Several Bogalusa residents, who live in or near the Brookwood subdivision, questioned a proposed ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting of the Bogalusa City Council.

The proposed ordinance was for a re-subdivision of the neighborhood.

Several residents complained that apparent owner Stanley Scianna was causing flooding on their properties, by either filling ditches or doing other landfill activities.

In his defense, Scianna said the re-subdivision would allow for more opportunities for home ownership in the community. He noted one such hopeful homeowner, stating, “(She) now has an option to own her house.”

Scianna also noted, “There are not going to be any trailers; it’s not zoned for it.”

The council unanimously approved the ordinance.

The council also unanimously approved four other ordinances discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.

One will authorize the mayor to enter into an agreement between the Bogalusa City Jail and Ally Telecom, LLC, to remove a telephone at the jail. A second will authorize the mayor to accept the low bidder for two inches of asphalt to be used for the overlay of roadway for Alabama Avenue, Georgia Avenue and Montgomery Street.

Two other ordinances will authorize the mayor to enter into supplemental agreements to remove obstructions at the airport.

During public participation, Henry Rayford and Richard Brister each spoke out against an agreement that Doyle Creel signed with Bogalusa public works director James Hall on Nov. 2, 2017. Creel has had a fire truck parked on the south side of Bogalusa, and the two citizens questioned whether the matter was handled fairly and legally.

The stipulations of the agreement between Hall and Creel are that there will be no advertisement signs on the vehicle, that the vehicle is not raised, that the vehicle is in operative condition, and that it has a valid license plate and current insurance. In addition, the agreement states that the vehicle must be in a clean, safe, and sanitary condition, there should be no lights on the vehicle operating while parked on the property, the vehicle cannot located on a city right-of-way, and the vehicle location cannot restrict or impair visibility at the intersection of the right-of-way lines of the two streets.

Hall said Creel came to him when he heard people from the neighborhood were complaining. He also said Creel had let his license plate and insurance expire at the time, but he was currently in compliance. Hall also said Creel had taken the advertisement signs off of the vehicle, and was in compliance with that stipulation currently as well.

Rayford asked the council if the agreement was legal. In past meetings, Rayford and Brister have stated that they know other citizens who were forced to move similar large vehicles, and were not given the same opportunity to sign such an agreement.

“Doyle Creel is just standing there because they gave him time,” Rayford said.

“It’s not legal,” council member Brian McCree said.

But council member Tamira Smith said, “I don’t think it would be illegal.”

Council president Gloria Kates later said, “I will offer a resolution so we can address it with a proper ordinance.”

The council also introduced an ordinance to amend the Bogalusa city code to provide for the sale of alcohol from noon until 10 p.m. on Sundays, and one to amend Ordinance No. 2511, pertaining to underground burials in both city cemeteries.

Those ordinances will be decided at the next council meeting on Tuesday, April 17, at 5:30 p.m.