Notice of Public Meeting
Washington Parish Courthouse
Council Chambers
908 Washington Street, Franklinton, Louisiana 70438
July 22, 2024
Monday – 5:00 PM
In accordance with the Resilient Communities Infrastructure Program, the Washington Parish Government is receiving disaster recovery funds from the State of Louisiana for storm events that occurred in 2020 – 2021. All parish residents are invited to offer input on potential recovery priorities and the development of projects to be funded with the Resilient Communities Infrastructure Program (RCIP), funded through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program and administered by the Louisiana Office of Community Development (OCD).
Council Chairman Joe Culpepper called the meeting to order.
Council Chairman Culpepper: The topic of this meeting is the Resilient Communities Infrastructure Program. The purpose is for public participation and input. Mrs. Graham, do you or Mr. Tims need to speak?
Mrs. Graham: I will introduce our project manager, Marjorie Torres. Would you introduce yourself, please?
Ms. Torres: I’m with HGA (Hughes, Guillot and Associates, LLC), the company that was hired by the parish government to help administrate the grant funds that the parish received. It’s a blessing that Washington Parish has received these grant funds but of course there are rules, regulations and compliance. All that has to be monitored for these grant dollars. With me is Bill Blankenship with HGA. We’ll talk through the funds and some regulations. The purpose is to get public input on types of projects to use the money for. A lot of times we’ll get people at these meetings that want assistance for personal. That’s not how we use these funds. This is only for infrastructure and revitalization. Public participation is a requirement for these funds, so the parish has advertised this meeting. They’ve let the public know that it is happening. We’ve passed around a sign-in sheet. We have to turn all the public participation documents to the state so it’s very important that we’re compliant with the requirements. This money coming from HUD, CDBG-DR. It’s intended for gap funding, so projects, or recovery issues like FEMA is where CDBG-DR comes in a couple of years after the disaster.
The money originally went to the state, and the state has developed RCIP and giving it out to different entities like Washington Parish. It is to address disasters that occurred in 2021. Washington Parish received $1.1 million to be used. These are some of the requirements on how you want to use the funding. Any projects you do have to be tied to the storm. They have to be located in the most impacted area and benefit low to moderate income. That’s very important. All of the projects have to demonstrate that they are benefitting low-income residents for eligibility under HUD. Projects also have to be completed in a certain timeline. With HUD, if we’re going to do projects with funds they have to have a certain objective. The only national objective for RCIP is to benefit low to moderate income residents. There’s different ways to do that. There’s the area benefit test. There’s also a jobs test and a clientele test. We also have to address certain disadvantaged communities by health, environmental, economic, resilience, equity. The purpose of these funds is to help disadvantaged and low income residents. These are some examples of the projects you can do with RCIP dollars. You can use it for economic foundation projects, which is primarily what we have here, small business, job training programs or you can use it for infrastructure projects, ie. Improving pump systems, mitigation activity. You can use it as a match for other projects. These are some projects that Washington Parish has, based on some other planning meetings for public consideration. One project that’s been discussed is updating two (2) sandbag locations so they are covered. If it’s raining, it makes it obviously difficult to fill a sandbag. It also has storage for the equipment. The RCIP dollars cannot be used to purchase equipment but can provide storage for that. There are a couple of bridge projects, keeping in mind that they have to benefit low to moderate residents. Adding pickleball courts to existing parks and create a kayak launch in Franklinton. The parish is open to other projects. There is a 30-day comment period that was posted in the paper and the facebook page. We also have comment forms today if anyone would like to submit. This is the timeline for the dollars. Within three (3) months from the date of the agreement with the state and Washington Parish, we have to submit our recovery proposal. We do need to identify the projects that you want, but you don’t have to go into too much detail for the recovery proposal. That will come when you resubmit individual project applications. By August 22 nd , we have to submit a recovery proposal to OCD that lists the projects that the parish wants to move forward with. HGA is going to put that together for you. We will submit it in the state system and wait for the state to review, which will be about 45 days. In the meantime we’ll start working on the project applications and those are due in six (6) months, actually by November 30 th . We have templates in place which will help expedite the preparation. After the projects are reviewed we’ll have to do the environmental reviews. After that, the final plans and cost estimates. It is a long timeline. The funds have to be spent by 2027, which I know is tight, but I do anticipate OCD pushing back that deadline. Are there any questions or comments about any of this, or any thoughts on the projects that have been proposed or something you would like considered? This is open to the public, too, since this is a public meeting.
Council Chairman Culpepper: This isn’t roads, is it? I know that’s infrastructure.
Marjorie: You can’t do anything that should be covered in your annual budget, but something above and beyond like elevating roads, evacuation routes, things like that.
Mrs. Graham: It’s not that kind of award.
Council Chairman Culpepper: You said $1.1 million, so if you do one (1) bridge you might have that. Both of those are pretty long bridges.
