City Council - Regular Meeting

It's kind of like those soccer matches.

I can't understand all of a sudden they play another 10 minutes. I mean, I don't understand.

I didn't understand that at all.

No. All right. All right, we ready?

Are you all ready?

All right. Welcome to tonight's council meeting for the city of Covington, July 7th, 2026. This meeting is hereby called to order. I need a roll call.

Councilman Callahan. Councilman Bushnell. Here. Councilman Roberts. Councilman Inman. Here. Councilman Burrell. Here. Councilman Boxford. Here. Councilman Barrett.

Here. If you will please rise for a moment of silence, and I would ask that you keep Chris Rushing's family in your prayers at this time. And would Steve and Michelle please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Well, this evening the council does have a special announcement. The Covington City Council plans to consider adopting a resolution ordering and calling a special election to be held in the city of Covington, state of Louisiana, to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds therein. This will be at our Tuesday, August 11th, 2026 at 6 p.m. at the council chambers here located at 222 East Kirkland Street in Covington. We have our attorney over here. Did I do okay? Thank you, sir. All right. Every July meeting, we select the president of the council and the vice president of the council. I need a motion for president of the council.

I'd like to motion that the president of the council remain Mark Verrett.

Is there a second?

Second.

All right, I need a roll call, please.

Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Inman?

Yes.

Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Botsford?

Yes.

Councilman Verrett?

Yes. And we will need a selection of vice president under the ordinance. I need a motion.

I would like to motion that it remain as is, vice president being John Botsford.

Is there a second?

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Inman?

Yes.

Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Botsford? Yes. Councilman Barrett? Yes. Councilman Bushnell?

Yes. Well, I'd like to thank the council for the continued opportunity to serve as president, and it means a lot to me. We have our first appear of the evening. It's Steve and Michelle with Never Forget 5KK Foundation.

Thank you. You get to say money on name plates now.

Let's keep it to the 5K Foundation.

Sorry.

Sorry. Yes, my name is Steve Michel. I'm the president of the Never Forget Foundation. Our mission is we put on a 5K once a year and we run to honor those first responders that were lost in the line of duty. And then we take the money that we raise and we go support those families. We've had opportunities, whether it's fortunate or unfortunate, but we've had the opportunities throughout the years to be able to write checks to families and help them out. This is our fifth year. The race will be August 29th. The doors will open at 6.30 at the Covington Trailhead in downtown Covington. We will have a one-mile fun run, and we will also have a 5K. The route is completely awesome. It just leaves the trailhead. leaves out of downtown covington goes down toward the park in new hampshire and old part of covington and then comes right back it's very shaded selecting the date for the race is tough sometimes because of labor day and i can't compete against the saints 5k where you end on the football field so So we juggle around on a date for that. We have raised a lot of money over the five years and been able to write checks out over the five years. The support from the community is completely awesome. We have a lot of sponsors and vendors that come out and set up their tents. I think something that is very exciting is when people reach out to you and want to be a part of the event, especially people that are now like on the route. We have some businesses that have reached out and they want to go set something up in front of their business. And so that it just makes us feel really good that obviously doing something really good. Last year was one of our biggest events and we had 575 people register. And right now we're on a pace for either 650 to 700 people to register. So a lot of people, a lot of good time, face painting, some music. Councilman Roberts actually DJs for us, plays some nice music. The police department will do the honor guard with the flags. We still have sponsor opportunities and vendor opportunities. So if anybody would like to join, please look up Never Forget on Facebook and message me. But this is also a formal invitation to city council and city administration to come out. And if you want to say a few words or whatever, just get with me. But thank you very much for the time. Thank you. Thank you.

