City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Welcome to tonight's council meeting for the city of Covington, September 1st, 2026. This meeting is hereby called to order. I need a roll call.

Councilman Callahan. Councilman Bushnell.

Here.

Councilman Roberts. Here. Councilman Inman. Here. Councilman Burrell. Here. Councilman Botsford. Councilman Verrett.

Here. If you can please rise for a brief moment of silence. And would Mr. Ben Guidry lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Under our consent calendar this evening, we have our regular meeting minutes of August 11th, 2026, and we have three introductions. Introduction of item number 2026-09-01, an ordinance of the City of Covington adopting the 2027 operating budget for the years 2027 through 2031 for the City of Covington. We also have introduction of item number 2026-09-02, an ordinance of the City of Covington setting the compensation for the mayor of the City of Covington for the year 2027. We also have introduction of item number 2026-09-03. This is an ordinance amending the official zoning map of the City of Covington to rezone lots 3456789 and 10, along with the revoked alley. traversing the square in square 2810. This is located in division of New Covington in the city of Covington from RSL residential, single family, existing small lot to PRD planned residential unit development. I need a motion to accept the consent calendar.

Motion.

Is there a second? Second. Roll call, please.

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

Yes. Under our regular agenda this evening, under unfinished business, we have public hearing and action on item number 2026-08-01. This is an ordinance of the city of Covington authorizing the mayor to sell on behalf of the city of Covington the alley traversing square 2810, division of New Covington, located here within the city. This refers specifically to case number 26-07-04, a request for revocation sale or exchange councilman callahan has sponsored the uh... the ordinance and he is unfortunately not here this evening we wish him well so i will say rod would love to say a few words since the fire chief is i thought there was a b in here i've been married thirty years i could tell they needed i needed to do something

West 30th Redemption Company has a purchase agreement to purchase 8 of the 10 lots in this square.

The Red Republic said they are going to buy the street. It's not going to be exchanged.

The sale of the alley will facilitate them combining all eight lots that they're purchasing and the alley they're going to purchase into one lot. Rezone that, a planned residential district, have a little playground area, and then I think they're going to have ten residential homes sold as condominiums. It's to facilitate the development of the block. And did they need the alley revocation to fit the resubdivision and rezoning of the planned residential district they are trying to do?

And I would point out that the Planning Commission recommended approving the sale. It has been determined that the alley is no longer needed for public use or purposes. We've had the alley appraised, so I'm familiar with the proposal. I think the sale of the property is in the best interest of the city. Is there any public comment?

I'd like just to add, this is a continuation of the removal of blighted properties in the neighborhood and then being replaced with affordable homes. So it's not gentrification, but we've got residents from the neighborhood and other first responders and school teachers that are going to have the opportunity to move into these houses. And the change is palatable throughout the neighborhood, and this is just one more step in doing that. And this is a large step. This is a big step.

This is good. All right. Any council comment? Further council comment?

The only thing I have to say is this is the gateway into Pine View Middle School. So anything to clean that up would be appreciated. And obviously, not only are we removing eyesores, but we're upgrading the quality of life of people who live nearby.

I agree. All right. I need a motion to close the public hearing. Is there a second? Second. I need a motion to adopt. Motion to adopt. And I need a second. Second. Roll call, please.

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

All right. Public hearing in action on item number 2026-08-02. This is an ordinance of the City of Covington revoking the alleys in squares 1602, 1701, 1702, and 1703, along with South Madison Street between squares 1701 and 1702. In addition, South Monroe Street between squares 1702 and 1703, all in the division of New Covington. This refers to planning case number 26-07-03 and case number 26-07-15 administrative sub. Councilman Inman.

Thank you, Council President. So I mentioned Pineview. There was a similar situation at that location. Basically, there were some streets and alleyways that were not revoked and buildings were built on top of them. This is about as simple of a case as you could have of just housekeeping, taking care of this and allowing that piece of property to actually coalesce and become one instead of having these, well, footnotes that are alleys and two different streets. It's pretty straightforward, actually.