Mrs. Graham: We will hopefully get at least two projects out of this, possibly one of the recreational projects and a bridge. We’d like to get both bridges, but there again we’d like to get sandbagging project into this, too. That would be at Locations 1 and 2. That would be covered. The public could drive through and the workers could work out of the elements and be shaded from the sun, since that’s usually when the sandbags are needed. We’d have a place to store the sandbags so they wouldn’t degrade while being stored, and to store the equipment out of the elements.
Ms. Torres: In the recovery proposal, there is a place to put the projects you want funded. If for some reason OCD doesn’t approve one of the projects, you can have an alternate project included. It won’t slow you down as far as that is concerned.
Chairman Rice: Is there a proposed location for this kayak launch? Was that just an idea?
Mrs. Graham: It’s the boat ramp just down the hill. The pickleball courts would be at Atoka.
Councilwoman Wagner: For the bridges, how much is estimated to be repaired or replaced? That bridge is in bad shape.
Mr. Tims: Initially we had other bridges to be considered that have an estimated cost; however, they don’t fit the LMI, low to moderate income. Once we figured that out, we had to shift focus. We do know that these two (2) bridges have issues, so that when our Bridge Inspector looks at both, he can tell us which one we need to focus on more. To answer your question right now, we don’t have a cost estimate on those two (2) bridges, but we do know that they both need work.
Councilwoman Wagner: I’ve received calls on both of those and they are in bad shape.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Is the one you are calling Jefferson Street the bridge behind Wal Mart? It’s very narrow.
Councilwoman Wagner: They do both need work. There’s a lot of traffic there. Thank you so much.
Ms. Torres: That’s all I have. I appreciate your time. Council thanks HGA.
Council Chairman Culpepper: As this is a public meeting, is there anyone from the public that would like to come forward and speak on this matter before we close the hearing? Alright, thank you, ma’am.
Ms. Torres: Thank you.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Any other council discussion? This public hearing is adjourned.
Notice of Public Hearing
Washington Parish Courthouse
Council Chambers
908 Washington Street, Franklinton, Louisiana 70438
July 22, 2024
Monday – 5:30 PM
Council Chairman Culpepper: Call to order. Today’s date is 7/22/2024. The purpose of this hearing is to discuss Ordinance 24-738, which relates to facilitate the implementation of a voluntary buyout and housing incentive program for certain portions of the Bogue Chitto Heights Subdivision. Mrs. Breland, I think you are tasked with explaining this.
Mrs. Bobbie Jo Breland (Director of Homeland Security): The goal of this voluntary buyout program is to omit future risk and damage as it results from the flooding, by buying out the properties in the Bogue Chitto Subdivision and that area across Highway 10 and turn these properties into open greenspace. The objective is to assist families living in that area to relocate safely to greener areas outside of flood hazards. It’s being offered by the Office of Community Development, through which the Louisiana Land Trust will require the eligible properties to be cleaned for greenspace. The parish then accepts ownership of the property. At present there are 25 properties in Ward 1, 20 properties in Ward 2 and 11 properties in Ward 3. The way we took these as priorities is that we looked at properties that were closer to the river, then we moved in closer to Highway 10. As of June 1 there are two (2) properties that are to be transferred to the parish and there are two (2) that just came on the inventory list.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Do you anticipate a good amount of participation?
Mrs. Breland: We hope to. With that many properties, we hope increase our numbers. Last year we had approximately 30 people participate from the Bogue Chitto Heights Subdivision, and the area across from it. They were very interested in it. We sent out post cards to everyone. We also put flyers out by the highway and inside the subdivision to let them know they could come to the hearing and answer any questions they may have.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Is there a dollar limit on how much can be spent?
Mrs. Breland: There is not. They take the fair market value of the property and then look at incentives for that property and then they look at comparable houses to where the property owner is living at now and how much it will cost the property owner to move out of that area and purchase another house. The budget for it is $10 million, which averages about $178,000. That’s for the whole property, administration costs and everything. That’s average. That’s how much is made available. It’s not that we would spend it all, since this is a voluntary program.
Councilman Rice: So when people are relocating, do they have to stay in Washington Parish?
Mrs. Breland: They are bought out. There are no requirements to stay in Washington Parish. It’s just as though they sold their house and go somewhere else to buy another house. It’s not required that they stay in Washington Parish.
Councilwoman Wagner: How long is this for?
Mrs. Breland: It started in June. There hasn’t been a deadline. It’s a regular program for a period of four (4) years.
Mr. Kuhn: This is a really good program. Otherwise, people continuously flood. If you look at Highway 25, when that area in Bogue Chitto Heights is about to flood, people move their personal items, cars, tractors, up to Highway 25. The government continues to provide flood funds and flood insurance requires that people elevate their houses. Elevating a house is expensive. It’s a smart thing to relocate people and make a greenspace. It sounds like a lot of money, but over the long haul, this is a good thing.
Council Chairman Culpepper: When they give the property back to the parish, are we taking on a whole lot of responsibility by keeping these properties mowed, or is this just greenspace, like what’s on the river? Do we just let it go, or do we have to keep it mowed?
