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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Minden City Council Regular Session - September 8, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, September 8, 2026
BodyMinden, Louisiana
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, September 8, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Speaker 1

18:55

All right, if you can, we're going to stand and open our meeting up with a prayer by Councilman Thomas, followed by the pledge by Councilwoman Mitchell.

Speaker 2

19:04

Father, we come thanking you for all that you do in our lives.

19:09

Now, Father,

Unassigned speaker

19:11

we

Speaker 2

19:11

want to pray that you give us that wisdom that only you have that we run this meeting in a way that you'd be proud of the way that we are handling our city here today.

Speaker 1

20:02

I'd like to welcome everybody that's here.

20:05

It's good to see all of you here this evening.

20:08

Are there any additions to tonight's agenda?

Unassigned speaker

20:14

All

Speaker 1

20:14

right, there are none.

20:16

Are there any public comments pertaining to any item that is on tonight's agenda?

Unassigned speaker

20:24

Okay,

Speaker 1

20:24

there is none.

20:26

All right.

20:27

First, we have item number one, adopt amendments of the Mendon City Council workshop held on August the third, 2026.

Speaker 3

20:34

So move.

Speaker 1

20:35

Have a motion from Councilman Miles.

20:38

Second from Councilwoman Mitchell.

20:41

Any questions or discussions on this?

20:45

All right.

20:45

There is none.

20:46

Let's vote.

Unassigned speaker

20:55

That

Speaker 1

20:56

passes unanimously.

20:57

Next we have item number two.

20:59

Adopt the minutes of the Mendon City Council regular session held on August the third, 2026.

Unassigned speaker

21:06

So

Speaker 4

21:06

move, Mayor.

Speaker 1

21:07

Have a motion from Councilman Roy.

Speaker 4

21:09

Second.

Speaker 1

21:10

Second from Councilman Pendergrass.

21:12

Any questions or discussion?

21:16

There's none.

21:16

Let's vote.

21:31

That passes unanimously.

21:33

Next we have item number three, audit presentation for fiscal year 24-25 by Alan Green and Williamson LLP.

Unassigned speaker

21:47

Good

Tim Green · Speaker 5Inferred

21:48

afternoon, Mayor, Councilmembers, staff, guests.

21:51

It's my pleasure to be here.

21:52

I'm Tim Green with Alan Green and Williamson, CPA firm that uh has been doing your audit for the last three years.

21:58

And uh we went over this in the pre-council meeting and so forth, and so I'll just hit a few highlights on it.

22:05

I'd ask the mayor if I could have an hour and 30 minutes to present.

22:09

And he told me I had that much in the uh in finance or in the pre-council meeting, so we only use 10 minutes, so I'll promise to keep it to an hour and 20 minutes in this.

22:21

I'm sure the council members are all in favor of that, right?

22:24

Yes.

Unassigned speaker

22:24

I don't want to do that.

Speaker 4

22:24

No, but Green, I don't I don't think our preachers have that long.

Tim Green · Speaker 5Inferred

22:29

Well, I'm not gonna overstate my welcome.

22:32

We'll make it short and sweet here and so forth.

22:34

But uh uh Ms.

22:35

Jenny had passed out.

22:36

I'll just hit a couple of high points on it uh that we discussed in the pre-council meeting.

22:41

Uh as she mentioned, it's an audit uh and your opinion is kind of an ugly opinion and a clean opinion, is the way I view it.

22:49

Uh the governmental accounting standards board on a national level is the standard setter for external financial reporting, and they want you to include anything that uh in addition to the city, any organizations or whatever that you may uh have a that you assist or that you have a financial potentially could have a financial burden, and we have to kind of go through a criteria on that, and both the uh city marshal and the city court came under that review and uh would be required to be included to have it the way that the governmental accounting standard boards would like to have

Unassigned speaker

23:21

it.

Tim Green · Speaker 5Inferred

23:21

Uh since we didn't include those, then we have to say for what you like.

23:26

We give a we we give an ugly opinion that it's uh that we're not opining on it because it doesn't include everything that it needs to include in it.

23:35

But they say if you scope it down to what is just the primary government and that being the city, what our opinion is on that is that it's a clean opinion, it's an unmodified opinion.

23:46

That's the opinion that you want.

23:48

So for what is presented, it's a clean opinion, and uh we have many governments uh particularly like police jury and et cetera, that have that opinion where they say according to Gaspy's preference to include all these entities in it.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety█████████████████████21%
Fiscal Sustainability████████████████16%
Procedural█████████████13%
Personnel Matters█████████████13%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████10%
Public Engagement███████7%
Community Engagement██████6%
Water And Wastewater Management██████6%
Budget Equity Analysis████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Minden City Council Regular Session - September 8, 2026

The Minden City Council met on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 6:00 PM at 520 Broadway Street. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Nick Cox, followed by a prayer from Councilman Levon "Charlie" Thomas and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilwoman Latasha Mitchell. All council members were present. There were no additions to the agenda. Public comments were permitted prior to each vote.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes (Items 1-2): Unanimously adopted the minutes of the August 3, 2026 workshop and regular session.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Joven Hardy (709 Rebecca Street, District C): Questioned a $788 utility bill for 74,324 gallons of water, seeking information on the SMART meter system and the dispute process. Mayor Cox offered to meet after the meeting to discuss her account.
  • Nisa Murray (703 Sibley Road): Announced the second annual Angel Baby Fun Run and Halo Fest in October for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Invited the council and community to participate.
  • Unidentified Citizen (female): Expressed fear for her safety, alleging that people are following her, knocking on her door, and entering her yard. She stated that she reported these issues to Councilman Carlton "Buddy" Myles and the police chief but received no help, and that police once hospitalized her for nine days. Mayor Cox again offered to meet after the meeting.

