Washington Parish Council
Regular Meeting – 6:00 PM
Washington Parish Courthouse
Council Chambers
January11, 2010
Item No. 1 – Call to Order – Chairman Nassauer called the meeting to order.
Item No. 2 – Invocation – Councilman Fussell gave the invocation.
Item No. 3 – Pledge of Allegiance – Chairman Nassauer called for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Item No. 4 – Roll Call – Clerk Sharon Lyons called the roll. Present were Kenneth Wheat, Michael Fussell, Charles Nassauer, Andre’ Johnson, Randy Thomas, Greg Route and Aubrey Posey.
Item No. 5 – Election of Officers – Attorney Wayne Kuhn opened the floor for nomination for chairman for 2010.
Councilman Thomas nominated Councilman Aubrey Posey as Chairman. Councilman Johnson seconded the nomination.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Route to close the nomination and the motion unanimously carried.
Councilman Posey with no opposition was elected Chairman by affirmation.
Attorney Kuhn congratulated Chairman Posey and opened the floor for nomination for Vice-Chairman.
Councilman Fussell nominated Councilman Greg Route for Vice-Chairman. Councilman Thomas seconded the nomination.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Johnson to close the nomination for Vice-Chairman and the motion unanimously carried.
Councilman Route with no opposition was elected Vice-Chairman by affirmation.
Mr. Kuhn congratulated Vice-Chairman Route and the meeting was relinquished to Chairman Posey.
Item No. 6 – Approval of Minutes – Councilman Wheat offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Route to approve the minutes of the December 28, 2009 meeting. All in favor and the motion carried.
Item No. 7 – Adoption of the Financial Report – Councilman Wheat offered a motion to adopt the financial report. Councilman Nassauer seconded the motion. All in favor and the motion carried.
Item No. 8 – Public Hearing on Ordinance No. 09-509 – An Ordinance authorizing the Parish President to enter into a contract with the Keep Louisiana Beautiful Organization regarding funds provided to Washington Parish through a competitive grant (Introduced by Randy Thomas)
There were no comments during the public hearing.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Thomas to close the public hearing. All in favor and the motion carried.
Councilman Nassauer offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Route to adopt Ordinance 09-509. A roll call vote resulted as follows:
YEAS: (7) Nassauer, Johnson, Thomas, Route, Posey, Wheat and Fussell
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAINED: (0)
Item No. 9 – Public Hearing on Ordinance No. 10-510 – An ordinance adopting a revision to the 2009 Planning and Building Permit Fee Schedule (Introduced by Randy Thomas)
There were no comments during the public hearing.
Councilman Route offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Fussell to close the public hearing. All in favor and the motion carried.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Route to adopt Ordinance 10-510. A roll call vote resulted as follows:
YEAS: (7) Nassauer, Johnson, Thomas, Route, Posey, Wheat and Fussell
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAINED: (0)
Item No. 10 – Public Hearing on Ordinance No. 10-511 – An ordinance adopting a revision to Ordinance 09-482 entitled Improvement Requirements for Subdivisions and Land Developments (Introduced by Randy Thomas)
There were no comments during the public hearing.
Councilman Route offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Fussell to close the public hearing. All in favor and the motion carried.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Johnson to adopt Ordinance 10-511. A roll call vote resulted as follows:
YEAS: (7) Nassauer, Johnson, Thomas, Route, Posey, Wheat and Fussell
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAINED: (0)
Item No. 11 – Public Hearing on Ordinance No. 10-512 – An ordinance adopting a revision to the Preface and Article 1, 2 and 3 of the Comprehensive Development Plan of Washington Parish, Louisiana (Ordinance No. 08-0465) (Introduced by Randy Thomas)
There were no comments during the public hearing.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Route to close the public hearing. All in favor and the motion carried.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Route to adopt Ordinance 10-512. A roll call vote resulted as follows:
YEAS: (7) Nassauer, Johnson, Thomas, Route, Posey, Wheat and Fussell
NAYS: (0)
ABSENT: (0)
ABSTAINED: (0)
Item No. 12 – Resolution No. 10-452 – A Resolution of Support of the Energy Efficiency Block Grant (EECBG) Application.
Councilman Route offered a motion to adopt Resolution 10-452. Councilman Thomas seconded the motion. All in favor and the motion carried unanimously.
Item No. 13 – Resolution No. 10-453 – A Resolution Authorizing the Broadcasting of Washington Parish Council Meeting.
