask a question.

Like even this one, this was introduced at our last agenda meeting.

Why do we introduce it and then we come back for a final action?

I mean, we introduced it, I didn't get no new information on it.

I didn't we didn't review anything on it, and now it's back on here for final action.

Because by law it has to go through a that's the law.

They have to an ordinance, we have to have it introduced to the meeting, and then it is voted on for final action.

But when it's introduced, you don't tell the y'all on that phone the council what it is.

You just yeah, it's it's always on the motions of introducing it.

Because look like once it was introduced, we should have met and we we can ask questions and get an understanding instead of having to go into right now.

Is this coming up in the agenda meeting?

I got all kind of questions that we're gonna air out because that's gonna be my first time discussing in detail what this is.

You see what I'm saying?

So it looked like to me that uh do we need to pass an ordinance that when something is introduced that the you guys inform us what is being introduced, exactly what's being introduced.

Mr.

Stutzer, Mr.

Stutz.

If I might if you look at items 42 through 47, those are all introductions.

And all these items are introduced at the agenda meeting for final action at a later meeting.

Well, so that's on any of those you can take, and these are introductions.

Well that's put on an agenda meeting, say on a Tuesday.

Following Wednesday is when it's introduced, and then two weeks after that is when we actually have the vote.

So you got this ain't been I ain't seen this that long.

This is my well it no, it if it's got if it's up for final action, it had to be introduced at our last meeting now.

Certainly there needs to be just yeah, I think that's what Mr.

Right.

The questions you have needs to be addressed in between administration between now and next meeting.

Yeah, correct.

All of them go on the agenda, then it's introduced the following week, two weeks later, you have final action.

That's what we're doing all these projects.

And that's that's my issue.

We we're we're asked to vote on stuff that it just it's just paperwork and just come through, and there's no there's no end there's no information about it at all.

I mean, maybe what's wrong with sending it.

Mr.

Fundell, every agenda fact sheet has information on it.

I think what Mr.

Fundale is saying that we introduced it and it's coming back for final action, but in between that time, there's been no conversation according to him, in-depth conversation about what this is, so that we can understand when we get to the next meeting to vote on it.

Yeah, because see, I didn't know that this was the uh this was uh uh project with uh with um who was it uh second August, and you know, we're just gonna there's gonna build uh uh um uh uh kitchen and all of that.

Right.

I don't have a clue what we build in here with this project.

What that's I know it's a resiliency center, but it's just a building.

What services is it gonna offer the people of Lake Charles?

That that's and that's what we when we have uh individual meetings, uh that's what we talk about, go through anything that that we need to discuss about before you come to the before you come to the vote because y'all have a lot of questions.

And Mr.

Fundell is saying he hasn't had that yet.

No, that's gonna that's being scheduled now as we speak.

Yeah.

Well, and it's gonna schedule it an hour before the agenda meeting.

No, we no, we schedule, we try to schedule all these uh early meetings.

I'm getting I'm getting I'm getting the feeling that I'm being I'm being asked to vote on a lot of stuff that not just this particular one, but it it there's no background information, and based on what just happened, like Mr.

Marks was saying with the previous uh thing, we are responsible, and we I can I can't make an informed decision.

Mr.

Fondale, if you don't mind, uh we we would never ask you to vote on something that you didn't have the opportunity to discuss that that we we we make uh we we schedule meetings with council members to go in and go through everything on the agenda item and ask any questions and and because otherwise if we if if you're hearing it for the first time you vote on it, that that wouldn't be fair to you, and it's not us doing our job.

So we do all these things are introduced first and then they become an agenda, then we schedule meetings with council members to go through everything that you have questions with and present different things.

Well, I I'm telling you we need to do a better job, and I'm gonna leave it at that.

But uh I I've been here and I I'm not I'm I'm I'm I'm struggling to figure out what's going on and and what's happening with a lot of stuff, not one item, but it it just seems like he said, now we're voting on two items on this, and on the previous one that we discussed with the zoning, we're not only discussing zoning, but it's a major condition uh attached to it, right?

Mr.

Fonday, I'm gonna apologize for that.

And this is you know, the intent of trying to schedule these meetings on Tuesdays was to address issue to bring y'all up to date on issues we have and to answer any questions you may have that's coming up on the agenda for final action.

So that's why we are scheduling these meetings.

So if we didn't explain that well enough, that was that's the intent of us having these meetings a week early, so we can go through any of this and try to answer any questions you may have.

And I hope you guys would respect that I got a responsibility to to know what I'm voting on.

That's your right as a councilman.

All right.

All right.

Uh moving on from anybody else had anything?

No.

Okay.

We're at uh I got lost.

Mr.

Bilbo.

Mr.

Nag, it's my time to read in Okay.

I want to um read in an ordinance amendment chapter 13, section 13-42 of the code ordinance regarding maintenance and order within the vicinity of a business establishment.

All I'm asking for is that we change from it saying two blocks to 300 feet.

That's so the police are no and a business owner know what area they got to be responsible for.

Two blocks could be as further as whatever.

Yeah.

But we limit to 300 feet or circums of the front door, and everybody know what responsible for, and everybody got to be able to take care of that business.

Then it depends instead of the depending on the location, there's a definitive circle around each place.

That's that's measurable.

And then the the business ownership better handle that.

We're responsible taking care of police or security, and then everybody know who's responsible.

So how much of so you're trying to put that on the agenda?

Yeah, just to talk.

That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, you you putting it on the agenda right now.

You want the votes to put it on the agenda right now.

That's what we got to do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

To put it on the, I guess, or the next time we it come up.

Now he he's eligible to put it on the next uh agenda if we vote on it, correct?

He's a counseling, he can put on an I.

But here he has to have votes, right?

Or can he do it straight just to council?

You can put it on.

He can put it on.

Okay.

All right.

I mean, you can, I mean, you can say you don't want you can ask for the council as vote not to put it on, but it's kind of by acclamation.

Okay.

So typically typically when y'all put that on the agenda like Mr.

Bilbo just did, absent any objection, it goes on.

Good then.

And so it's going on.

So at this point I should ask, does anybody have any objections?

Well, this is just gonna be an introduction of it to start the conversation.

It won't be for final approval or anything.

Just like we were talking about before.

It's going on the agenda.

The following week it'll be introduced and uh two weeks later, final action.

And just to be clear, just because you put it on don't mean you have to agree with it.

We just saying we're giving him the opportunity that's correct to put it on the agenda.

So it's on the head.

Yes, it'll go through the same process, Mr.

Fundell.

Introduction to be introverted next a week from tomorrow.

Right.

And then two weeks after that, yeah.

Or the first, it'll be the first uh or the first Wednesday in June.

Well, it'll be introduction for this one next week.

It should be introduced on the 20th.

Yes.

On the 20th, yeah.

And then it'll be to put it on on the 20th.

Yeah, that's all you're doing.

Voting to put it on as an introduction.

Allowing it to be as part of it.

And the final vote will be what June 3rd, I believe is the first.

Yeah.

Wednesday.

Now see, no, just just we just uh go ahead, ask your questions.

My my thing is, see, I I talked with Mr.

But I don't even know what this is about.

Now so when it comes back to put it on the agenda, if I don't have any more information, I'm still not going to Okay.

But let me let me let me tell you this.

Let me tell you this.

When he puts it on for introduction, it'll come on the agenda for introduction.

At that point, even as of today, you get the chance to ask him everything you want to ask.

He's gonna give us the background.

He will.

Yes.

He's gonna give you the reason why he wants it changed.

Yeah.

Okay.

Good.

All right.

If there's no objections, then it'll be added to next week's agenda as an introduction.

Good.

All right.

You don't need to vote.

No, we didn't have no opposition to it.

And that agenda fact sheet will be sent to the council, so you will see it ahead of time.

It's not like you don't see it.

He's asked the item going on the agenda, it goes on the agenda after any objection.