And thank you for what you do. Your commitment to it is phenomenal. I think the event has grown every time I've gone. And, you know, kudos to you for doing it. It's a good cause. All right, we have another appear this evening. I think this young lady is going to make an excellent judge, and she has my full support. And we would like her to address the counsel, Blair. Step right up and give us your name and your address, please.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Blair Alford, thank you all so much for the opportunity to come here and introduce myself tonight. I am running for district court judge here in the 22nd Judicial District, which is made up of all of St. Tammany and Washington parishes. And I've learned a lot of things. campaign trail and one of those things is just how large those parishes are. So the opportunity to be here and introduce myself to a room full of community leaders and folks so interested in our community is truly a privilege, so I can't thank you enough. For those of you who don't know me very well, I've been practicing law for almost 17 years. I spent the first 12 years as a felony criminal prosecutor and now five years in private practice focused on civil litigation. Before I was a lawyer, I was born and raised in what used to be considered rural Covington, Forster Road, and I absolutely loved the North Shore, so it was no question when I was finished law school, I was going to come back home to raise my family, which is where my husband John and I live back here in Covington, and we're raising our four children. And I'm very excited for the opportunity and look forward to the opportunity to serve our community in this next way as we grow. We have significant opportunity, and I want to be a part of that and continue to move us in the right direction. I hope I can count on your support on November 3rd. That's when the election day is. Early voting is in October. Don't be afraid to do that either. And my cell phone is on all of my phones. Internet presence, social media, website. So if anyone has any questions or would like to reach out and chat with me more about that, I would love to talk to you. So, again, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, your energy on the campaign trail, your energy is very indicative of why so many people are enthused that you're running. And take it from me, public service is not for everyone, so thank you for doing it. And as I travel around running for mayor, I can only imagine going through all of Washington Parish and all of St. Tammany Parish. Yeah, well, I won't do everything, but thank you for being here, and I can't stress enough that I think you're going to be a phenomenal judge, and thank you for doing it.

And I urge everyone to vote for Blair.

All right we have our under consent calendar this evening regular meeting minutes, June 2nd 2026 and we have also special meeting minutes of June 16th 2026. We have introduction of item number 2026 dashes 0, 7, dash, 0, 1, an ordinance of the city of Covington declaring surplus equipment owned by the city. We have introduction of item number 2026 dashes 0, 7, dash, 0, 2, This is an ordinance of the city of Covington authorizing the city of Covington through the mayor to acquire certain parcels, rights of way, and or servitudes for the Columbia Street Bridge project. We will also be introducing item number 2026-07-03. It is an ordinance of the City of Covington authorizing the mayor to sell on behalf of the City of Covington a portion of the McDougal Street right-of-way, which is located between East Tate Street and East 32nd Avenue here in the City of Covington. And finally, we have introduction of item number 2026-07-04, an ordinance of the City of Covington midyear budget amendment to the 2026 capital and operating budget. I need a motion to accept the consent calendar. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Roll call, please.

Councilman Botsford? Yes. Councilman Barrett? Yes. Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Burrell?

Yes.

On a regular agenda unfinished business items to be voted on public hearing and action on I'm never 2026 dash 0, 6, dash, 0, 1, an ordinance of the city of Covington adding the following provisions. The Covington code of ordinances chapter 98 utilities are one in general section 98 dash 6 private water service. This comes to us and I stress by the public works department of our city. The covenant code of ordinance is 98 section 98 dash one through 98 dash five set forth general regulations regarding water use. The code of ordinances at this time requires all properties in the city limits to tie into the municipal water system, including the requirement to extend water mains and precludes private water service except for limited irrigation wells. as public works has found throughout our city there are situations that have arisen various factors result in the time into the municipal water system and or the extension of water mains simply impractical unreasonable and our financially unfeasible so additional provisions have been added that would allow a very streamlined process come to the city and ask to be exempt from the current requirements. And it has very specific, I'll stress it again, we work very hard with city administration, council committees, and with public works to make sure that that language, no one should read this and think, well, I'm not going to tie into the municipal water system. This should be out of the ordinary outlier situation. Jim O'Berry's here. If there's any questions, Jim, that's basically it. I know you've got some insight. I can see it.

Just for a little clarification, so it is not, like you said, for anybody to just not want to connect. It is for an area that is impractical or just doesn't make any sense to be able to connect. the water. And we have some instances that came up that brought this about. And it's not just going to be on me to make this decision. It will be the oversight of the city engineer and the building official to agree with me as well. So it doesn't just give all of this power to me. It has oversight as well.

All right. Is there any public comment?

I want to say also, it stipulates that they are going to have to maintain the system. in compliance with all the state and federal and local regulations.

Any council comments?

Approximately how many of these situations do you have you come across?