Chairman Posey recognized Council Attorney Wayne Kuhn. Mr. Kuhn asks the council to pull Item No.13 Resolution 10-453 from the agenda. A request for more time to exam the agreement was needed.
Councilman Fussell offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Nassauer to pull Item No.13 Resolution No.10- 453 from the agenda. All in favor and the motion carried.
Item No. 14 – Washington Parish Coroner’s Office – There were no representatives present from the Washington Parish Coroner’s Office.
Item No. 15 – Public Participation – There were no comments during the public participation.
Councilman Nassauer offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Route to close public participation. All in favor and the motion carried.
Item No. 16 – President’s Report - President Thomas thanked Councilman Nassauer for handling the meeting with professional standards these last two years. Also, he announced the Washington Parish Government office will be closed on January 18, 2010 to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. President Thomas stated he had the following re-appointment as follows:
· Re-appointment of Mr. Tom Pigott to the Board of Directors of the Washington Parish Gas District No. 1; term expires December 31, 2014
· Re-appointment of Ms. Carolin Bridges to Bogue Lusa Waterworks District Board; term expires December 31, 2014
· Re-appointment of Mr. Ronald Owens to the Varnado Waterworks District
Board; term expires December 31, 2014.
Councilman Route offered a motion, seconded by Councilman Johnson to adopt the re-appointments presented by President Thomas. All in favor and the motion carried.
President Thomas gave a report as follows:
Hazard Mitigation
Grants recently approved:
This grant is to elevate 8 homes in Washington parish above flood stage. These properties were chosen from FEMA’s severe repetitive loss list.
These funds will be utilized for the installation of hurricane resistant shutters and doors to the communication bldg. during or after construction.
Public Works Director, Mr. Leo Lucchesi, to give an update on projects. The report is as follows:
Request of funds of $227,000 for reimbursement items through the Permit
Department.
ü Cooling towers
ü Change controls
ü Change in electrical fixtures
Transportation Director, John Taylor gave a yearly report on the yearly amount of gravel, clay, culverts and etc. and Councilman Fussell asks about the increase in clay. Mr. Taylor replied the clay was used for setting up a base for asphalting roads last year.
Item No.17 – Council Discussion - Councilman Thomas thanked Councilman Nassauer for his past leadership and guidance. Also, he asks for an update on Seven Mile Creek.
Mr. Lucchesi stated, “The contractor hopes to make it passable by the end of the month. What you will see is Mitch road has been made passable and the contractor plans on paving both location at the same time.”
Councilman Thomas congratulated Councilman Posey on being elected Chairman for the 2010 year.
Councilman Wheat stated, “I echo the same. Chuck, I appreciate the good job you have done the last two years. I thank Aubrey and Greg for taking on the task at hand. We appreciate that.”
Councilman Fussell stated, “I want to echo the same sentiments for Chuck stepping up to the plate. You did a great job and I look forward to two more with Mr. Aubrey and Greg.”
Councilman Fussell asks about how the government fared with the really cold weather.
Leo Lucchesi gave an update and stated he wanted to thank the employees for a really good job. Workers were on standby and paroling the areas. There were three different groups working in different locations.
Councilman Route stated, “First, I want to commend Chuck for a job well done. Second, I want to thank this Council for putting their trust in me as a Vice-Chairman and I promise you I will do the best job that I can. I didn’t know this was coming my way tonight, but I had already set some goals for 2010.”
Vice-Chairman Route listed the items as follows:
Councilman Posey stated, “Chuck, I also appreciate being able to sit by your side over here. You have done a wonderful job. It is my goal to work with all the Council, Parish Government and Parish President. I think all of us are interested in keeping it moving forward and making it better. I will be working with the Parish President and other elected officials. We talked several months ago about reporting to the people. We would like to see that done. Richard has agreed and we are getting closer to being ready to do that.”
Councilman Route invited the councilmen and public to the Martin Luther King celebration at 10:00 AM, Monday morning at the R.W. Johnson Auditorium on T.W. Barker Drive.
Item No. 18 – Adjourn – Having no further business to come before the council, the meeting was adjourned on motion by Councilman Fussell, seconded by Councilman Thomas. All in favor and the motion carried unanimously.
__SIGNATURE_______________ ___SIGNATURE________
Sharon Lyons, Clerk to the Council Aubrey Posey, Chairman
Washington Parish Washington Parish Council