There was no objection.

So once you get the agenda fact sheet, if you have any questions about it, it was sponsored by Mr.

Bilbo.

You can call him and ask him why he did it.

No.

Or you can get with the city.

Who's responsible for who's in charge of the you can get with the city attorney?

City either uh if Mr.

Studzi, if I'm saying right, Mr.

Rubin, or who who helped you draft it?

Oh, you drafted yourself.

I drafted myself and I spoke to Mr.

Rubin and Ms.

Renee on how to get it done.

So they looked over it and said everything is proper.

Yes.

Okay, so you can talk to Mr.

Ruben.

So Mr.

Rubin would be able to tell me what we're changing.

Right.

I know it's right.

Okay.

Right.

And you can always call me too.

Yeah.

Oh, Mr.

Stewart.

All right.

You take too many decreases.

No.

Now, most of the time the agenda fact sheets in the council book, and that doesn't come out till it should come out the Friday before the Wednesday meeting.

The Friday before the Wednesday meeting, but it's a lot of time between now.

I need some background information on this.

Whatever you need, you let me know.

Yes.

Or you can get Mr.

Bilbo to give you a copy after this and start from there.

Okay.

All right.

So it's added to the agenda for the next week.

Any other thing, Mr.

Bible?

Okay, yeah.

Um a couple of months ago I asked, I knew we were all concerned about uh what they call it off of Fifth Avenue.

We just agreed to what uh place and don't we call it Johnny Wanna say Johnson Hall.

But as I've been going check on it so I could have understanding, I've been seeing I think it's whispering pines.

It's getting worse.

The one you have to drive by on the left?

The one you have to drive by on the left.

It's getting worse.

Uh the people next door, they say they got parts in the fence way in the back that we can't see, and now it's getting hot and rainy.

They had broke a bunch of windows up front.

I think we need to get in contact with these people and we need to make them do something with it.

It's almost becoming an eyesore.

If you go down Fifth Avenue on the left, you see the trees have grown, all the front windows are bust, and it's so deep we can't even see what's going on.

And I think people starting to to move in.

They need to answer what's to say.

It's on the east side of the cabin.

It is.

It's on the east side.

On the east side.

That we need to talk about make them answer for what they're gonna do.

We just can't have places just sitting making our areas look that way.

Mr.

Bible, we had conversations about it today because I think some of the winners are boarded up, and there's a provision that says it can only be boarded up so long.

Right.

And so I think the inspectors are going out there.

Paula could probably give you an update on it if you like.

Just for uh edification, Mr.

Cardone, I think we had agreed to what two years?

The board.

The boards can be, I think it was we gave a time limit on it.

I just got a one-year time limit on uh residential, I think, and a two-year or two-year on residential and a one year on commercial.

Okay.

Right.

This one is not boarded up.

Um we had the company did renovations on some of the um the buildings.

Well, pretty much most of the buildings, and they basically abandoned the apartment complex.

Uh, we've been cutting the grass for a while.

Uh we have a lock on the front gate where we unlock it for the contractor to go in and they cut it.

I'll pass by there the other day.

It needs cutting again.

But there is homeless going in and out of the buildings, they're destroying the buildings, breaking windows, and things like that.

Is it a local owner?

No.

And I have tried to get in touch with the owner.

Um I do have phone numbers and stuff, but they don't answer anything.

So we have another abandoned apartment complex that we are maintaining.

So can we red tag it?

Uh we can red tag the buildings that aren't structurally sound, have open windows.

So we can't red tag we can we can red tag them under our nuisance ordinances too.

Right.

Um, if I may, this just came up today, and we're asking our legal department to look at it.

And I I don't know if we can condemn it and tag it to be condemned, but we can tag it under the housing code.

And I think there's some things we can do to get this place cleaned up.

So it just came up today.

I only brought it up because Miss Miss Paula hears from me all the time, and she does a great job.

I know I know she needs some help with this.

We need to get so she can get the powers of bee to get it get somebody behind her.

There's more than just a normal yard cutting dispute, is it's gonna get out of hand.

We agree.

Yeah, so I just want to get her some help so everybody know that she needs help.

You know, with a project this size.

We talk all the time about it.

Yeah.

Okay.

And you said they have multiple buildings.

Is this uh it's I know that there was a not-for-profit that owns several parallel contents?

No, they towed that down.

Well, there the not for profit, they towed us down.

Okay.

This one has several buildings, and like I said, they did obtain permits and they did repair a lot of the buildings.

I think they had left were the front, the front build, the buildings in the very front.

But um they have long since abandoned everything.

I'm not sure why.

Uh, but we've had several apartment complexes in that area that were abandoned.

Um, but um, this is our last one, I believe, that we're dealing with that has an abandoned owner.

Uh, the other ones have um different investment companies that are fixing them up.

So thank you, Miss Paul.

Okay, I know there's a legal question.

I I sit here every Tuesday and I I read all the condemnations and people not taking care of their property.

I might have asked this before, but I don't know why we can't find somewhere legally that before we spend the money when these people are not showing up and before we get to the point that we're spending money and just tying up a property lease and we putting a bill to the lease they don't evidently don't care about anyway.

Can we get to the point that we can offer it to sell?

Maybe somebody wanna, I'm just asking, can't somebody purchase it before we spend money that we never gonna get.

I mean, we got a list of 70, 80 houses that at the end of it is costing us 5,000.

One later called me in the terrorists, it was 12,000.

Just to tear down the house that I know that somebody could have came in and say, all right, you don't want it, sign it over, and we can sell it.

Not for profit, just so they can have it.

So we don't have that total expense.

I can imagine what kind of expense this is.

And when I came in the council, it was about six, seven pages.

You know.

Well, we we dealt with that same issue in the last council.

And legally you'd have to deal with the owner.

The city can't do anything with it.

We just have to go through the process of going through adjudication liens and all that.

Because then once they go to adjudication, now we got to cut it every I would tell you, it's a it that is an issue that every municipality is dealing with.

Okay.

And uh the the state has a task force on blighted property that's dealing with all those issues.

Not not just before by the time it gets to adjudication, but as they start in blight.

Because usually it's it's you know, it's there like property owners, uh, it's people that just don't have the financial means and they're trying to find a way out because invariably, once all these properties come out of commerce, they create these donut holes.

When we start to see more and more areas now where we've got all this infrastructure, streets, lights, water, sewer, and just empty lot after empty lot, all of them outside of the floodplain.

So we're trying to do infield development, but the first thing is how do we get title to those properties?

And maybe it's not a title issue.

How do we get titled insurance on those properties to put them back in commerce and get them redeveloped?

Because I'm asking if these people at Whispering Pines ain't even in communication.

That's gonna be a hefty bill if we had to red tag it and eventually tear it down.

That's a monster bill, and I'm sure we could finally find some group that'll say, Oh, we we can we'll buy this before we spend the money on that, or we do we just let it sit there like we did place Vendome.

How long that's been a while.

But you you can you can get in touch with the owners and no, they're not even I'm telling they're not answering to no one.

Yeah, I'm just asking because.

No, no, you're right.

The owners, the the Louisiana's property laws, the constitution protects property rights.

So it's it's a it's a process to take to get somebody's property, they can sell it, and maybe there's some ways to encourage them.

But if they choose not to sell in, there's a lot of airs involved.

If one decides not to sell, it stops it.

But but and that that that issue first came up after in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, and now after Hurricanes Laura and Delta, you're seeing it more more citywide.

And it's so it's an issue that eventually has to be addressed because you know, each each of these storms that's people that just don't have the ability to fix their properties or don't have insurance, but at the same time, these properties are falling up on the taxpayers to maintain.

For us to maintain.

So I'm saying at that point, can't we say, hey, can we give you a contact number?

They might want to purchase it before we tear down, not us sell it, just say, hey, yeah.