Most of these schools were built before the city of Covington even had zoning regulations or subdivision regulations. And it's eliminating the lot lines. Eventually, they're going to re-subdivide it into one lot. This is the first step. And what it does is it eliminates lot lines and the technical difficulty of future building or moving buildings around when you can't put them on lot lines. This is going to eliminate all this and establish one campus.

All right. Any public comment? Any further council comment? Hearing none, I need a motion to close the public hearing.

Motion to close.

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

Motion to adopt.

And I need a second. Second. Roll call, please.

Councilman Inman?

Yes.

Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Barrett? Yes. Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Roth? Yes.

This is an ordinance of the City of Covington revoking the utility servitude in a portion of the revoked Dixon Street right-of-way in the wayside addition in the City of Covington. Councilman Burrell.

Thank you. So this one actually took a little bit of time and a lot of cooperative effort between myself, a plant engineering department in public works, going back and forth, making sure there were no utilities in the servitude. The Dixon Street was revoked 32 years ago. They haven't had utilities in that servitude for quite some time, and so there's really no reason to keep it, and this is just revoking a fourth of the servitude as it stands.

All right. I'm familiar with it as well, and... Thank you for the continued effort. I know this is one that had some interesting aspects, but I believe it's in the best interest of the city. Is there any public comment? Hearing none, is there any council comment? I need a motion to close the public hearing.

Motion to close.

I need a second. Second. Is there a motion to adopt? Motion. I will second that. Roll call, please.

Councilman Burrell. Yes. Councilman Barrett. Yes. Councilman Bushnell. Yes. Councilman Roberts. Yes. Councilman Inman.

Yes.

Public hearing and action on item number 2026-08-04. This is an ordinance of the City of Covington to amend the 2026 operating and capital budget. Councilman Bushnell.

Thank you, Council Member Barrett. These are two items here. One's for the add water fountains to our parks and rec fields. They have some cold water for our residents. And the other is a new garbage contract increase. We just re-signed with Coastal. I was a part of this evaluation process, and by far, Coastal was the cheapest out of the four bids we had.

All right. Any public comment? Any council comment? Any mayor comment? Mayor Orrell.

This is going to be fun. Our water fountains at the baseball fields, at the parks, I think some of them were like 100 years old. We got our money's worth out of them. Councilman Bushnell and I looked at some of them. The ones in the dugouts were just totally non-functional. We're going to be going to each one of the parks and to the baseball fields and adding actual cold water and the bottle filling stations. If we don't have a building or something to attach it to, we're actually going to build

pergola or a little element there like at nose park where uh kind of keep it out of the weather but i think it's i think it's going to be a lot of bang for the buck and i have spoken to a few constituents and they are excited about the the work so thanks to both of you for for um moving it forward all right i need a motion to close the public hearing motion to close i need a second second i need a motion to adopt motion to adopt And I need another second. Second roll call, please.

Councilman Barrett.

Yes.

Councilman Bushnell.

Yes.

Councilman Roberts. Yes. Councilman Inman. Yes. Councilman Burrell.

Yes.

Moving on public hearing in action on item number 2026-08-05. This is an ordinance of the city of Covington declaring surplus property owned by the city of Covington and authorizing the mayor to execute any and all documents in connection with the donation of said surplus property. Councilman Roberts.

Yes, thank you. So normally we get a page of things we need to go through to see what's being surplus, but this is just one item. It's a 2017 Ford Fusion. St. Sammy Fire District 5 reached out to ask if we have any vehicles that we were going to roll off. This one was one that we were going to roll off, and so what better use to give it to somebody who needs it? And so just asking for approval is just part of what we do. The mayor has no objections to it.

All right, is there any public comment? Further council comment? Hearing none, I need a motion to close the public hearing.

Motion to close.

I need a second. Second. Is there a motion to adopt? Motion to adopt. And is there a second? Second. Roll call, please.