Mrs. Breland: We just have to keep it mowed.
Councilman McMasters: This is going into Bogue Chitto Heights, right?
Mrs. Breland: Correct. There are still going to be some properties in there that don’t want to participate.
Councilman McMasters: The streets are still there, so we’re going to have to maintain it
Mrs. Breland: Correct.
Councilman McMasters: We’ve got to keep it mowed.
Councilwoman Wagner: Do we have a lot of people that aren’t interested?
Mrs. Breland: I don’t have that information with me.
Councilwoman Wagner: It is a great program, and I hope a lot of people will be more positive about it, especially with the cost of flood insurance.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Would anybody from the public like to come forward and speak on this? Is there anyone who would like to ask any questions, or ask the council any questions? Okay, Bobbi Jo. Thank you. Do we have any other administrative remarks on this item? Alright. We’ll adjourn this public meeting. We’ll be back at 6:00 o’clock for our regularly scheduled Council meeting. Thank you.
Washington Parish Council Minutes
Regular Meeting
Washington Parish Courthouse
908 Washington Street
Franklinton, La 70438
Council Chambers
July 22, 2024
Monday – 6:00 PM
Item No. 1: Call to Order: Council Chairman Joe Culpepper called the meeting to order.
Item No. 2: Invocation: Councilwoman Wagner gave the invocation.
Item No. 3: Pledge of Allegiance: Councilman Rice led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Item No. 4: Roll Call: Interim Council Clerk Danielle Folks called the roll. Present were Steven Branch, Reginald McMasters, Carley King, Joe Culpepper, Shawn Rice, Kim Wagner, and Clark Harry.
Item No. 5: Approval of Minutes: Approval of minutes of our last council meeting.
Councilwoman Wagner offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Branch approve the minutes of the regular meeting of July 8, 2024.
Roll call of the vote as follows:
YEAS: (7) Branch, McMasters, King, Culpepper, Rice, Wagner, Harry
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAIN: (0)
Item No. 6: Kushner LaGraize 2023 Audit Report: Council Chairman Culpepper:
Moving on, the next item on the agenda is participation by Kushner LaGraize with the 2023 audit report. Please introduce yourself, name and address.
Michelle Treschwig with the CPA firm of Kushner LaGraize. I am here to present a brief summary of the financial statement of the year ending December 31, 2023. I am happy to say that the results were submitted to the Legislative Auditor. They have already been reviewed and issued and are available through our website. They were also submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse and to Federal Grants, and they were also reviewed and accepted. First, I would really like to say thank you to Mr. Seal, Donna, Kristen and all of the staff for helping us get the job out for a timely audit. There was a turn around by the Legislative Auditor within a week. In summary, I do want to say that Washington Parish is what we call a single audit under financial statements and your federal grant programs. There are three (3) reports that come with this audit. First is the auditor’s opinion on the financial statements. You guys received an unmodified, or clean opinion on the primary government financial statements, which is the best we can do. The second is a report on the internal control of the finances, reporting on compliance and other matters. With this report we did have one (1) finding; however, this has already been resolved so there is no issue with that. The third report is a report of compliance with the major grant programs. We audited the ARPA funds and your HMPG grant. I’m happy to say there was an unmodified opinion and no findings at all.
So that was great. Congratulations. Here are some of the financial highlights. On pages 5–15 of the report is your MDMA. I recommend that you read that, if you haven’t already. Also on pages 5-6 is your financial highlights section. This is a synopsis that the administration has put together, everything that has effected the parish finances in 2023. It has also any differences between last year and this year and any explanations for those differences. Also on page 15 is a great visual graph of your revenue sources, comparing 2022 with 2023. You had two sets of financial statements. You have your government-wide financials and your governmental fund financials. Your government- wide financial statement is more like your business financials. Your current and long- term assets and liabilities, which means you have your pension, your long-term debts, which you guys don’t have. Also, it has your fixed assets. Your net position increased 2.9 million from 64.4 – 67.3. That is the result of the revenues over the expenditures. There is one thing that I do want to point out, though, one thing on that position that changed. In 2022 you guys had a net pension asset of approximately $2.9 million. This year, in 2023, you have a net pension liability of $2.4 million, so there’s a huge…that is a result of the actuarial reports, which are always a year behind, so that was as of December 31, 2022. As you are aware, market conditions decreased. How does it affect your statement of position? Since you’ve put out the liability, they have now increased your outflows, which is at the top, and this kind of offsets it. They use the outflows and inflows so there is not a significant effect on your statement of net position. There was also a small adjustment to end expense. I just wanted to point that out, again, just a very minor thing. Also, with that being said, the market conditions increased in 2023, so I expect 2024 to still have a liability, but it won’t be as significant. Now the financial statements that you operate by, for 2023 we had a decrease of about $228,000.00 in overall fund balance, compared to $2.2 million in prior years, so much