The Bogalusa City Council held its final meeting of the 2018 year on Tuesday evening, after its previous two scheduled meetings had been cancelled due to lack of a quorum.

Six of seven council members attended Tuesday’s meeting — only Brian McCree was absent. Gloria Kates, Tamira Smith, Scott Ard, Sherry Fortenberry, Teddy Drummond and Doug Ritchie were present.

Tuesday’s meeting was two hours long and was at times contentious, but ended with outgoing city council members thanking the public for their support. Also, the mayor and council members wished everyone a merry Christmas and happy new year.

In regular business, the council:

• Approved an ordinance to amend the 2018 budget. The ordinance was approved by a 5-1 vote.
• Approved an ordinance to amend and re-enact Chapter 13 of the Bogalusa City Code Parks and Recreation to provide for the rules for the Parks and Recreation Commission and rules and regulations for the parks, as well as enforcement by the parks and recreation director.
• Tabled an ordinance to amend and re-enact Section 10-84 of the City of Bogalusa Code to provide for the operation of food trucks within the city limits.

The council also introduced three ordinances. These will be open for public discussion and will be voted upon at the council’s next scheduled meeting, which is Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, at 5:30 p.m.

Those ordinances were:

• An ordinance authorizing the mayor to accept the low bidder for AIR-PAK X3 SCBA General Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus for the Bogalusa Fire Department.
• An ordinance approving and adopting the City of Bogalusa operating budget and capital budget for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, 2019.
• An ordinance to amend Ordinance No. 1164, an ordinance providing for sanctions to compel attendance by council members at council meetings.

The council also approved a resolution to canvas and declare the results of the Dec. 8 special election.

The outgoing council members are Ritchie, Smith, McCree, Ard and Fortenberry. Their replacements are Penny Douglas, Danielle Magee-Keys, Oneita Graham, Kenny Kellis and Mark Irvine. The new council’s first meeting will be Jan. 8, 2019.