I've only come across one since I've been director. Sewers are different and that's coming up next I think, but sewer is a little more often.

So, a property owner may seek a waiver of the requirement that their property connect to the City Water Service. The request must be submitted in writing to the Department of Public Works with an explanation of the proposal, a justification for the request, and a plan or schematic of the proposed well. This request must receive approval of the Department of Public Works, the City Engineer, and the Chief Building Officer before any waiver is warranted. And we have spelled out I would argue painstakingly tried to spell out what those factors are going to be. And I think city administration would agree with that, correct? All right. So with that, if there's no more comments, I'd like a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved.

I need a second.

Second.

I'll make a motion to adopt, and I need a second. Second. Roll call, please.

Councilman Verrett. Yes. Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Botsford?

Yes.

Moving on, public hearing in action on item number 2026-06-02. It is an ordinance of the City of Covington amending the following provisions of the Covington Code of Ordinances, Chapter 98, Utilities Article 3, Utility Services SES 98-91, Definitions, Basic Requirements. This is exactly the same thing in a different section of the ordinance. So we want it to. Correct. So section 98 dash 91 D provides at all discharges of domestic waste shall be made into the sanitary sewerage system, except when a public sewer line is not within 300 feet of the property line of the discharger. Again, situations have arisen where, although a sewer line is within 300 feet of the property line in question, the tie-in may be impractical, unreasonable, or simply financially unfeasible. So with that, is there any public comment? Any further or at all council comment? And with that, I need a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved.

I need a second. Second. I'll make a motion to adopt, and I need a second. Second. Roll call.

Councilman Bushnell?

Yes.

Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Boxford? Yes. Councilman Burrell?

Yes. Moving on, public hearing in action on item number 2026-06-003, an ordinance of the City of Covington authorizing the mayor to sell on behalf of the City of Covington a portion of the South Monroe Street right-of-way between West 15th Avenue and West 14th Avenue. located here in the City of Covington. Councilman Inman.

Thank you, Council President. So this is basically an unopened right-of-way that is currently being utilized as a driveway. A resident, in this case Mr. Jerry Browsewell, approached wanting to purchase this particular right-of-way. Another wise resident said, okay, what's, what's the city going to get out of this? And the answer is longterm. There is a, uh, for a lack of a better way of saying it, a swale that goes along the backside of the property, the drains portions of Madison and Monroe. and areas in between 14th and 15th. So it's very important that we basically have access to this property. We currently do not have access to go in and maintain this drainage well. With this part of the provisions of the sale would be for that servitude to be created and give us access to develop and maintain that to provide better drainage. So that's what the city is looking at. I have no issues with this. I went out and walked it in the rainstorm. And yeah, that is where the drainage goes. And if we don't maintain it, it could be a problem for other residents in the future. And well, we don't want that, so.

Are all adjacent property owners in agreement?

It is my understanding that all adjacent property owners are in agreement and there are provisions in place after this sale has taken place for those property owners to exercise those agreements.

All right. Any public comment? Any council comment? Jerry, you want to say anything? I did. Okay. I'm just giving you the opportunity. You're a very intelligent man, and I know that. So I think this might go in your favor. With that, I need a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Is there a motion to adopt?

So moved.

I need a second. Second. Roll call.

Councilman Inman. Yes. Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Bosford? Yes. Councilman Barrett? Yes. Councilman Bushnell? Yes.

Congratulations. Public hearing in action on item number 2026-06-04. This is an ordinance of the City of Covington to amend the 2026 operating and capital budget. Councilman Burrell?

Sure. So this... The first amendment consists of two different items. There's a $100,000 Kubota track machine, which has actually already been purchased, and it's replacing a 12-year-old machine that is broken and not worth fixing. So a good use of money there. The second is $150,000 for some sewer repairs on Jefferson Avenue between 14th and 15th. concrete sewer line or pipe down there that's totally deteriorated due to the sewer gas. And so we need to go ahead and get that fixed before school gets back in. Otherwise, it's going to be a real mess trying to deal with that area. So $250,000 total between two items, $100,000 for the Kubota, $150,000 to repair Jefferson Avenue sewer.