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

Yes. Under new business items to be voted on, resolution number 2026-17. This is a resolution of the Covington City Council extending the time portable classrooms may remain on 18 acres of the Prevette Tract. Councilman Bushnell.

Thank you, Councilman Perrette. This is for the school over there on the Perrette Tract behind the Waffle House. And, uh, this is just allowing they're in the middle of, uh, over the next one or two years, completing their building. This is standing in alignment, use portable classrooms through, uh, July 1st, 2028.

All right. Is there any public comment hearing none? Is there any council comment hearing none? I will make a motion to accept and I need a second roll call please.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Councilman Bushnell.

Yes. All right. Resolution number 2026-18. This is a resolution of the Covington City Council confirming the appointment of Ben Guidry as the District D appointment to the Covington Planning and Zoning Commission to fill an unexpired term. Councilman Inman.

Thank you, Council President Verrett. First of all, I want to thank Bruce Davidson for his time. He did an excellent job. I know that you mentioned earlier planning and zoning a decision that was a recommendation, excuse me, that was made. It lets the public know how important these boards are, whether it's Board of Adjustments or planning and zoning. Now, when it comes to Ben Guidry, I can't think of anybody who would be more appropriate to fill this role. He has a background in construction. He's diligent, uh, and you can't find a man of higher integrity. So coming with my highest recommendations, I definitely recommend Mr. Ben Guidry.

All right. And I see Mr. Ben Guidry is here. I always offer those to right before the vote, if they would like to come up and speak. oh no he's not scared well i also while he's coming up i will say that i've gotten to know him because he asked me calls me texts me and he's got a lot of different questions and i do like the participation within the community well you know there's a timing to this i say make it interesting learn to read the room

All of y'all know I ran for council a few years ago. And unbeknownst to me, I was running against Jimmy, right? And he's been a school teacher for 30 years. He's a Navy vet. He had every reason not to run against them. I just didn't know all those facts before I signed up. I would not have ran against Jimmy. But one of the outcomes of that is a friendship. You know, I've been in the city, what, about 12, 13 years. And, you know, just to build those relationships, to me, that's what Covington is all about, right? The fact that I can email, I mean, text you and say, I got an issue at the park, or text the mayor. You know, that's what I love about it. So the friendship, you know, has evolved, and I'm appreciative to get to know Jimmy. And I'm looking forward to get to work. and learning something new that is in the realm of construction and planning and zoning. So I'm looking forward to give back and I'm thankful that I can give back and I appreciate Jimmy's nomination.

Very good, very good. Any public comment? We're going to take the vote. Don't go nowhere. I feel good about the vote.

I just want to say thank you for being involved, and thank you for stepping up.

Absolutely. I mean, not only do you participate on a daily basis of being a resident, which I appreciate, but you're willing to serve, and that means a lot to me. And I can tell you that on that board, it's one of the most uncontroversial places to be in the city. You're going to enjoy it. No one is going to be upset when you vote yes or no. But I want you to recognize that it is pretty cool to participate in the city's future, so thank you. All right, with that being said, I need a motion to accept.

Motion to accept.

Do you want to make a second?

I do, second.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Barrett?

Yes.

Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Roberts?

Yes. And if we will, the city attorney's here. How about a good old-fashioned swearing in?

Thank you.

Congratulations. We will now move on to resolution number 2026 dash 19. It is a resolution of the Covington city council authorizing the mayor to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with run Gulf coast foundation. This is in regards to our world-famous turkey trot. It's become a larger event, and one thing that the city feels, and I know I certainly do, that nonprofits know what they're doing far more better than city government most of the time. So it is our intent to support worthwhile endeavors, and I think this is one. Any comments?