better this year. This year your expenditures increased overall and mainly in your road expenditures fund. You all did about 44 miles of road between in-house and contractors. Your multiple revenues increased about $1.8 million, and your sales tax about $540,000.00. Your ad valorem about $485,000 and your permits, and almost $2 million for your operating for your operating and capital grants, which mainly was the ARPA and the HMPG. That is phenomenal. Very solid. I do want to say that the general fund is your main operating fund. Your fund balance increased about $670,000 from last year about $181,000. This left you guys with a fund balance of about $2.3 million. Of that $2.3 million, you have $850,000 already committed for emergencies, and that left about $1.4 million of unaside. That is a strong general fund balance. I do want to point out that the parish across the board did not have a deficit fund balance this year. I know I’ve brought this up before, but the GFOA recommend any general purpose government have an unrestricted fund balance in their general fund of one of two things, either a minimum of two (2) months of operating fund revenues or operating fund expenditures. To be consistent, we’ve being using expenditures, so we’re saying two months. The general fund has eight (8) months. That is solid, too. Any questions? I did want to point out a few remarks about the parish’s financial stability. As of December 31, 2023, the parish had a strong general fund, but also the key is that you all don’t have any long-term debt. That puts the parish, in their financial condition, in this economy, way better than a lot of entities. This helps you respond to the needs that the residents have, your operations during emergencies and I want to say that this financial stability is a testament to how strong your fiscal responsibility is over the parish’s funds. Your continued dedication and cooperation between the administration and you all and the parish residents to continue to look forward. At one time it wasn’t quite like that. I do want to say that in closing, I want to thank the administration once again and the council for the opportunity to work with you, and if you all have any questions…
Council Chairman Joe Culpepper: I just want to say that we need to appreciate Mrs. Graham for the hard work. Applause.
Mrs. Graham: I just want to offer “thank you” to Michelle and her team. They are incredibly good to work with and very professional, a good team. We appreciate the hard work and the direction you provide over the years and also I would like to thank my whole staff, from Kristen Spears is my controller. Melisa Bateman is payroll. Morgan Spears in accounts payable, and Mrs. Brenda Allen who does whatever it is we need her to, and Mr. Patrick Galivan who is our HR. Without any of them, none of this would be possible, so I sincerely appreciate all their dedication to working hard, being transparent, and making sure that we do it right for the citizens of this parish.
Item No. 7: Ordinance 24-738: Council Chairman Culpepper: Next item on the agenda is 24-738, which is to adopt an ordinance to facilitate the implementation of a voluntary buyout and housing incentive program for certain portions of the Bogue Chitto Heights Subdivision. Just prior to this meeting we had a public hearing on this matter. Mrs. Bobbie Jo Breland, our Homeland Security Director, gave us a presentation and before the council votes on this, is there anyone who wants to come forward and speak?
Councilman Rice: Seeing as how no one has come forward, I make a motion that we adopt Ordinance 24-738.
Councilman McMasters: Second.
Council Chairman Culpepper: We have a motion by Councilman Rice and a second by Councilman McMasters. Roll call.
YEAS: (7) Branch, McMasters, King, Culpepper, Rice, Wagner, Harry
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAIN: (0)
Item No. 8: Ordinance 24-739: Council Chairman Culpepper: Introduce an ordinance to move polling place location from 43139 C. E. Stafford Road, Franklinton, Louisiana to 17311 Highway 25, Franklinton, Louisiana, and I’m going to call on Mr. Wayne Kuhn to explain the matter going forward.
Mr. Kuhn: Ordinarily we just introduce the ordinance and then two (2) weeks later, according to our charter, we vote. The situation is here that the timeline is in a crunch because of the qualifying that occurred this week for some local office, I call it the belt and suspenders, according to the law. It’s La. R.S 18:534, but due to the wording in that statute we decided to talk to the Commissioner and the Secretary of State’s Office and we’re just going to do it two ways. One, the Parish President is going to draft an emergency letter to the Secretary of State to change the location, and the ordinance itself will be voted on at the next meeting. There will be a hearing and then voted on. The reason for this is very simple, but we’re just trying to make sure the wording and everything is just taken care of. The simple thing is that in Fire District #1, they built a new, fine facility which you can see going down Highway 25 going towards Covington, and the old fire station has been a polling booth. The conditions are so much more conducive for handicapped voting and for public access, there being handicapped restrooms there, handicapped accessible parking, paved parking, adequate heating and cooling. There we aren’t adequate in the old facility. We’re trying to make it better for the voters. Johnny Crain, here our Clerk of Court for the Parish, and Randy Strickland the Registrar of Voters and they’ve been working very hard on this to coordinate being presented. Just the belt and suspenders since the ordinance you have before you has some additional language about the handicapped accessibility, about the emergency and the importance of these elections coming up in November, I think it best that I just read the entire ordinance.