Well, I don't think anybody in this city is going to be opposed to more public works projects, right? But I will say that they have had their hands full with sewer problems as of late. And so hopefully all of this will help. And every single thing we have purchased for public works since I've been on this council, without exception, has been put to good use. And I think this council's done a good job in trying to allocate as much money as we can. So keep up the good work. Any public comment? Any further council comment? Hearing none, I need a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved.

I need a second.

Second.

I'll make a motion to adopt. Is there a second? Second. Roll call.

Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Bosford? Yes. Councilman Verrett? Yes. Councilman Bushnell?

Yes.

Councilman Emmitt? Yes.

All right, we will move on to comments and reports from our councilmen. District A, John Callahan, is feeling under the weather, and his fellow councilmembers wish him a speedy recovery. We will move on to District B, Councilman Bushnell.

Thank you, Council Member Verrett. I just want a special thanks to Sarada Bonnet and her staff for the two amazing Fourth of July events that we had. I know it was a difficult week for them because they were grieving a loss, not only a colleague, but a good friend, Mr. Chris Rushing, so thanks to them. I also want to thank the rest of the city departments for stepping up and giving a hand during this difficult time. The teamwork did not go, you know, the strong part of teamwork did not go unnoticed, and we appreciate you, and we are blessed to have such a great group So please continue to keep Chris's family and his friends in their prayers, please. Thank you.

Councilman Roberts had a trip planned to go see his granddaughter and has been... I don't know the correct word. Yeah, well, that's kind of bad when you're going to see your granddaughter. But his plane was diverted, we'll say. And so we wish him the best as well. A very strong hurricane. My understanding is typhoon, and it is stronger than Katrina was. So... But he's in Japan, so it can't be that bad, right? But we do wish him well. All right, so moving on, District E, Councilman Inman.

Thank you, Council President. The first thing is just to reiterate what Councilman Bushnell said in terms of Chris Rush, just a quality individual. I had the pleasure of teaching him many years ago, and Then we reconnected when he was a city employee and he will be greatly missed. If you would like to assist the family in some way, shape or form, please reach out. You can check social media accounts. I have one up as well. And yeah, that would be greatly appreciated. One of the things that he would have been working on and his cohorts, Sarada and Josh, are working on is the Declaration of Independence reading tomorrow, 5 p.m. at the Trailhead. So if you want to show up and see some folks dressed up and, well, Period piece costumes, I'll be sporting one as long as the heat will allow. And yeah, it's going to be a good thing. Mr. Gary Mendoza, who is a trained actor and speaker and director. When I say trained, he trained at the Globe in London on more than one occasion. He will be the person that's actually doing the reading. And he is an amazing speaker, and all I can say is it's something to look forward to. Again, that's 5 p.m. at the Trailhead. And then last but not least, our library. Thomas Wharton Collins, the founder of Covington. There's going to be a segment on the American Revolution in Covington, his role that he played. That's going to be held July 11th, 1030 to 1130. July 23rd, if you want to know about Louisiana geography, you can go and meet with a master naturalist, Alex Landry. That's going to be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. And last but not least, if you want to know about, you know, natural plant life, native plant species here in Covington, you can go to see that as well on the same day, July 23rd from 2 to 3 p.m. and the last thing i'm going to mention is drainage in the district i do go around and drive after storms to scope things out and what i will tell you is it is a work in progress and three inches of rain an hour is tough for any system to manage the only thing i can tell folks is i would rather have water in the ditches so if the ditch is full give it a little time see if it dissipates it has been dissipating quickly but know that it is a focus of the city administration and your various council reps. We are very cognizant of those circumstances, regardless of the amount of rainfall. So we're working on it, I promise you that. That's all.

Thank you, sir.

District E. All right, thank you. Also want to extend condolences to the Rushing family, their thoughts and prayers. Hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July. I think the money we put towards the fireworks this year was money well spent. It was the best show I can ever remember seeing around here. And everyone I've spoken to has echoed those same comments. So I think it was a success. maybe we'll do it again next year who knows again like Jimmy saying you know we're getting these summer storms three inches of rain in an hour on Sunday we had a near miss we had a tree hit the fence and what missed the lift station by about a foot if about a foot from hitting the major lift station on South New Hampshire that would have been a really really unfortunate situation for lot of people so we got lucky there just everyone stay safe with the weather out there jimmy mentioned the declaration of independence i plan to bring my boys out there let them witness this and like we talked about remember there when they saw the 250th anniversary and all the events the city put on um With the promotion of Deputy Chief Collins to Chief, I want to extend congratulations also to the new Deputy Chief, Edwin Masters. I'm excited for him in that new role. He's going to do a great job. And looks like that's about all I've got on my list. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Councilman at large.