We can always contact them and tell them that and try to encourage them to do something, but as far as us No, no, just just say that we can put that as a step to say, hey.

Yeah, and now the problem I tell you what because one constituent they're giving me a call about that.

They had a home that was uh in their neighborhood that was falling apart, and they they did contact the the owner had passed, the mother had passed, the the son had it.

The son wanted to charge them basically as if they were buying a house and the house is already done, they would have to tear it down.

So financially, it just didn't make sense.

So even once you get the right person, you know, you gotta deal with their motors, or they're gonna just give the property for just to for it to be torn down, or they're gonna try to profit off of it.

So it's a lot of dynamics in that.

Okay, because I agree, because that's what I think they starting to board up window, and I always say oh Kroger parking lot, but it's park place, they starting to board them up.

They have some busted windows, so yeah, we need to got to start seeing a time frame of what we're gonna force them to do because eventually it's gonna become like those places.

And and I think the the task force that that's working on the blighted property.

We we actually uh met with the uh with the members of the task force, they're working pretty hard because this is going on everywhere.

Now it used to be just in big cities, but even when you talk to the mayors from Venton and Drill and places, they're having they're dealing with the same issues now.

Okay.

I I believe there's uh some legislation in process now.

Um I think ultimately it's gonna probably be a constitutional amendment to address some blighted property issues.

I think it's only on you and I talked about that.

It's only on uh populations of 7500 hundreds helping those localities that don't have all the resources, right?

And it would be great if they could expand that right to give us some more tools, and that's what and that's what the big roadblock they said it triggers a constitutional provision, but there's also always the the thought that look if you if you change the constitution, even for blighted property, will that open the doorway to come and get properties that's not blighted?

So they it they really have to work through it because the property rights in Louisiana are constitutionally protected.

All right, Mr.

Weatherford.

Um I don't really have I do have um I've had constituents request um on a couple temporary um stay properties um that are we got notice of um minor conditional use requests have one north lock point lane that wants to yep um have a hearing planning and zoning planning zoning and I don't remember I want to say it's 217 but um the one that's on park yep road uh I say it's road park that's next off of Prince Lake Road across from Prairie Lake Park.

So you're requesting the the 15 day appeal, right?

Okay, yeah, they've they that they've notified me that they want to have a hearing on that.

And that's what I um I wanted to tell the council you need to read the uh we got a bunch of them yesterday.

Yes, I got BNBs, right?

Yeah, short term short term rentals well, yeah.

Yeah, B and B is a little different.

Yeah, B traditionally you have to thousand live there, or are there someone that's full that's lives there?

Right.

Um and offers that you that's it.

That's it.

How many you had?

Two.

All right, you got y'all got that, Mayor.

All right, uh Mr.

Fundale.

Um I don't have anything.

Um I do the way the parish does it, but I think it'll help me a lot, and I think it'll help Mr.

Fondell with some of his questions, and I think we need to do like a five-year plan.

We talk about resiliency centers a lot, and I'm glad we're spending a lot of grant money on them, but you know, that way we don't have to come out of our own pockets.

And I'm sure our goal after we finish with resilience centers is to have them all over the city so that they benefit everybody.

We need to geographically make sure that that's happening.

So I'm asking if there's a way, domain engineering or get with the Paris GIS if we could plug in the resiliency centers that we have now, and any future ones plug them onto a map so that me, the city councilman, the citizens, everybody feels good about the efforts and the money we're spending on resiliency centers that they're there for everybody.

Sure, and we spread them out far enough because I know some of the ones we talked about seem geographically too close to really benefit people more.

That request makes sense.

That absolutely makes sense, yes.

I don't and I would like to have that pretty quick, so maybe we could talk about the resiliency center that's on the agenda.

Maybe I'm asking too much, I don't know.

No, I think if we don't have that, we need to plan for that because hurricanes are coming.

We know that, unfortunately.

And it'd be nice to say, hey, this is what we've been working on.

We've been planning ahead.

Your city's behind you.

Here's what we have.

And you're absolutely right.

That's exactly what we're working on.

It's it's strategically uh distributing resiliency hubs throughout the city so that it can help with recovery because uh, like you said, we can't control the weather, but we can try to control the recovery.

Well, I'm a I I use GIS a lot, and I think it's a great tool, and you can plug in population numbers, city council districts, all kinds of stuff to GIS that really give you some data about how many people that resiliency hub is gonna benefit.

I I would think that I would equalize that is our goal to make sure that each residency center serves one-seventh of the population or whatever, how many of them we have.

So yeah, and and I think I don't need to get into it.

I I think that's a great idea because not only should we have these uh strategically place resiliency centers, but also inform the communities and bring in do a lot of outreach to let them know these are the resources that you have, not just for hurricanes, but if there's a freeze flood if it's yeah, right.

So it's a project, and yes, if we figure out who can do it, I'll be glad to work with them and help.

That's it.

That's it.

Thank you, sir.

Okay.

I got a few things, and some of the things may be repetitive, but I'm gonna keep uh banging it home.

Well, bringing it home.

The first thing is I want us to be mindful of ordinance 11 372.

That ordinance states that any time a consultant makes a recommendation and it's a consultant that we're paying taxpayer money for, we should have those results 14 days prior to we have to vote on any issue.

So I think that would help a lot of us if we got that information when possible, as close to as much time as we can give before the vote.

The other thing is the scheduling of meetings.

I know when we have these meetings, mayor, y'all y'all have a um, y'all have a schedule that y'all have to work to, but with the exception of Mr.

Fundale, I think every councilman works.

I've worked.

So I have a job.

This is for the record.

I'm very nosy in my community, and I like to be to every meeting.

So if we could try to make an effort to coordinate between you and us to get a feasible time where we can make those dates, that would be greatly appreciated.

Sure.

Um if it can't be done, then the council is gonna have to understand we're gonna have to do our due diligence to educate ourselves on whatever that issue is that we have to vote on.

Uh I talked about the wording of the sports complex.

We already uh did that.

We did the request for the short-term rentals.

That's already it.

Um my understanding, we have a new director on the fifth floor or the yeah, the fifth floor.

Is that correct?

Uh we have an interim director.

Interim?

Yeah, yeah, Ms.

Tarsha Williams.

How how long do we plan on leaving it interim?

Uh we may make it permanent.

We're trying to we we got a lot of projects we're getting out, then we're gonna sit down and evaluate that whole how the uh how that floor is operating.

Okay.

So far, so good though.

All right.

What's the fifth floor?

That's uh that's uh community development.

I know it's above four afternoon.

That's a community development.

All right.

Uh I just go to Miss Paula Flow with me, so I was reading through, well, I knew this already, but in the in the powers of the city council, it states that the the council has the right to investigate any department that they see fit to investigate.

Every every every department for the city can be looked at from the council perspective.

I am asking that I would like to set up a meeting with Miss Wendy Um Robinson to discuss the wastewater division.

I I have some questions.

I've had several complaints, and I've been dealing with this for some years now.

And I want to sit down and take a look with any council that that want to be a part of it as well, take a look at the wastewater uh division and and see uh is there any validity to what I'm hearing?

Is it any validity that do we need to make some changes?

Whatever the case may be.

I'm asking the administration to work with me on sitting down and and going over that particular uh department.

Um I'd like to set up a time to further discuss that when y'all have time or when Miss Robertson has time.

We'll get that done.

All right.

The other thing is there's a grant that I read about today.

It's a Louisiana water and wastewater grant.

The EPA is giving 90 million dollars out, and it's being broken down into two categories.

One is 30 million and one is 60 million, and they deal with infrastructure and things like that.

And I think this is a grant that we may be eligible for.

I'd like for us to look into it.

Absolutely.

Maybe it could help us with some of the future plans that we have.

Yep, and that's that's where some of these consultants have been come into play because we've asked them to be able to pull down federal grants as they come up, not based on whether they fit us, but just get we give them a subject matter and they go hunting for it.

