Here is a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils. To see the full agendas, check out the links below:
- Parish Agenda
- City Agenda (Public comment time!)
Lafayette 101
Annual Budgets
LCG’s annual budget process starts each July with a proposal from the Mayor-President. Both councils then read through the entire budget and make amendments at public meetings throughout the summer before passing a final budget in early fall ahead of the start of LCG’s fiscal year on Nov. 1.
Parish Council
Final Adoption
Money moves. The Parish Council will vote Tuesday on a budget correction from Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s administration to add $72,000 to the parish general fund by reverting $86,000 from the Buchanan Street Garage fund to the parish general fund. The money was originally budgeted for the garage fund to repay the city and parish general funds for administrative costs. Putting it back in the parish general fund would cost the city $76,300 in expected reimbursements, while the parish general fund would come out ahead by about $76,000 before other administrative cost adjustments brought the total change down to a $72,000 boost. Budget corrections aren’t uncommon, though they usually occur earlier in the spring. LCG’s next budget will be proposed by the administration in July.
Introduction
Temporary Shelter. Guillory’s administration is introducing an ordinance that would waive local zoning rules against temporary shelters in the wake of disasters as part of a state program. Lafayette’s participation in the Temporary Housing and Shelter Assistance Program wouldn’t add funding for emergency shelters but would allow the survivors of disasters to install mobile homes, RVs and other temporary housing next to their normal residences following major disasters.
City Council
Final Adoption
$50,000 for mental health. An ordinance by Council Chair Glenn Lazard would provide $50,000 in federal COVID-19 funds to Focus Clubhouse, which specializes in adult mental healthcare resources. The ordinance was originally scheduled for a final vote at the council’s June 6 meeting, but Lazard delayed that vote to Tuesday, June 20.
More money moves. A second budget correction pushed by Guillory’s administration would draw $146,000 from the city general fund and $147,000 from LUS to offset administrative reimbursements canceled under the budget correction. Among the largest lost reimbursements for the city are $76,000 from the parish’s Buchanan Street Garage fund and $119,000 from the city’s roads fund, while LUS would pay the city an additional $130,000 in administrative reimbursements under the change. The result is about a 1% increase in this year’s draw down of the city’s $40 million cash reserves.
Introduction
Electric car charging. Two ordinances being presented Tuesday would authorize LUS to accept an $83,000 grant to install five electric car charging stations and charge users 20 cents per kilowatt-hour to use them as part of a national settlement with Volkswagen following the international auto giant’s diesel emissions scandal. The funding will pay for four Level 2 chargers and one DC fast charger, which can refill the battery of a large electric car in as little as an hour. LUS has not announced where the charging stations will be installed.
Temporary shelter. The City Council will also introduce an ordinance Tuesday to waive local zoning rules against temporary shelters in the wake of disasters as part of a state program. Lafayette’s participation in the Temporary Housing and Shelter Assistance Program wouldn’t add funding for emergency shelters but would allow the survivors of disasters to install mobile homes, RVs and other temporary housing next to their normal residences following major disasters.
Joint Items
Resolutions
Crime Lab. Both councils will vote Tuesday on a joint resolution offering up to $1.6 million in local tax dollars to match $24 million in the recently passed state budget to build a replacement for the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory. The crime lab, which is in Iberia Parish, serves the entire region.
Final Adoption
Risk management. A third budget correction would free up $443,000 in the city’s general fund thanks to lower-than-expected uninsured losses so far this year, which cover costs like workers’ compensation, lawsuits and other hard-to-predict expenses. Most of the savings came from the police department, which is frequently involved in lawsuits against the city and car crashes.
Joint money moves. A fourth budget correction from Guillory’s administration makes just one adjustment to the joint city-parish environmental services fund, increasing its administrative costs for this year by $2,439, or about half a percent.
Compost Grinder. The city-parish environmental service fund would be used to buy a new, $1.4 million grinder for LCG’s compost facility on Dugas Road in a plan being introduced Tuesday.
Introduction
No significant items.
Property
| Address | Approval | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 500 block of Joli Road | Parish Council | Developer’s appeal of Planning Commission requirements for platting |
| 500 block of Tolson Road | Parish Council | Neighbor’s appeal of Planning Commission approval of platting |
| 209 W Milton Ave. | Parish Council | Developer’s appeal of Planning Commission requirements for platting |
| 116 E Vermilion St. | City Council | Zoning permit to expand existing bar [Final] |
| 1103 E. University Ave. | City Council | Rezoning from Industrial Heavy (IH) to Mixed-Use Neighborhood (MN-1) [Final] |