Ordinance 24-739 “AN ORDINANCE TO RELOCATE WARD ONE, PRECINCT TWO VOTING DISTRICT OF FRANKLINTON, WASHINGTON PARISH, LOUISIANA
WHEREAS, LA R. S. 18:534 authorizes a parish governing authority to change a polling place; and
WHEREAS, the Washington Parish Clerk of Court has determined that the Washington Parish Fire District No. 1 Substation, serving the Bonner Creek Community, located at 43139 C E Stafford Road, Franklinton, Louisiana, is in poor condition to continue as a polling location, there being no heating or air conditioning, handicapped accessible restrooms and no handicapped parking, therefore creating an emergency situation as per the Parish President; and
WHEREAS, Washington Parish Fire District No. 1, also serving the Bonner Creek Community, located at 17311 Highway 25, Franklinton, Louisiana, can provide handicapped paved parking, adequate handicapped accessible bathrooms and heating and air conditioning;
BE IT ORDAINED, that the Washington Parish Council convened in Regular Session on the 22 nd day of July, 2024 and does hereby approve the polling location of Ward 1, Precinct 2 located at 43139 C E Stafford Road, Franklinton, Louisiana be moved to 17311 Highway 25, Franklinton, Louisiana, in order that there be a safer, more adequate polling location its registered voters.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that notice of this change in polling places be advertised in papers of general circulation located in Franklinton, Washington Parish, Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER AND FINALLY ORDAINED that this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption.
So that’s what it’s going to say.
Council Chairman Culpepper: With the reading of the Ordinance as an introduction, would anyone from the public like to come forward and speak?
Name and address, please?
James Harry: James Harry, 37023Highway 1056, Mt. Hermon. For those of you who don’t know me, I am the Fire Chief of District 1. This is something I proposed, or have been discussing, since I became Chief. The commissioners that were at the station for a voting day were talking to me about some of the elderly folks having a hard time getting in there because there is grass. There’s no concrete. It’s grass. The restrooms have closet doors for the bathroom doors. They’re old. It’s an old station and it’s not safe for anyone to be staying in it or voting in it. We have leaking problems. It floods whenever it rains. The station’s just old. It’s wore out, and like I told the Board before I became Chief and after I became Chief, that needs to be the station. The one on Highway 25 needs to be the one that the voting is done at, because I don’t want my grandmother to try and walk into that C.E. Stafford station. She stays with God, may she rest in peace, but I made my point to the board and they asked to see what I could do.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Thank you, sir. We appreciate your input.
Johnny Crain, Jr.: Thank you, and congratulations on that good audit. That is good. Johnny Crain, Jr., Clerk of Court. 61876 Seal Road, Angie, Louisiana 70426. I want to thank the Chief and thank you, Registrar of Voters, Randy Strickland. I’m speaking for him, unless he wants to say something. This has been an issue for a long time. We’ve been trying to get on the same page. Mr. Wayne knows. This precinct is just an old fire station. The last election we had to get heaters from my office, get them from underneath desks and bring down there. We got cooperation now between all of us. We will have someone there on election day, when people drive up, to let them know that the precinct has been moved. The only election we have in that part is the Presidential election. We will have made sure that people know where to go once we have people going to the new precinct, it will be a lot better. I can’t even get commissioners to work there. The ones that do have gotten unbearably hot or too cold or we have to get handicapped bathrooms and have them delivered there (port-o-john’s). That’s not an issue but we have a new fire station built. Years ago, I believe Larue Martin had something passed where we could use the new fire station as a precinct. It belongs to the people there and the people that vote there. We appreciate that. I just ask you to look at it. We didn’t recognize the time frame. I spoke to the Secretary of State about 5:00 o’clock. They told me to get you all to vote on it and they could make it happen. We can get the Parish President and get the right wording to do it. We’ve got a couple of more issues but within the past five (5) years we’ve been able to get out of these old schools that have been not functionable. We were in Superior Avenue. We’re in Denhamtown now. We’re trying to get a place to move that to. Just what we’re having is that these places don’t have heating and cooling. I will tell you this. We’re looking for commissioners all the time. We’ll have a big, new course for new commissioners in September. We ask that if you know anyone, we will have it posted in the newspaper. This is a new qualifying year. Every new qualifying year we have to requalify all the commissioners, requalify everybody. I just thank you for considering this. I think with all of us working together that we can make this happen and people can have a better place to vote. Thank you.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Thank you, Johnny.
Randy Strickland: 32383 Highway 62, Franklinton. Short and sweet. I asked that you change one thing on that ordinance where you change the Registrar of Voters.
Mr. Kuhn: I’ve already got that.
Mr. Strickland: Well there you go.
Item No. 9: Resolution 24-1314: Council Chairman Culpepper: Adopt a resolution authorizing Washington Parish Government to apply for and administer grant(s) through the Delta Regional Authority, to continue to replace bridges throughout Washington Parish.
Landon, or is there anyone that needs to speak to this before we vote? Would anyone from the public like to come forward and speak to this before we vote?
Councilman King: Seeing as how no one has come forward, I make a motion that we adopt Resolution 24-1314.