Right.

Uh the other thing is I've been getting a lot of complaints about speeding in neighborhoods.

Uh, for example, Cactus Drive.

Uh uh, Mr.

Miles Brown had been telling us about speeding on Fourth Avenue.

I would like to come up with a plan.

I know we see it on the highway where they said if you speed in these areas as higher fines.

Is it possible for us to come up with an ordinance where we can put these signs strategically placed in certain neighborhoods where if you get caught speeding through this particular neighborhood, it's a higher fine.

You know, and and I'm talking about the congested neighborhoods, like Cactus Drive, for instance.

That's one way in, they got a stop sign that's basically in the middle of a street to turn.

And I'm getting complaints that they they run it up and down.

I've I reported it to the uh community police, but we only got one community police.

So in the meantime, I think we need to start doing something to let people know we're not playing when it comes to speeding, because if you got a kids in place sign, that ought to be an indication that you can't speed down this street now.

You know.

Um so if we could work on that and find out the legal parameters of whether or not we can we can do make higher fines in those areas, I'd appreciate that.

The other thing is Morgan Field.

I'm getting complaints.

We had worked on it.

Diesels are taking breaks.

Like on the weekend they park on the side of the roads and they let their road, they uh diesels idle.

And the homeowners uh say they can't sleep, you know, because it's it's 18 Wheelers?

18 Wheelers, yeah.

And and they they doing it all through Morgan Field, I guess, because it's a it's a less travel place late at night, but I don't know exactly what we can do, maybe put some signs up, warnings, you know, I don't I don't know.

That's the solution.

We'll find one.

Yeah.

And the other one is me and Miss Sharon went out and looked at a park this past weekend, and there's another complex on Prejon Drive.

And I noticed that they have a sign on it to contact 491 1296.

So I'm assuming that we have some communication with the owners of that because they till it people have torn down the the rot iron fence and they're dumping tires in there now.

So I would like for us to see if we can expedite that in some way because we have plans for that area and why it's being focused on it.

We need to, and and I think the apartment complex is like Mr.

Bilbo was saying, if if we work it, we can possibly get some investors to take it over because you know it's not bad.

Not like Johnson Hall.

But I just want us to be aware of that.

So that's all I have.

Any other questions up, any more questions or comments from the council.

At this time, it's the portion of the meeting where we hear from the public.

The first one is Mr.

Paul Moore.

Please state your name and address for the record, please.

Paul Moore.

Uh wait till you get to the mic.

And uh, I need everybody to be mindful.

Uh, three minutes.

If you need more time, ask the council, or if you got somebody donating time, we'll grant it to you.

Try to do my best.

That's all right.

Name is Paul Moore.

I have the property across from the problem property.

Mine's 808 Alco Street.

And the problem I'm asking is about 809 Alco.

And there's a halfway house there, and I have hit every brick wall in the last eight months trying to do something about a halfway house.

I just want to make it clear.

I've probably talked about eight people in this this room.

I want to make it clear.

This is not about conflict with the federal government.

This is not about the individuals living there.

This is about people from Texas coming in, getting a house they don't own, and open up uh a halfway house, you know, in in our neighborhood.

And the problem is they're not registered, and I can't seem to get anybody to get them to get registered.

First complaint, the first problem was Mr.

Moore.

Before you go any further, can you give me a mark of where we're talking about?

So again, the car is off of Louisiana Avenue.

All right.

Oh, 809 Alco is right off of Kirkman Street.

Kirkman.

Yeah, Kirkman, Lagrange area right there.

Okay.

So if you're going down Kirkman, you take a left before you get to school street, and that's Alco.

Okay.

Okay.

And what bothers me is eight months ago, I've been in this house 15 years, I've been in the neighborhood.

Okay, you hear these cars coming at 2 o'clock in the morning, the first time I had a problem, and dropping off people at 2 o'clock in the morning every day for two weeks, 15 people was put in a two-bedroom house.

Okay, and these were all supposedly transition people.

Problem is not the people, it's registering these people.

You can't have 15 people living in a two-bedroom house.

Exactly.

And then you had uh couples, you had babies in there, and all these people, and then you have a pet of um a sex offender that was put in there too.

It's like this, it's crazy, it's out of control.

And uh all I'm asking is that somebody get them to register it, and the person that owns it is um Princess Taylor.

Now given all this not trying to stick anybody out, but to the mayor's office has most of the information, not the mayor himself, but that office uh the website.

First, they said it's not a halfway house.

I proved it was a halfway because she has a web page with her name on it.

The name is Princess Taylor.

Princess Taylor, and she's married, and they go by, she has different aliases.

She has, you know, I'm not gonna go into more detail about that.

So she she's supposedly married and has another name.

And these are Texas people, these are not Louisiana residents, these are all Texas and they have four of them in the city area.

So every time there's an issue with one, they move them.

Thank you, ma'am.

And so I just want to make it that I just want to have somebody try.

I will talk to about eight different departments.

I just want somebody to do something about it.

I'm not care about the people living there.

It's not about federal.

You just want it legal.

I want it legal.

Everybody else has to be.

They have to be legal.

And there's a reason they don't want to be legal is because what they're doing is illegal.

If I'm not mistaken, Mr.

Moore, I I may be speaking out of term, but I think in the packet that we received from planning and zoning, there was one of these Princess Taylor, I'm thinking is one of the names.

So I'm gonna go back and check it.

She has four locations, it's not registered.

I I'll get on it.

So if I have any questions, my last 20 seconds, I'll be glad to answer any questions.

Well, what I want to do right now is I want to put the appeal on record for those uh for those uh short-term rentals under that name.

If I got the right name.

Can I do that legally?

Short-term rental.

Well, no, you know, he's uh uh he's not talking about short-term rental, he's talking about name associated.

I'm saying that part of associated with short-term rentals.

Yeah, they're not buying houses now.

What they're doing is getting these these people that can't do something with the house, and they're doing like owner financing.

The person that owns it's supposed to be Anne Vayon, Marshall's office been trying to get her for years.

The person that like owner finance or whatever you want to call it, doesn't even own the house.

Okay, so it's uh I guess you call a rental.

Right.

So we'll get on it.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you for your hands.

And check back with us.

Yeah, something on it, check back with me.

Yeah.

Oh, we did have some some history on it.

Yeah, not because um we're familiar with the company that owns uh that sober living home.

Yeah, they don't own the home, but it on the business.

And she has uh I think three other places.

They they all registered, but I'm I'm not certain if this one is, so we'll make sure she was.

I know for sure this was not registered, and like I said, two I'm too over two o'clock in the morning, people blowing horns and talking on the street like a like it's you know what I'm saying.

It's not that neighbor, it's not it's a registered, it's people that are older, retired.

And I think we do have an ordinance about how many people can be in that.

We do have an audience that they have to register and then we'll we'll work work from them.

Okay, so I mean at one time when they first moved in, we're talking 15 people in a two-bedroom.

Okay, right.

So appreciate it.

Thank you.

Fitzgerald Darbone.

State your name and address for the record, please.

Fitzgerald Darbone, 2523 Hagen Street.

Uh question.

When I left here in the early 80s, we had communities.

We had gospel at Fisherville, Car Shop, all those communities.

When did the city get segregated into having a north and south lake Charles?

When did that?

I don't think the city is segregated.

It's connotations that people put on sides of town because it's the northernmost part of town and the southernmost part of town.

We got midtown, we got all that, but that's not designated names.

Well, I mean, whenever we the television, the council, the city, the parish, it divides the city, north and south Lake Charles.

I'm just I'm asking how did that when I left we had communities, but now we have two parts.

Anyway, you have to ask the person who calls it that.

I mean, it's the law that say that that's the way it is.

Well, I mean, you guys all call it that.

Yeah, because we grew up in those neighborhoods, and that's how we knew it for.