Yeah, I'd like to echo the, you know, the teamwork from Public Works. I know you, right before Sparks in the Park, we had a tree down. And you guys, I mean, just attacked that tree like a bunch of ants and it was gone. You know, it's like a, know it always seems always happen right before you get ready for an event right and then we've had lots of trees down around the city and stuff and you guys have just been on top of it and uh thanks for that also with the village block uh i think y'all found a full sheet of plywood that was blocking one of the culverts according to mark johnson i think it was in the martin luther king yes And so as soon as y'all pulled that, it went down very quickly. Other than that, like I said, the drainage is a constant battle. We know that we're always looking at ways to improve. So I appreciate all the hard work that everybody's done. Another thing with Chris, Chris was a hero. He was a guy that had jumped into the water to save his granddaughter with no regard to his own life. And he paid the ultimate price. He was the type of guy that if you saw him, he always had a smile on his face, very quiet. And when you went and talked to him, it's like if you're having a bad day, you just walked away feeling better because he just had that glow about him. And it's like he will be dearly missed throughout the whole city. Other than that, I just have some updates from the food bank. They have their America 250 food drive. They want 250 donors to contribute 250 items or more throughout the month because during the summertime, the donations go down quite a bit. They want businesses, individuals, churches, civic groups, anybody that can get out there and just do like a little food drive, they really appreciate it. You can go over there, they'll give you containers for you to put out and they'll come pick them up. So you don't have to worry about if it gets too heavy or whatever. They're more than happy to do that. There are summer stock programs going on. So when school lets out, many children lose their access to regular hot meals and meals in general. And they've really stepped it up, going out there and identifying these children and serving them. So that's just amazing. I think it was this year they had, or this month, they had over 150 additional ones that they sent out. So that was awesome. Their average daily boxes distributed are 62 for like seniors and people that are in need. Total boxes distributed for 1,065 and new households this month or last month was 53. Their average distribution is 91 boxes per day and total boxes distributed for last month were 1,363. You think about that 1,363 people that they served. That's a lot of people just right here in St. Tammany Parish. And they do do Washington Parish as well. They're just very grateful. And it's like I said, this is the slow time for them. So whatever anybody can do is greatly appreciated. That's it.

Thank you.

Again, I will echo the condolences and prayers for Chris Rushing's family and friends. John is exactly correct that I have probably not met many people who had a smile every single time I saw him. And in conjunction with the prayers and condolences, I do want to thank every city department that stepped up. We had a lot of events and we had a lot of people in the city and every department pulled its weight and I'm very grateful for that. I cannot stress enough to come out tomorrow at 5 p.m. and see This man, dressed however he's going to dress, reading the Declaration of Independence. You are correct. That won't happen but every 250 years. So come on out and have one last July 4th holiday event.

I do have a question about that, Councilman.

What time is the picture for the kids to come out and take pictures?

The reenactors will be available.

uh at the end of the uh proceedings so my assumption is somewhere between uh 5 30 well between 5 45 and 6. thank you all right is there anything from city administration this evening i have a couple things um so know that we we rec we recognize chief farrell for his retirement

And now we have Chief Collins, but another person that is known of the city is Latisca Taylor. So she was the director of utility billing. She also decided to retire, but later in the month. So we didn't get to recognize her at the same time. Um, so Raven Mitchell is going to be our interim utility billing director. So if you need anything, just reach out to her. She knows what she's doing. She knows all the stuff. So. you can reach out to her. And then also just to let you know that we are rolling into budget season. We're going to start having internal meetings with all the departments to talk about what we need to put in the budget for next year. So just letting you know. Thank you.

Thank you. Rod? All right. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, August 11th here at the council chambers. We are adjourned.