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
- Special Parish Agenda
- City Agenda (Public Comment Time!)
Lafayette 101
Vetoes
When the councils pass ordinances, the mayor-president has three options: sign them, veto them or let them pass unsigned. By charter, the M-P has 10 days to take action once the councils pass an ordinance. The councils can override a veto with a two-thirds vote. Under the current configuration, a council needs four votes to defeat a veto. For joint legislation, each council needs four votes. It’s a high bar.
Parish Council
Reports & Discussions
Audit update. Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s administration is providing a required update on one of the 29 findings identified in this year’s audit to both councils Tuesday. The update is related to bonded capital funds being used to pay a settlement with farmers leasing land on the Bendel property LCG seized for the Homewood Drive detention ponds. Auditors questioned the use of those funds, and LCG said it would request an Attorney General’s opinion, which remains pending.
Vetoed Ordinance
Millages. The Parish Council will vote again on its decision to bump a handful of property taxes to their legally allowed maximums after Guillory vetoed the measure earlier this month. The increase would add $6.65 to the annual property tax bill of a $250,000 house with a homestead exemption and generate several hundred thousand dollars for parish infrastructure, libraries and fire protection. The council voted 4-1 in favor of the bump in September, enough to override Guillory’s veto, but councilmen now say they don’t expect the necessary 4-1 vote to override Tuesday.
Final Adoption
Precincts. The Parish Council is looking at a plan to change voting precincts to better distribute registered voters. The move would consolidate Precinct 62 into Precinct 58, both of which cover the McComb-Veazey area and currently vote at LeRosen Preparatory School. It would also create a new Precinct 50 out of Precinct 6, near Carencro, both of which will vote at Carencro Middle School. The measure will not change polling locations for the affected precincts. Other voting location changes are available online from the secretary of state.
Budget amendment. Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s administration is proposing an amendment to this year’s budget to reflect higher than expected revenue collections for the parish. The adjustment recognizes an additional $6.7 million in parish tax revenue.Juvenile detention cut. Guillory’s administration is proposing a change to take $2 million in federal ARPA funds from safety improvements at the parish’s Juvenile Detention Home to fund $1 million for clearing roadside ditches in the parish and add $1 million to the $4.3 million planned for the Louisiana Avenue Extension project.
Introduction
No significant items.
Special Parish Council Meeting
Introduction
Jail lease. The Parish Council will give preliminary consideration Tuesday to an agreement that would lease the land LCG purchased for a new jail on Willow Street to the Sheriff’s Office for construction of the new law enforcement complex. LCG and the sheriff received a combined $25 million from the state this year to move the jail and the sheriff’s Downtown operations to the Willow Street location. LCG is months behind on updating the Parish Council about ongoing negotiations with the contractors selected to build the new jail through a public-private partnership, which the parish likely cannot afford.
City Council
Reports & Discussions
Audit update. Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s administration is providing a required update on one of the 29 findings identified in this year’s audit to both councils Tuesday. The update is related to bonded capital funds being used to pay a settlement with farmers leasing land on the Bendel property LCG seized for the Homewood Drive detention ponds. Auditors questioned the use of those funds, and LCG said it would request an Attorney General’s opinion, which remains pending.
Garbage. LCG is in the midst of changing residential trash collection contractors, and City Council Chairman Glenn Lazard is seeking an update from Guillory’s administration on the transition Tuesday. After a decade with Republic Services, LCG is moving to Acadiana Waste Services at the end of October.
Final Adoption
Budget amendment. Guillory’s administration is also proposing a budget adjustment for the City Council, recognizing $5.2 million in tax revenue above budgeted expectations for this year.
Camellia pond. LCG’s Public Works Department is asking the City Council to declare the Camellia Ponds Betterment Project a public necessity and to allow Guillory to acquire nearby land to expand the ponds by East Bluebird Drive. The City Council has expressed concerns with public necessity declarations in the past, as they have been used to expropriate property or move forward with projects before plans were fully presented to the council.
Introduction
No significant items.
Joint Items
Final Adoption
No significant items.
Introduction
Parks money. LCG is recognizing $3 million from the state for recreation spending, $1 million of which will go to improvements at Picard Park near the Homewood Drive detention pond while another $1 million will be used to buy new golf carts. The rest will be split between $500,000 for a BMX track and $500,000 improvements to the fields at Moore Park.
Grant money. Guillory’s administration is proposing five ordinances Tuesday to distribute $845,000 in federal grant funding to community service groups. The proposed awards are:
- $420,000 to Lafayette Habitat for Humanity (three awards: one, two, three)
- $200,000 to Lafayette Neighborhoods’ Economic Development Corporation
- $225,000 to Acadiana Cares