I'm just I'm so I'm asking, but I mean, was it designated somebody we voted on that that be north and I mean I left, that's why I'm no we didn't.

No, we didn't.

Okay.

All right.

The uh sports center.

The um the sports center was is moved, it's gonna be built where the amper theater was supposed to be built.

What are we gonna do with that money from the amper theater?

Is it gonna stay in that district?

Is it gonna move out of the district?

What's gonna happen?

That money is still gonna be used on the amphet theater.

On amper theater where?

At the current site.

That's the tentative agreement.

Of the where the other amper theater is, okay.

Um so it will it will be built.

Amber Theater will be built.

Okay.

Now that's okay.

Uh seat center.

What is the latest on the seed center being built on 171 near Enterprise Rental Car?

Still gonna be built.

And why?

I said that because of the fact that we've been introducing a lot of community resilience hub that in their language they want to do financial literacy and and that stuff.

Well, if we don't have all these community resilience hubs, thank you.

Why do we need that one?

And if we don't need that one, can that money be used for something else?

And what is that money?

Well, you say that one, what are you talking about?

The seat center.

The seat center is not a resiliency hub.

Well, yeah, but they're gonna be in their description, they're gonna be teaching financial literacy and all the other stuff that the commit the resiliency hubs will be doing.

So if we're gonna do all these in the resilience, why do we need that seed center?

And if that seed center was is being funded by CBD uh disaster relief money, can that be used towards something else?

Now that's a whole different entity.

Okay.

The Louisiana Chamber of Commerce is building that building.

Okay, so with they building it or they're leasing it from the city.

No, they building it.

Okay.

The building it with their money or our money and their money.

Portions, partnership.

You know how much?

No, not right.

They got the majority.

Okay.

So I mean what's the latest?

I haven't heard anything on it.

Uh no one have heard anything on the.

I couldn't tell you.

I couldn't tell you anything about that.

I'll tell you a little bit, the uh the the uh the Louisiana Chamber of Commerce and uh at the final stages of getting all their procurement together.

They they started uh the design of the building.

Uh they had a funding uh situation that they got resolved, so they're they're they're migrating towards uh procurement and starting the the project itself.

It's called the the business incubation center.

Correct.

Correct.

Um last thing.

Hold on, Mr.

Dalborn.

You need more time?

Yes, I have we give vote to give Mr.

Dalborn.

Uh three minutes, two ends.

Two minutes.

Please vote.

The uh uh so you guys had their uh I don't remember what number it was on the agenda by the uh Immacular Mary uh resiliency hub um wanting to purchase that property and you you guys had some issue with that.

Let me tell you, that is the best possibility for that resiliency hub.

We created SWLA Center for Herbs Health Services after the storm, we process over 3,500 people every day for three months at that place.

And we did uh for as logistics-wise, it's perfect.

Uh I thought that's the way they were gonna be doing that before, but I am in agreement for that location to be used as a community resilience hub.

Uh, Mr.

Fonday, I know you had some information about the whole uh about the purchase or something you had mentioned about not having the information on that one.

But uh I know for a fact that that will work in that area because I worked it during the hurricanes, uh, and um I think that location would be best for North Lake Charles.

That's all I have.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

McDowell.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

I finished that.

You guys speak a lot on that LC rebound and the taxes.

You guys voted on it, not you guys, but the previous administrator voted on that.

And we keep we keep saying the fact that the city agreed to this.

The city agreed.

I keep hearing that.

We didn't agree to that.

This is the results from the voting for LC rebound.

100% of, like y'all call North Lake Charles voted against LC rebound.

But the councilman that's on that area, and you guys voted against what Mr.

Speaker, the time of the gentleman has expired.

What the community wanted.

You need another minute?

Uh no, I just I wanted to just yes.

I wanted just to understand that it wasn't the whole city that voted for LC rebound.

It was part of the city because the other half of the city voted against LC Rebound.

So, how much of this money of LC rebound, other than the Enterprise Boulevard extension is being used in the community of North Lake Charles?

Well, first of all, let me correct you.

A vote takes place citywide, so majority rules.

So the city did vote on it.

The council did what the city wanted.

Now, there are several projects going on in North Lake Charles from uh the enterprise extension.

Uh we moved the sports complex out of there, and there's some other ones coming down the pipe.

The uh that sports complex had nothing to do with LC rebound.

Well, but I'm giving you what's being done in North Lake Charles as a whole.

Okay.

We have the seed center coming.

We have uh uh various other things, Project Build the Future is doing something.

Uh there's things happening in North Lake Charles.

Now, maybe not as much as we would like, but that's what we need the public to come out and speak.

That's why I'm here.

Uh-huh.

That's why I'm speaking.

Other than the Enterprise Boulevard extension, what money is LC rebound tax increase or tax whatever they split it or say it was, how much of that is being spilt in our spent in our community other than the extension?

Well, I would encourage you to come back, get with the mayor's office, sit down and have a meeting, and they can break that down to you, because we don't have that at the top of our head right now.

Okay.

I just thought the councilman that would represent our area would have that information.

He probably do if he was hitting it.

Yeah.

That's the question.

If he was here.

Thank you.

He's generally at all the other meetings.

I'm sure you're seeing.

Thank you.

Mac Dela Falls.

State your name and address for the record.

1917 19th Street.

All right.

Good evening, Council.

I won't take up much of your time.

I have three issues that I'd like to discuss.

One is your agenda.

So as a citizen, I rely on pretty much what you have on the on the internet as to what's going on, what's going to be on the agenda.

Mr.

Renee does an excellent job, by the way, uh of posting those agendas.

But what I'd like for the board to do is this agenda that y'all have says meeting agenda.

This is, even though it may not be your permanent agenda, this is nowhere on the website.

We can't find this.

So what I'd like for the council to do is at least to whether or not it's going to be in draft form or whatever it's going to be is to post it.

So if I want to come down and see what's going on or what you guys are going to maybe move to the full agenda, for us to view it would be great.

And I know I don't know what you require.

I don't know you have five days uh to put it on the site for us to be able to look at and you can amend it as needed, but I think it would be a good step forward for transparency for the board to at least put it on there.

Well, I don't know what would be the problem for pres for not doing it.

Well, correct me, Mr.

Stutz, if I remember correctly, or Mr.

Cardone, we first of all, we have that's what this meeting is for, for us to approve the agenda.

So we don't officially have an agenda until it's approved.

Understand.

And from that point, we can post it.

Well, you can post it if you want to.

As a matter of fact, but it won't be an agenda.

Well, you say meeting agenda at the top here.

Uh-huh.

So whether you can want to call it what you want, it says agenda.

So my thought is if you're gonna why not post it if it says agenda.

If you don't want if you want to call it something else, but for me, it's still an opportunity for us to be able to see what's going on, what's coming down the pipe.

So let me just be clear.

Okay, you want us to post this before it becomes an official agenda.

You draft.

Yes, the draft, just like it says here.

Okay.

So I mean, it's it's and no action is going to be taken until it gets to you guys anyway, but it allows me to say, okay, I want to go and at least see it.

Right.

Okay.

Ms.

Renee, is that a problem?

I know you're working on it until the last minute.

Exactly.

That's that is the same.

That's why she's not posting it.

I can well, you post all the other ones.

So I have a deadline that I have to post.

Five days before.

No, not five days before.

Well, that's what that's the law.

That's not our law.

That's not the city council law.

Well, what's what's what's law versus city council law?

What supersedes?

City council.

No, your state law.

No, I can tell you the state law.

Long as we work within the parameters of the law and we don't defy the law, we can amend it to fit.

Can I can I ask council?

Ask Mr.

Stutz, what's the law on posting your agendas?

You talking about the local ordinance?

Local, state there is a state law on ordinance on which you're as I know we're fully in compliance with that.

What is that law?

The time.

How many days?

How many days do you require the code?

I'll have to look it up.

Okay.

You can give me that.

