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BRANDY FLEMING

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS

On December 17th, 2024 the Bogalusa City Council held their weekly meeting and discussed topics including an amendment and adoption of ordinances, as well as their annual council president and vice president elections.

Councilwoman Kates was nominated for president and was elected to the position by unanimous vote from the council. Councilman Irvine was nominated for vice president and the council voted unanimously for this as well.

An amendment for a resolution pertaining to an FAA Grant for the airport was discussed. Councilwoman Kates called a vote to amend the agenda. This was an amendment only. The amendment passed by unanimous vote.

Next, Councilman Irvine addressed a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, better known as LADOTD, for improvements to the George R. Carr Memorial Airport. He stated the LADOTD will approve the necessary funding, rehabilitation phase two and reimburse the sponsor up to $90,000 for the project cost. According to Councilman Irvine the LADOTD is funding the project and there would be no out of pocket costs for the administration. The motion passed by unanimous vote

The next topic of discussion was the adoption of ordinances. The first ordinance was to dedicate the remaining balance of the American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA funds to water and sewer infrastructure. Councilwoman Kates stated, “The actual ordinance indicates the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and provides federal resources to Louisiana to address the economic and public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic”. Councilwoman Kates further explained that ARPA can be used for a variety of services, including infrastructure. She said investments in water and sewer also include broadband infrastructures, but that the council’s focus at this time should be regarding infrastructure related to water and sewer. Municipalities have flexibility of choosing how to spend their ARPA funds, recipients must obligate the funds by December 31st, 2024 and spend them by that date as well.

“The Bogalusa City Council does hereby go on record as adopting this ordinance as is”, Councilwoman Kates stated. She said a couple of weeks ago there was brown water that came through sewerage in Bogalusa and the council received information on the condition of the pipes and pumps hoping they could get better, but the particular pumps have been deemed to be repaired and replaced for many years. She also said the last time she pulled the ARPA fund report there was $800,000 in the account, which has decreased. The current balance as of November 30th, 2024 was $712,804. Councilwoman Kates stated, “This is a very pressing matter for the City of Bogalusa to get our pipes in order for our citizens and if the money is decreasing we need to really expedite it for the repair”.

For council discussion, Councilman Irvine stated he has a concern about the gap between the account balances discussed by Councilwoman Kates and they need the assurance regarding whatever plan they were voting on and that the ARPA account balance be brought back up to where it was. Mayor Truong’s response to this was that if the first proposal was voted on favorably, then the $712,804 would be allocated. The money will be spent in accordance with the U.S. Treasury’s final rule as last revenue. If the second proposal was passed, then he said Councilman Irvine was correct and it will require replacement to get the account balance back to $881,000 once the ad valorem taxes were received. The motion did not pass.

Councilman Irvine then announced an ordinance allocating remaining ARPA funds enacting the Better Bogalusa 2025 Plan. There was not a second motion for the council to vote on this topic of discussion.

Wendy O’Quinn-Perrette spoke at the end of the council meeting and said the missing money from ARPA funds was included in her 1.7 million dollar surplus she left when she was mayor.

In closing, Councilwoman Kates said the council will resume their meetings on January 7th at 5:30 p.m. at Bogalusa City Hall.