Councilman Branch: Second.
Council Chairman Culpepper: We have a motion from Councilman King, and a second by Councilman Branch.
Roll call of the vote as follows:
YEAS: (7) Branch, McMasters, King, Culpepper, Rice, Wagner, Harry
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAIN: (0)
Item No. 10: Resolution 24-1315: Council Chairman Culpepper: Adopt a resolution approving the holding of an election in Washington Parish Fire District No. 1, on Saturday, December 7, 2024 to authorize the levy of a special tax. Would anyone from the public like to come forward and speak on this matter before the Council votes? Name and address, please.
Hardy Andrews: I’m Hardy Andrews from Foley and Judell out of New Orleans. We’re at One Canal Place, Suite 2600, 365 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. This resolution has before you is just something that is required under Article 6 Sect. 15. We have to come before the Parish to hold the election, so that’s merely what this is. Once we have adopted this resolution, we will go to the Bond Commission next and if everything goes accordingly we will move forward with the election in December. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Any discussion from the Council? Any questions?
Thank you, sir. Name and address, please, ma’am.
Leticia Desmares: Assistant Chief of Fire District 1. Just to explain a little bit of why we want to go for the extra tax. Volunteerism is down. We would like to use it for operations, maybe to hire firefighters to help with our PIA rating, and just to help with the day-to-day operations. That’s it.
Council Chairman Culpepper: That’s it. Thank you. Any other public discussion?
Councilman McMasters: If there is no other discussion, I move to adopt Resolution 24-1315.
Councilman Branch: Second.
Council Chairman Culpepper: We have a motion by Councilman McMasters and a second by Councilman Branch.
Roll call of the vote as follows:
YEAS: (7) Branch, McMasters, King, Culpepper, Rice, Wagner, Harry
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAIN: (0)
Item No. 11: Resolution 24-1316: Council Chairman Culpepper: Adopt a resolution authorizing the filing of an application with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development for a grant under any of the following FTA Programs managed through the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Before the Council votes, would anyone from the public like to come forward and speak?
Councilman McMasters: As no one has come forward, I move we adopt Resolution 24-1316.
Councilman Branch: Second.
Council Chairman Culpepper: We have a motion by Councilman McMasters and a second by Councilman Branch.
Roll call of the vote as follows:
YEAS: (7) Branch, McMasters, King, Culpepper, Rice, Wagner, Harry
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAIN: (0)
Item No. 12: Public Participation: Would anyone from the public like to come forward and address the Council? Sheriff, it’s your turn.
Sheriff Smith: Sheriff Jason Smith, 39497 Highway 1055, Mt. Hermon. I just wanted to give everyone an update. I think it was the last meeting I offered everyone an invitation to the Council to come and tour the jail. Councilwoman Wagner took me up on that. Senator Mizell took me up on that. Today we have President Seal and a couple members of his staff, Alex and Donna. I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to take me up on my offer. The renovations are complete. We’re still trying to work through visitation that Councilman Clark had mentioned last time. We’re at the point now where we can start working on some of the maintenance in the jail that we want to do. I just want to give everyone an update. I’m happy to entertain any questions before I sit down.
Councilman Harry: What time can we come to meet you?
Sheriff Smith: Whatever time. We are always open. You let me know and I will make it happen.
Councilman Rice: Have you moved upstairs, Sheriff?
Sheriff Smith: Yes, we’re in the process now. The question that Donna and Alex have, we should be out of the Moseley building by the end of the month, maybe by the end of this week, but give us a few days, but we should be done soon. Thank you.
Councilwoman Wagner: I think everyone should go. It’s a real eye-opening experience.
Council Chairman Culpepper: So you’ve never been?
Councilwoman Wagner: I’ve never been in jail or behind those doors. And it’s pretty scary.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Would anyone else from the public like to come forward and speak?
Councilman McMasters: If no one else comes forward, I’d like to make a motion to close public participation.
Councilman Rice: Second.
Council Chairman Culpepper: I have a motion by Councilman McMasters and a second by Councilman Rice.
Roll call of the vote as follows:
YEAS: (7) Branch, McMasters, King, Culpepper, Rice, Wagner, Harry
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAIN: (0)
Item No. 13: President’s Report: Next on the agenda is the President’s Report. Mr. Seal?
Parish President Seal: Thank you. We’re going to start with Donna.