This is not the agenda.

No, no.

Correct.

Well, she says she's under a deadline, so I'm just saying, it's is is it possible for you guys to do?

Because I think it does a service to the community.

If you're talking about having citizens knowing what's going on, it works.

But I understand what you're asking.

You're asking us that.

Yeah.

But right now, we're in compliance with the law.

I never said you was out of compliance.

But I'm just making it clear.

Yeah, I understand.

I'm just asking for something additional.

Okay.

Do they post it?

Oh, yes.

We're always we have five days before.

We don't have a draft agenda.

So y'all do that.

We have one, we have when the agenda comes, agenda goes out.

We don't have a draft of the meeting.

No, we don't.

Oh, that's that's the same.

It's only it's it's two meetings.

24 hours before the meeting.

When the agenda has to be filed.

Exclusive of holidays.

The deadline is 24 hours.

So if you can get it 24 hours before, I don't.

Well, I think that's a good question.

No, no, no.

Can it be done over the road?

Let me be clear.

Not 24 hours before this meeting.

Once this agenda is adopted, it has to be posted 24 hours before the actual meeting, which is next Wednesday.

Correct.

That's the our obligation under state law.

It's not to post this draft agenda.

So just to be clear, Mr.

Dela Falls.

I understand all of it.

Okay.

So that's what I'm asking the council to do.

So I don't know if that if I have to ask the council member to to put that as a an item at some point that y'all can look at.

Okay.

Uh if so, then I'll I'll I'll take that route.

Okay.

I'll probably need some more time, I guess, if you don't mind.

You how much you need?

Two more?

Yeah.

Okay.

So you can vote to give him two more minutes?

All right.

All right, two other items, and Mr.

Viseno kind of touched on it, I think Fench Dalbon about these resiliency hubs.

So, you know, as part of your planning and your your what you're going to do in the future, I'm just curious.

Do how many resiliency hubs do we have currently?

In in the city.

Yeah, you're talking about as we speak.

As we speak now.

None that I know of.

Okay.

So what are the purpose of the resiliency hubs and how many or do we anticipate or in development and the plan?

Well, may you want to I'll I'll answer this.

I think first of all, uh it's been a a lot of loose lips, a lot of loose language.

Everything being built is not a resiliency hub.

We have some designated uh areas that are considering a primary resiliency hub, and then we have some as secondary resiliency hub.

I think in the community there's been a lot of conversation about buildings coming up, and everybody think they're resiliency hubs, and they're not.

Uh the mayor and his administration as well as the council hasn't designated anything as of yet.

But once we do build them, we will mark them as a primary or a secondary resiliency hub.

So are there any plans to say, okay, I mean, if you're gonna have a five-year plan, I'm pretty sure the mayor and you guys say, okay, this is what we'd like to see in five years.

Here are the locations.

So what you're saying right now is there's no plan as to where they're gonna be.

Oh, yeah, there's a plan.

Okay.

So do we know where those are currently?

Yes.

Okay.

What are those?

Well, the only ones that we know of right now, we have a proposal for the one that you've seen on the agenda item today uh for the uh the Macwart and Mary property on uh Opalucia Street.

And then we have a hopes, the Hope Center, which is gonna be on uh I forget the name of the street.

I thought it was just said that that wasn't gonna be a resiliency hub.

It was just mentioned.

No, he'll his the current the current situation is that in cases of storms and emergencies, uh the the city's recreation centers, the event center, uh Burton Coliseum has been used as recovery sites.

Uh the event center has failed because the the roof caves in.

We had problems with with recreation centers.

That's why places like SWLA Center for Health Services took it upon themselves.

So what we're doing now is we're we're putting together resiliency hubs, and resiliency hubs means these buildings are going to be built to uh we stand 140 mile an hour winds, have independent power sources, charging stations, staging areas closer to the main arterial places so they can be uh supplied.

Uh one is gonna be this the sports complex that's here for the downtown area.

Another the other one, another primary one is proposed to be at by next to SWLA on Appaloosa Street, then you're gonna have secondary uh centers for the same monies that have gone out, like the Hope Center, Teen Center, those aren't gonna be primary hubs because it wouldn't be fair to put it upon those operators to uh to to staff and and and do things in case of emergency.

So the city the two that I just mentioned, the city owns those.

They're gonna be built, they're gonna be staging areas for recovery.

Uh we also looking at uh other places like we done we've gotten together with Ward 3 about identifying sites that we can actually uh retrofit and and reinforce so that those can be staging areas because uh the city has not had uh total uh resiliency places that uh that are available when disaster strike.

The um SWLA became one because the Allen August Center, the Allenauga Center uh wasn't available.

Uh uh MLK wasn't available, gospel wasn't available.

So we instead of relying on uh recreation centers and the events and we're actually gonna build some and fortify others and strategically place them throughout the city so that every person can come back and stage recovery.

You mentioned that the city is gonna own two of them.

Is that what yes?

Where where are those locations and I guess are those how how are those funded?

Well, it's uh with the disaster recovery funds.

Operate them, yes.

Okay, so will those be gonna operate them?

We operate the the well the we we have people that we get it.

We're gonna have cooperative endeavor agreements to operate those, but the city's gonna own them.

The sports complex is one.

The other one would be the one, whatever we do with the second harvest funds.

We've asked not to have anybody other than the city owned that, and we just have other people that we want to contract with.

But the others are gonna be part of that that the program that was done, and that was part of the the previous administration's promise was to go ahead and build these these centers and after a period of time that those those those facilities would be owned by those operators.

Okay.

By the operator, you said the city was gonna own it, so it's not the city owned versus I think you just mentioned that the operators were gonna own it.

No, the city is gonna own it.

You just mentioned you said the output.

I said two of them the city is gonna actually own without any without anybody else having an oblig uh uh a transfer obligation later on down the line.

Do these buildings sit dormant until it's needed or what?

No, we're gonna have we're gonna put programs in them and operate those to because that they have to meet national objectives.

They have to meet uh provide certain services that's gonna benefit uh low and moderate income communities, and we think they're gonna benefit the the entire the city as an entirety eventually.

And the city's gonna pay for staffing for those.

Uh no, not necessarily.

If we if we build these facilities and there's people that that can show the demonstrate that they can operate in those centers, then they can we'll we'll end into agreements with them.

The time of the gentleman has expired.

You got another minute.

Okay.

The I'll hold some questions.

I think what that's still kind of in development with that.

So I think I'll probably just come back on that of another day.

Uh this is for my mother.

Uh she has you know, whoever I don't remember who our last city councilman was, but there's constant speeding on Louis Street.

And that's off of Ryan Patrick.

Of Ryan Lake.

Yeah.

And they're constantly, I mean, going.

We can add Louis to that uh to our list.

So if you would, I don't know who our councilman is right now, but I think she did.

She told me she addressed it with whoever it was before.

Mr.

Young.

Okay.

All right.

So now I haven't spoken to anybody, she asked me to do it, so that's all I have.

All right.

Thank you, Mr.

Delpo.

Uh Mr.

Gerard Decker.

He may have had his um, he had sent his in early.

Uh-huh.

So the Mr.

Castile got with him on his issue.

Might have been resolved.

Okay.

Uh Miles Brown.

Miles has uh Ken the Ray Gay.

Kenneth Gay here.

It was just a donate them time.

Yes, I'm just making sure you hear Mr.

Prudem.

Mr.

Prudum is here.

So Mr.

Brown has nine minutes.

Miles Brown, 1020 Fourth Avenue.

Um believe it or not, guys, over the past few years, my only agenda is to try to figure out with the city as to try to find out a solution on the reckless driving that goes on on the north end of Fourth Avenue.

If you are aware there was a vehicle or homicide in that area, that's a hit and run that's still under investigation.

And uh it's a little personal because I actually knew the person.