Discussion Items

  • Audit Presentation (Item 3): Tim Green of Allen, Green & Williamson, LLP presented the FY 2024-2025 audit. He explained that the city received a dual opinion: an "ugly opinion" (disclaimer) for not including the city marshal and city court, but a clean, unmodified opinion for the primary government (the city). Financial highlights: $25.6 million in operating revenues for proprietary funds (electric, sewer, water), a $500,000 operating deficit, and a $3 million net position loss due to the power vendor change, leaving a $22 million fund balance. Two of three prior-year findings were cleared; a repeat finding on controls over financial reporting remained. New findings included bank reconciliation issues and payroll attendance documentation. The city will need to retest all 14 statewide agreed-upon procedures in the next year.
  • Resolutions (Items 4-10): Unanimously adopted:
    • (4) Credit card signatory power for Deputy Chiefs Christopher Cheatham and Tokia Harrison.
    • (5) Local services agreement with the Haughton Fire Prevention Bureau for interim building inspection services after the building official retired.
    • (6) Agreement with LA DOTD for annual airport maintenance funding (State Project H.016951).
    • (7) Acceptance of Grant No. H.016342 for bidding, design, and Phase I construction of airport wildlife perimeter fencing. Work to start September 2026.
    • (8) Ratification of Mayor Cox's acceptance of FAA Grant No. 3-22-0032-020-2026 for perimeter fencing.
    • (9) Request for LA DOTD Division of Aviation funds for airport improvements per the Capital Improvement Program application.
    • (10) Annual certification of compliance with the Off-System Bridge Replacement Program.
  • Ordinances (Items 11-13):
    • (11) Ordinance No. 1172 – Annual Bridge Maintenance Report: Unanimously adopted.
    • (12) Ordinance No. 1173 – Fireworks Ordinance Amendment: Changed the cutoff time for fireworks on July 4th from 10:00 PM to midnight. Vote: 4-1 (Councilman Andy Pendergrass voted no).
    • (13) Ordinance No. 1174 – Beautification/Property Maintenance Ordinance: Established a city beautification crew. After a 10-day notice, if property owners fail to mow grass or remove trash, the city may do so and assess a $500 fine for grass and $250 for trash removal. Unanimously adopted.
  • Personnel (Item 14): Unanimously approved promotion of Lieutenant Spencer Tippen to Police Captain, upon recommendation of Police Chief Jerry McGuyer.
  • Final Plat Approval (Item 15): Unanimously approved a lot split of property owned by Maximar Properties, LLC at 700 Main Street, as recommended by the Planning Commission.
  • Reports (Items 16-18):
    • Budget/Financial Report for July 2026: Presented by City Clerk Melaney Sanders. Sales tax collections for June 2026 were $746,918.08, a 12.13% decrease from June 2025 ($850,009.39), attributed to lower electrical equipment sales and delinquent payments. Alcohol tax reached 94% of budget; cell phone/gas franchise fee at 87%. No motion required.
    • Fire Report for August 2026: Not presented due to a structure fire.
    • Police Report for July 2026: Presented and accepted unanimously.
  • Announcements: Mayor Cox announced citywide fire hydrant flow testing from September 9-11, 2026, which may cause temporary dirty water. Councilman Carlton "Buddy" Myles announced National Night Out on September 22, 2026.

Key Outcomes

  • All motions passed unanimously except Ordinance No. 1173 (fireworks), which passed 4-1.
  • The audit for FY 2024-2025 was accepted unanimously.
  • The promotion of Spencer Tippen to Police Captain was approved.
  • The final plat for the Maximar Properties lot split was approved.
  • Budget, police, and other reports were accepted.
  • Mayor Cox offered to meet individually with citizens regarding utility billing and public safety concerns.

Meeting Transcript

All right, if you can, we're going to stand and open our meeting up with a prayer by Councilman Thomas, followed by the pledge by Councilwoman Mitchell. Father, we come thanking you for all that you do in our lives. Now, Father, we want to pray that you give us that wisdom that only you have that we run this meeting in a way that you'd be proud of the way that we are handling our city here today. I'd like to welcome everybody that's here. It's good to see all of you here this evening. Are there any additions to tonight's agenda? All right, there are none. Are there any public comments pertaining to any item that is on tonight's agenda? Okay, there is none. All right. First, we have item number one, adopt amendments of the Mendon City Council workshop held on August the third, 2026. So move. Have a motion from Councilman Miles. Second from Councilwoman Mitchell. Any questions or discussions on this? All right. There is none. Let's vote. That passes unanimously. Next we have item number two. Adopt the minutes of the Mendon City Council regular session held on August the third, 2026. So move, Mayor. Have a motion from Councilman Roy. Second. Second from Councilman Pendergrass. Any questions or discussion? There's none. Let's vote. That passes unanimously. Next we have item number three, audit presentation for fiscal year 24-25 by Alan Green and Williamson LLP. Good afternoon, Mayor, Councilmembers, staff, guests. It's my pleasure to be here. I'm Tim Green with Alan Green and Williamson, CPA firm that uh has been doing your audit for the last three years. And uh we went over this in the pre-council meeting and so forth, and so I'll just hit a few highlights on it. I'd ask the mayor if I could have an hour and 30 minutes to present. And he told me I had that much in the uh in finance or in the pre-council meeting, so we only use 10 minutes, so I'll promise to keep it to an hour and 20 minutes in this. I'm sure the council members are all in favor of that, right? Yes. I don't want to do that. No, but Green, I don't I don't think our preachers have that long. Well, I'm not gonna overstate my welcome. We'll make it short and sweet here and so forth. But uh uh Ms.

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