Council approves airport projects
Published 4:32 am Saturday, October 28, 2017
On Tuesday, with all members in attendance, the Bogalusa city council got quickly down to business. At the end of the meeting, it had unanimously passed two resolutions and five ordinances.
The city’s legislative body authorized Mayor Wendy Perrette to execute an agreement with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development for improvements to George R. Carr Memorial Airport.
Airport Manager Louis Busby said the work would be the extension of the parallel taxiway, and it would be “one hundred percent covered by” a federal and state grant. The federal portion is 90 percent of the total $1.6 million project and will be administered by the Federal Aviation Administration. The remainder will come from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
The second resolution would enable the above project to get started by allowing the council to get the grants.
The first adopted ordinance dealt with one condition in the city’s 2014 agreement to accept ownership of portions of Louisiana Highway 1075. But Condition 1 of the agreement, which would have provided that the balance of the federal earmark in the amount of $490,461, cannot be used as described in Condition 1. The council requests that the DOTD concur with the severance of Condition 1 from the agreement.
In the second ordinance, the council agreed to a rezoning from A-2 Residential to A-3 Residential for undeveloped land off of South Columbia Street. The property owner, Gregory Brumfield, said he brought the rezoning request before the Planning and Zoning Commission and they approved.
The third ordinance amended the 2017 budget to be more in keeping with the reality of the budget at this point in the year. The amendment was made with feedback provided by Bogalusa’s Director of Administration Stacy Smith who expressed concerns about the Retirement System and who said, “We don’t want to anything half way.”
The fourth ordinance authorized the mayor to declare a particular parcel of land owned by the city as surplus property. The property is on Second Avenue, and Councilman Doug Ritchie said it measures approximately five feet by 180 feet.
“This piece of land could be a revenue source,” Councilwoman Gloria Kates said. “I believe it would be advantageous to sell it to interested citizens.”
The fifth ordinance authorizes the mayor to execute a contract with Gulf States, LLC, for the parallel taxiway part II at George R. Carr Memorial Airport. Councilwoman Sherry Fortenberry, who introduced the legislation, explained that the measure “is for the contractor to do the work.”