Yeah, I'd just like to say that the turkey truck folks have done a really nice job of growing this into a bigger and bigger event. In answer to a lot of our running community that was having to drive 30 or 40 miles across the causeway and in New Orleans, run in a race, and then drive all the way home. They were spending as much time driving as they were running. I'm also just blown away, personally, that people pay money to run. But they do, and they do for good causes, and I'm glad that they do. The 5K was a huge success here recently. The Turkey Trot, the 15th Avenue Flyers with the 4th of July race. Just in case anyone may happen to be interested, we do turn down one race a month. You know, we're not just going to become a racetrack around the city and close the downtown down, but the ones that we have, we like to support, we like to embrace them and we like what they're doing. So, uh, we're happy to enter in this agreement.

Well said any public comment, any other council comment? I need a motion to accept motion. Is there a second second roll call please.

Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Barrett?

Yes.

Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Roberts? Yes. Councilman Edmond?

Yes.

All right. We will now move on to our council district reports. Councilman Callahan is not feeling well. We wish him the best. So we move on to District B, Councilman Bushnell.

Thank you, Councilman Barrett. A lot of updates going around District B. Thank Public Works. They've been keeping them busy with my district rides, fixing potholes and drainage issues in the district, and special thanks to our fire department for assisting with the blockage at the drainage on Village Walk. That was a lot of junk in that cold, so thank you for that. Our Rockin' the Rails kicks off Thursday, September 24th at Reverend Peter Atkins Park, and will continue on every Thursday throughout October, so come out and enjoy some good music and a good time in the community. And don't forget about our CBA last Friday block parties. We only have two left. The year's flying by this year. So come out and see this. And finally, I want to tell my wife happy anniversary. Today is our 25th year. So God willing, we'll have many more. Thank you.

very good councilman roberts yes sir thank you um a couple of quick things um got the tour to police department appreciate you guys being here um i knew we had a good department i didn't know what we did was what we did we are we have one of the best departments in the nation uh and we're coming to louisiana with 11 000 residents and you look back at what we do and and uh i didn't realize how many people come to us for help throughout the police department so chief and guys thank you all so much for what you're doing uh it's eye-opening to see what we're capable to help them with uh kudos steven michelle right there chief michelle uh speaking of races the never forget 5k race was this saturday 559 runners uh that's unheard of that's insane to know that's how many people are coming down to race in this race i'd like to give him full credit for that but he doesn't deserve it that's so uh so Here's the coolest part. This year, not only did they have 559 runners, they raised enough money, and I'll go ahead and say, I'll say the amount, I won't say the person, $5,000 was presented to one of the firefighters that was there on the day, so they got to give them a check on the spot, which is a very emotional and heartfelt purpose of what they're doing. It's neat to see it when you watch it happen live. So kudos to these guys, yeah. It is. I can understand a number of races that probably want to come here and do what we did, and we can't. We can't hold any more special events like we do. But what we do have, you're completely right, is totally special. So night out against crime, I think Council President's got some information on that, so I'll let you handle that. But I want to echo something Ben Guidry just said. We're different in Covington because you never hear somebody say, I ran against my opponent, and what came out of it was a friendship. That's not politics these days. So kudos, Mr. Vann. Congratulations to you. Thank you for being on the planning zone. And kudos to Jimmy for recognizing that.

Absolutely. All right. Thank you. Councilman Inman. Thank you, Council President.