Mrs. Graham: Thank you. I have just a few items tonight. First I want to bring to your attention the surplus property that we brought to auction. We received a check today for the proceeds of those sales and scrap property. We received $242,000.00, so we did very well for the property that was sent there. The next item on my agenda is to inform you that we are purchasing a brand new Leeboy grader. It’s going to be purchasing off of state contract, which is being purchased off of state contract, which is why I’m telling you this today. You may see that we have this new piece of equipment but not see that it was advertised for bids. When we purchase off state contract we don’t have to advertise for bids, but we do need to let you know. That’s going to be in the coming months. The last thing that I have to bring to you is some information from the sales tax commission. For some of the new councilman that may not be familiar with the sales tax commission, each of the bodies in the parish that collect sales tax – parish government, sheriff’s office, school boards, both of them, City of Bogalusa, Town of Franklinton, Villages of Varnado and Angie. They all serve on the sales tax commission. I’m your representative on that commission. We have a contract with the Sheriff’s Office to collect sales tax, at least since 1997. Each parish must have a centralized sales tax collection. Currently four or 5 parishes this year, actually it’s the school boards, and some tax commissions hire the staff to do that. There is a commission fee that the agencies charge the collector for administering and collecting and we give back to them sales tax. The commission fee, currently is 1.5%. it has been that same percentage since the years of the contract. As our sales tax commissions have grown, back in 1997 they were about $1 million from the parish, and now I believe they’re somewhere around $30 million, somewhere close to that. While the percentage may not have increased, the amount of commission has. To renew the contract, which ended June 30, the Sheriff’s Office did request an increase in commission percentage; however, the commission has requested an accounting of the funds they have received from the commissions so that we can determine if a percentage increase is justified. We have not received that information as of yet. At this point my recommendation is to renew the contract at the same rate, 1.5%. I’, bringing that to you for your consideration. The 1.5% currently brings in about half a million dollars to collect the taxes. Over the past year they had about two (2) employees that worked in that department and other costs would be like software, paper goods, such as that, but they are in the Sheriff’s Office which we provide, so it’s not like we’re asking them for that.
Councilman McMasters: If we outsource it, it would cost us more, wouldn’t it?
Mrs. Graham: Not necessarily. Several of the tax commissions that do this are less than 1%, and the Sheriff does not pay the commission.
Councilman McMasters: We do.
Mrs. Graham: All the other agencies do.
Councilman McMasters: I was just asking the question because if it got too expensive would we have to outsource it to save money, but it’s just a question.
Mrs. Graham: I have checked with other tax collectors across the state. The commission fee does range, in some places .6, but in Jefferson Parish it’s up to 9%. I think the 1% range is very common.
Councilman McMasters: I’m good at 1.5.
Council Chairman McMasters: Are you asking us to take some kind of action or just advising us.
Mrs. Graham: I’m asking for your thoughts. I’m your representative, so I’m planning on keeping it at 1.5%, so if you feel differently than that, then I would need to know.
Councilman McMasters: I say keep it at the same, and if they come back any higher, than you bring it back to us.
Council Chairman Culpepper: I’ll support your actions at this point.
Councilman McMasters: We’ll support your actions on it with the 1.5.
Mrs. Graham: Thank you. That’s all I have.
Parish President Seal: Alex?
Alex Sumrall: I have Danny’s report tonight. Kelvin’s crew picked up 380 bags of trash. They ordered 8 signs. They installed 17 signs. They cleaned and cut 15 locations in the parish. The inhouse overlay projects are going on. Old Columbia Road in Angie, Silverado Lane is where they are working right now. LCDBG Project is near completion. They are 3 roads remaining, WH Davis, Sleepy Hollow and Mockingbird. We also have the 2024 asphalt resurfacing has begun. They’ve done Ard Davidson, C. Davidson, Vineyard, Reeves, Archie Wallace. Those are all complete and they are in Mt. Hermon on Holland Brock today. A few more little updates. We have the Bogalusa Health Unit painted. Three offices and 3 restrooms were completed this week. The advertisement for the renovations at the Courthouse went out in The Era-Leader and Bid Express last week. It will run in the paper 2 more times. There will be a non-mandatory meeting on August 7 in our conference room. The bid opening will actually be August 21 at 2 pm in our conference room. I visited the Sunlight Solar Farm recently since our last meeting. I talked to the foreman, who explained to me that he was at least 3 months out to complete construction. There were multiple cranes out there. I took some pictures. Before completion, they will send us a letter of final inspection to the permit department and to the parish government, so we will go out there and make sure everything is up to code. They are also planting bamboo there. That’s all I have.
Parish President Seal: Thank you, Alex. A few things the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana has completed their evaluation of the public fire protection classification for Fire District #2. The classification was improved from a class 7 to a class 5. The new classification may result in a decrease in insurance rates. That comes from making improvements in that fire district, so congratulations to Fire District #2.
We’re very excited to have sponsored the Washington Parish Free Fair in an application for funding under the state’s Cooperative Grant Program. They will receive about $10,000.00 to boost advertisement for the fair. Landon worked hard on that and it came through in a really good way. That’s going to help them very much.
We hosted a meeting with stakeholders from the parish, including Senator Mizell, Representative Wyble, Sheriff Smith, a representative from Riverside Hospital and the Council. We met with Major Coleman, who is the Regional Director for the Office of Rural Development. He’s from St. Helena Parish, a super guy who I’ve known for about 20 years. Karen White, the Director of Rural Development was there. We discussed different ways and projects to help improve our parish and can use that agency to help make connections for our parish.