And I know over the past few years there's been a lot of little discrepancies on traffic studies in that area and me coming up here and trying to bring up a solution and showing how the documentation's wrong or something's some kind of error.

But um ironically, day before that this tragedy happened, I was able to actually get a lot of the documentation from the past traffic study most recently in Fourth Avenue, and also uh the ones that have been done around the city, and I found out some differences in it.

And then I was gonna kind of wait until a few months and just try to do some more research, but with what happened, I feel like I gotta come up here and try to plead my case for another traffic study.

Now, the one that they just did last year, um, for the most part it was done okay, but basically where they put the traffic box and stuff, it did not really catch a lot of the reckless driving in between.

So when the drivers would pass that little traffic box, they would go a certain speed, but right after they would just keep going.

So none of that data was caught in the traffic study.

So I what I've done over the past few months, I've kind of just been outside in that area and I've kind of tracked it to show you on the council like some video examples.

So if you can go to video one, that way I can y'all can see what I'm referring to.

There's no sound.

There's no sound.

Wait, this right here be is good enough.

Um what I've seen over these past years.

All right, well.

Yeah, you see.

Let's say hypothetically, hopefully this never happens.

Somebody gets hurt.

This one.

You know, uh, that homeowner's not gonna care about uh that somebody run into the house because that has happened multiple times over the years.

You know, not saying it would be a civil or big lawsuit, but you know, people are gonna want demand answers and they're gonna realize that this has been addressed so many times, you know.

Yeah.

So I'm not really here to, even though I have a lot of documentation to show some things.

I'm not really here to go back and forth and say the past one's done and all the stuff.

I'm just asking if it's possible to do a new traffic study.

And this time when it's being done, I would like to speak to whoever's conducting it, that way we can kind of be on the same page as to what I'm trying to refer to and where the actual speeding goes on, so that stuff can get tracked because the videos that you saw there in the last traffic study, none of that is being tracked in between.

So that's really what I'm asking for.

Is that possible for that to get done?

Mr.

Brown, if uh if Mr.

Herman, if you don't mind, can can you I I guess the confusion that I have is that in that where is it that you uh advocating for the stop signs to be?

Okay.

Um so basically, second, well, a four-way stop on 2nd Street and Johanna Place.

There's a four-way stop.

Um kind of like in that but it's not a four-way No, I wanted it to be a four-way stop.

But I'm saying it's not four ways in, right?

You got fourth avenue.

And Johanna turns off of that, right?

Johanna's, yeah.

That that's uh it's on one.

So east and west.

But the way it's set up, there's one side is Johanna Place on the other side is second street.

They offset, right?

Yeah, they kind of offset.

Okay, so but just somewhere in between real well, I know Mr.

Herman's anywhere in between Fourth Street and Broad Street on Fourth Avenue, basically.

But Mr.

Herman, can you explain Mr.

Harman?

Can't you wait till you get through this nine minutes?

You guys tell me what you want to do.

Can he just wait till you get through his nine minutes?

Oh, you still talking?

Are you finished?

I just wanted to bring up.

I thought he had ended.

No.

I'm I'm I'm just wanted to finish that part, but I was gonna bring up something else after we were done talking about this.

You finish.

Finish your nine minutes.

Well, I well, I that's what I only had a question on was could we get into traffic study?

That's that was my only question.

But I had another item I wanted to bring up afterwards.

So the other item, and we're gonna address everything you're saying when we when you finish.

Okay, okay.

Now, the second thing, uh, I'm glad that well, how much time do I have left?

You have four minutes, three and a half minutes left.

Okay, that's good to know because I got something for y'all.

Um for quite some time I've noticed that when it comes up to me when I'm supposed to speak, the rules change.

And I and I thought, well, maybe it was just me.

But I realize that a lot of times you on the council are not really following or conducting the rules properly.

So if you don't mind, can you please pull up video two?

That way I can give an example.

This is not a public debate.

You come here's a public, no, it's not.

We don't engage with the text.

Now, one thing we're gonna get straight.

In the city council chambers, we have protocol.

Uh that protocol is the people come up and talk, and y'all address the council.

We don't take a poll of the citizens to see if what we're talking about is popular.

It's a lot of five minutes.

Yeah, I know that's gonna happen.

As an elected official, we were sworn in to do what the community wants.

I'm looking at this as long as I'm seeing a bunch of fellas in the black suits.

Find show of hands if it's okay.

I want to see how many people here to support this community development.

That's enough for me.

A flashback.

So you see how there's a contradiction where you just said that people aren't supposed to vote or you're not supposed to ask the audience, but then some people don't know the rules.

Well, that's happened plenty of times on other aspects.

And even just the mere fact of like how time is managed, it seems that it's not managed properly.

So uh I'm just gonna ask that for the council that some of y'all get or y'all get educated on the Robert's rules of order because these things are continue to happen, and they shouldn't.

May I stop you?

Yes, sir.

You showed some videos.

Show me what rules were broken.

So you just stated now this is a question, so this is a rebuttal, right?

Okay.

Okay.

So you just stated that you cannot ask the crowd for their opinion on a vote.

But meanwhile, you had a councilman that just did that in the video.

If you go back and you check mine, I think what I said was we don't go by a popular vote.

Mm-hmm.

So that's so that's proper protocol for councilman to ask the crowd right now, hey, is is it okay for me to get more time, or hey, is it okay that we get a traffic study?

Is that is that the protocol?

If you don't mind, Mr.

President, I think I can I I I think I remember this meeting pretty rare.

Well, I think with the president was telling the gentleman that he was asking the people for an opinion, and he was saying no, you're to address the council.

The council has free reign to do whatever they need to do to handle their meeting.

But I think that gentleman wanted to ask an opinion of the people that was in the audience, and he told them you have to direct your council your comments to the councilman.

It's it's a difference between you being there and me being here.

Okay.

You understand?

Okay.

So you say we broke rules.

So I just want you to tell me what is the rule that we broke.

Well, basically, and so this is a question that you're asking me.

Yes, right.

Okay.

So basically, when you ask me a question, my time is supposed to pause.

So that's one rule right there.

And this is an ordinance that I have here.

Matter of fact, Mr.

Um IT guy, can you pull up the uh PDF file?

Because this is a rebuttal.

And now you got one minute.

But if you look on that page right there that y'all could see, it says at the bottom, any time council members speak, their time should basically pause.

That's where it comes.

Okay, Mr.

Miles.

Every time you've come up here, I mean Mr.

Brown, every time you've come up here and you said, hey, that's my time.

We've given you ample enough time.

We've never cut you off and said you couldn't talk no more.

Have we ever done that?

You don't have that video?

I've been interviewed.

I mean, I've been interrupted plenty of times.

Interrupted, but you've been given your time back.

Just like I'm talking to you now, you're gonna get your time back.

Well, he just put one minute left.

That's what's his job.

He still has a minute left.

Yeah.

You're answering a question.

Exactly.

No, sir.

Any time.

He's over 10 minutes now.

Yeah, I've been over sitting here standing up over 10 minutes, but I have not spoken for 10 years.

I just told you.

I'm gonna make sure you get your nine minutes.

But you're wasting your nine minutes pointing out that we're not giving you nine minutes.

That's on you.

Well, it says here you get a five-minute rebuttal.

Rebutted to what?

When there's a sub when there's something to rebut.

But you're the one making the statement.

Well, because you're asking a question.

But you're gonna answer my question and I'm out.

Now you got your time back.

The time is yielded back to you.

Okay.

Well, so what is your question right now, sir?

My question was have we ever cut you off and said you can't have your time?

We cut you off and told you you was done?

Yes, that's happened.

And it was the end of your time, right?

Well, in the midst of that, a lot of times I'm interrupted.

Okay, and the time just runs consecutively.

So even if I'm talking right now, and then all of a sudden you interrupt me and talk for a minute, it'll happen and all of a sudden the 30 minutes is gone, and I'll ask for extra time and I don't get it.

Well, I'm gonna do this for you, Mr.

Brown.

I apologize if we fringe upon your your rights, right?

Okay.

You're gonna get all your time back.

I'm a person as long as I'm president, I'm gonna make sure you get every time back when there's a question.

But now, note when you ask us a question, we're on your time.

Yeah.

All right.

Now, another thing I want to add to to that is that I've noticed, and I'm I'm thankful sometimes that you ask if I need another minute or two, but technically, according to the Roberts Rules of Order, when a person asks for extra time, it's not just up to you to give them extra time.

It's always a vote that has to be made.

It has to be a two-thirds vote.

Did you see us vote just now?

No, I might I might take the leisure, Mr.

Brown, and give you some time without going to a vote.

That's a courtesy.

I have a right to give you that courtesy.

Now, if you want us to vote and we voted down, then that's fine too.

Yeah.

But you just witnessed me asking two other people came before you and we voted to give them time, didn't you?

Not all, not all of them.

No, we can go back and look at the video.

You just say you need another minute, I'll give you another minute.

Okay.

And that's the same thing.

We're back on your time.

Yeah, it's back on your time.

And it says on section 13, it has to be a two-thirds vote.

Okay.

And it's clearly not been doing that a lot of times over a period of time.

Okay.

Now I respect whenever you ask or ask if I need more time, but regardless, for anybody that asked for extra time, you all are supposed to vote for it.

Okay.

And so that's what I'm saying.

How a lot of times these rules are not being followed all the way properly.

Now I can give plenty of other examples.

Time is expiring.

This was a rebuttal, right?

A rebuttal you get five minutes.

I just told you you not rebutting nothing.

You are the one speaking.

All right.

Your time is up.

Okay.

Well, I appreciate your time.

Hopefully, y'all get educated on this and that way.

Now, before you go, like I like I said you would, Mr.

Herman, could you come and tell us how a traffic study is conducted and why we place them, you know, where we place them.

Herman Stevens, engineering manager.

Um traffic studies are conducted by the traffic division, which is separate from the engineering division.

Um we have a limited number of boxes.

Um typically we may have a request that's associated with an intersection.

And if we have sufficient boxes, we can monitor um every branch of that intersection.

Um seems like speeding in between intersections.

And so I'm not aware of that being measured or studied.

Um we haven't been involved in a lot of traffic studies, I guess, since we had our most recent uh traffic division manager.

Um my last interaction with Fourth Avenue was the uh stop signs at Joanna Place.

Um so I'm not sure if we've ever looked at the speeding in between the stop signs.

It's possible, but I wasn't involved in it.

But generally specific in terms of what you're asking.

Right.

So generally we put them in the spots that that they're asked to monitor.

Now, if you have that spot, it may be some speed and all pride to that speed.

It's different things.

You know, you can have people stop at a stop sign, hit 70 miles an hour, and stop at the next stop sign.

There's there are different things that you need to test for.

Um, and I'm not aware of all the things that we've tested for.

I know because I know we've been out there multiple times on Fourth Avenue with Mr.

Brown.

So do we use stop sign to control speed?

Stop signs are not a speed control uh device, period.

Um and in particular, um, and again, I have to defer to the traffic division.

Um I know on Fourth Avenue, um, we have to be careful.

Um a lot of the intersections are similar.

So when you make a change or a decision at one intersection, you really open yourself up to a lot of change, possibly throughout the city.

Gotcha.

A lot of a lot of changes seem simple, but it's really not that simple or small.

Thank you.

But I'm gonna I'm gonna go on the record now.

And Mr.

Brown, I'm gonna request your traffic study again, and now I I can't tell them to do it.

We're gonna request it at the same spot for I think the third time.

This will be the third time.

Well, they put in different areas.

So thank you.

Can I speak to you?

So I guess the question I have is a question.

There's a different there's a difference between a uh speed study and the energy, and if you ask for a stop stop sign, you have to do something to determine if it meets the warrants to have a stop sign at that intersection.

And if that's a traffic count, we do have some traffic count that will you know see what the speed is, and it's gonna have the number of vehicles, it should have the number of vehicles, and it will tell how many people it should within range it should tell you how fast people are going.

Is that what you're requesting?

I can answer that question.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um I kind of lost this key.

Just are you you are you requesting a speed study or something?

I'm just trying to figure out a solution to try to try to direct this driving or uh or something in between there because it it continues to happen.

And like Mr.

Stevens said that uh stop sign is meant to control an intersection, is it is not to control speed.

I remember you told me that a while back, and I'm not saying I'm I'm just trying to figure out what is a solution to stop something from happening again.

And that's and Mr.

Brown, to answer that question, you just heard me mention a lot of neighborhoods where we got speed in it.

And so that's signage we can put up, there's many things we can put up, but to stop them from speeding, it's it's I mean if somebody's gonna speed, they're gonna speed.

Yeah, that's true.

I I I figured a stop sign was the best option, you know.

If it I just figure, hey, is there someone in the city that can figure out another option if it's not a stop sign that way?

Well, we're gonna look into it.

Okay.

All right.

Um so what what do you recommend with that speeding situation?

Is it I noticed sometimes they put out the little sign that shows you how fast you're going.

Is that only for school zones or Deputy Chief Kevin Kirkham?

Um as the engineer said, the stop sign is it's not for speed control.

Your devices for speed control are gonna be speed bumps that you would have to put.

But I understand that we have to follow the dynamics of the street, the length of the street, the width of the street.

We have to know how much distance is in between each stop sign.

There's a variety of things that we're gonna need to know that the engineers could give us that would be able to come up with a better solution if it's not just a stop sign.

I don't think you want to throw speed bumps all through a uh a major street.

I travel in area, so please don't give me a ticket.

You know, uh you you earn tickets, we don't give them to you.

You earn them.

But but can we get some some traffic enforcement in that area for us?

I say we just sit him in front of Miles' house and then him with the gun.

We just gonna pay somebody to sit in front of Miles Brown House and with the gun and just do speed control.

No, so we gotta hit it all the time.

How many times we done did this?

Four times.

But Mr.

Bow, they get a right to come every meeting.

Well, they can.

Well, we're gonna just pay a cop just to sit out there in front of Miles Brown house and do speed control.

But that's that's a good answer.

It's obviously a speed issue there.

Well, we don't we don't know that for sure.

I wouldn't I I just watched the video I travel that area too.

So I I but you speed on the people speed everywhere to to answer your speed anywhere, and and sometimes we we do rewrite tickets and we can slow them down sometimes.

Different things that that's what I'm trying to get him to.

Mr.

Fondale, I will address this to Deputy Chief Moss who heads up the traffic division and tell them that we have an issue with potential speeding vehicles on Fourth Avenue.

And when we have the manpower allowable, we'll be able to go out there here and send somebody out there too.

No, no, you can't you can't no, you can't have a a traffic study.

You you know you see the two little tubes and that tracks your speed, and you can uh depend on how so f sophisticated the st um the measuring mechanism is you can determine over a certain say a one-week period how many cars have gone across there, what percentile what it would the there whatever I don't know what the post-speed limit is there.

Is it 30, maybe 35?

I'm not sure.

I I couldn't tell you right off.

So we we're gonna put in the research.

So you can you can do that, right?

So you can do that.

Yeah, and I know that there's uh because there's one on Holly Hill now.

There is a sign, there's a one that will measure your speed and it will say slow down, slow down too fast.

And sometimes it's just some people just they don't care.

They're gonna say once you get past that sign, you take off again.

No, well for your immediate relief, for your immediate relief, we'll get with our traffic division and ask them to step up some enforcement or at least be present and and run radar or whatever it is that they do out there for some immediate relief.

But the traffic study by four is gonna be your best solution.

Appreciate it, Chief.

Appreciate it.

Mr.

Harvey, glad you're here.

Public can see that you're here.

Anything you want to say?