Lowe Brothers began their work on the asphalt resurfacing project. They didn’t waste any time. We’ve already started working on 2025 overlay projects. We’re excited about that.
We’re continuing our search for a new council clerk, accepting resume’s through July 8. We’re also very excited to announce that Mrs. Gretchen Tullier will be the new Choctaw Waste Management. Troy Barber, the manager there, has been planning his retirement for a while now. He’s tendered his resignation. We advertised this position for several weeks in several different venues. Gretchen has been out there for 10 years. She’s a Level A operator, and she’s done a fantastic job out there. She’s a native of our parish and lives here, raised her children here. She’s very excited, and I’m very excited. I think she’s going to do a fantastic job. I’m glad we had the opportunity to promote someone from within.
I also want to turn back and thank Donna for this audit. It’s quite labor intensive. It goes into a lot of detail about a lot of different programs. Donna, I hope you continue to give us good audits over the years and I appreciate her and her staff for that. I also want to remind the people that Private First Class Joseph Corbett Murphy, United States Army, 31 st Infantry Regiment, who was a resident of Bogalusa. He died at 20 years old in a prison camp near the Philippines during World War II. He was a prisoner of war and missing in action. He was buried as an unknown soldier and was buried in a grave in a prison camp near Cabantuan. His remains were later moved to a military mausoleum near the Philippines and they rested for until accounted on April 1 of this year. Through the efforts of the Department of Defense, Private First Class Murphy will be laid to rest in Pounds Cemetery on August 3. The funeral is being hosted by the American Legion in Bogalusa at 1 pm, followed by the burial with military honors in Pounds Cemetery. That’s down by Old River Estates. I’ve reached out to the governor’s office to get permission to fly flags at half-staff, according to proper protocol. I’m hoping to have that permission soon. I’ve also asked Senator Mizell to intervene on our behalf to get that permission from the governor. We can finally bring this young man’s remains home. No other comments, unless anyone has any questions.
Council Chairman Culpepper: I believe that Poole Ritchie is reaching out . we did a lot of those of escorts. The federal government has done a lot better in getting these fallen home, and to get them identified. There is actually a representative assigned to this man who helps to facilitate this and the body being brought to Washington Parish.
Parish President Seal: Let it be known that I’d like to treat this incident as if it had happened yesterday. I invite you all to participate, and I will participate. I’m sure the Sheriff will be there as well. Let’s bring this soldier’s remains home.
Council Chairwoman Wagner: You said that’s at 1:00?
Parish Presient Seal: Yes.
Item No. 14: Council Discussion: Moving on. Carley, we’ll start with you.
Councilman King: I’m just glad to be back and apologize for my absence. That’s all I have.
Councilman McMasters: I’m good.
Councilman Rice: I just want to say welcome back, Carley. And thank you, Mrs. Donna, although I’m not surprised that we get that kind of report with you at the helm. Thank you.
Councilwoman Wagner: Welcome back, Carley. That was good, Shawn. Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. It’s nice to have a good crowd here. Thank you to Michelle, and Mrs. Donna and her staff and the administration for always doing a great job. It’s nice to get a good report. Thank you to our Clerk of Court and the Registrar and our Fire Chief for being out here tonight. I just appreciate everyone for that.
Councilman Branch: I’d just like to thank District 1 on the new fire district out there. I’m sure the citizens and the voters are going to be excited to have a good place to vote. It looks very good.
Councilman Harry: Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. It’s always good to see everyone.
Council Chairman Culpepper: Mrs. Donna, you did an excellent job again. Thank you. Alex thank you for getting us an update on the solar project going on there. I do also appreciate the cooperation between 3 different agencies to fix this voting precinct problem. I think it’s incumbent upon us to give people a comfortable place to go vote. For a rathole to go to, it’s an inconvenience, and the bathrooms aren’t appropriate in this day and time. Thank you for all working together to make it happen. I appreciate all you here just to observe the goings-on of parish government. And with that, I’ll entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Councilman Rice: So moved.
Councilwoman Wagner: Second.
Council Chairman Culpepper: We have a motion by Councilman Rice and a second by
Councilwoman Wagner.
Roll call of the vote as follows:
YEAS: (7) Branch, McMasters, King, Culpepper, Rice, Wagner, Harry
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAIN: (0)
Joe Culpepper, Chairman
Washington Parish Council
Danielle Folks, Interim Clerk to the Council
Washington Parish Council
Order of Voting:
Steven Branch Shawn Rice Reginald McMasters Kim Wagner Carley King Clark Harry Joe Culpepper
The next meeting will be held on Monday, August 12, 2024
In accordance with the American Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance, please contact Danielle Folks, Interim Clerk to the Council, at 985.335.1302, describing the assistance that is necessary.
(All Ordinances, Resolutions, and attachments in their entirety are available at the Office of the Clerk of the Council at 909 Pearl Street, Franklinton, Louisiana or at 985.839.7825, or wpgov.org)
**This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.”
Adv. August 21, 2024.