The first thing I'd like to mention is our Covington Fire Department and our Covington Police Department, but in a different facet. We had what I would like to call a microburst storm, and we had very strong winds that hit portions of the district and toppled some trees. So these first responders were truly responding. As a matter of fact, Covington Fire Department had guys out there within minutes cutting trees down, trying to clear right-of-ways, and our Covington Police Department was out there making sure that the traffic was redirected and the area was safe. So I'd like to say thank you to both Chiefs and Chiefs. and our assistant chief as well, or DC as well. So look, when you have moments like that, you need to have people step up, and obviously, yeah, our first responders do just that. And after the fact, our public works was out very early the next morning, I mean, it didn't take long at all, and the area was back to normal, at least to a degree. Now, why I say just to a degree? Because we do have some trees that have gone down subsequently as a result of the stress that was put on them by those high winds. And we did also have what is called a hanger, a dangling limb that was rather dangerous that was handled as well by Public Works. Kudos to those gents as well. So moving on, library, September 12th. I know this is going to sound crazy, but after Councilman Burrell told me to wear my jacket last month to White Lennon night, I knew fall was on the way. So we have our fall Gardner series coming into the library. Master Gardner will be there. So make sure you check that out. And in September 19th, we have our local history spotlight, Rosemary Furman-Hanion. She was a dance instructor here in Covington, born in 1922. She was in all forms of dance, ballet, the original Pilates, and Zumba. No, I'm joking about the Zumba. I just wanted to see if the mayor was paying attention. But absolutely amazing. If you have an opportunity to get out, please do so. That is a moment of local history. And in terms of her impact, who knows, she could have been a role model for these young ladies at Hannon High School. because there were 13 students there that had a 30-plus on their ACT, and two students, Lily Cantrell and Charlotte Gill, who had a perfect score on their ACT. Now, these scores came in a little later, which is why I didn't mention them at the end of the last school year, but hey, it's the beginning of a new school year, and what great news to have. And that's about it for the district. Thank you.

Excellent. Councilman Burrell. All right, thank you.

Not to beat a dead horse, but here we go anyway. Thank you again to the fire department and police department for the behind-the-scenes tour we got. That was super cool. We got some hands-on experience with some of this equipment that the general public just doesn't get to experience. So that was a lot of fun. Enjoyed getting to know you guys even better, and it was a great experience. So thank you for taking the time to do that. And as everyone else has mentioned, they as well as Public Works have just been nonstop busy for the last few weeks. I don't know what's going on, but y'all... thank you again for all the hard work y'all just hopefully get a break here soon um and also want to thank the administration finance and all the department directors we received our budget books this week i know a lot of effort and time goes into that so thank you all for putting together a really good budget like normal we look forward to having those discussions with you all in the near future Let's see, a couple of events coming up. I've been missing these cover acts that they're doing for onstage now, and I hear about them after the fact and how great they were, so I'm gonna let people know. The next one is Al Littlefats Jackson on Thursday the 17th. Let's see, we have a Sunset the Landing concert on Friday the 18th with George Porter. saturday the 26th bogafalaya river sweep nine o'clock at bogafalaya park so come out help clean up the river and later that evening you can go to the ultimate tailgate party at the trailhead benefiting the exchange club of west st tammany i think that starts at seven um jimmy touched on some of the school stuff last meeting we were all talking about traffic and slowing down Schools can, you know, inhibit some of that. So wishing everybody out there involved with the schools, teachers, staff, administration, as well as all of our student athletes have a great year, successful, safe, and fun.

That's it.

Good stuff. All right. Um, I will give Steve and Michelle some credit. I didn't get to spend as much time at the trailhead this year as I usually do, but it's pretty doggone cool what he does. Um, the music is a little spotty from time to time, but, but all kidding aside, you know, to say we do that right here in the city of Covington and at the extraordinary levels, great turnout, kudos to you and your department. Um, and all of those who participated sponsorship, attendance, et cetera, a lot of hard work that goes into that. I know. So kudos to you. Um, Police Department, there's two councilmen that referenced it. I heard it was Councilman Bushnell's, one of his favorite days of all time, spending a day with the Covenant Police Department. I was pleasantly surprised at how much we do and this department does. I think I know what we do, but by spending a day, it's a little concerning some of the issues that we have to deal with in our community, but you do it in an exemplary fashion. And I'm just so proud of our council that we've been able to budget accordingly. And I think meeting with you, it was nice to see the feedback both ways on that. So kudos to you. Um, we will have our city council meeting will be on the second Tuesday next month, October 13th due to night out against crime. And so we would ask that people come out to the trailhead between five and 8 PM. Uh, it's always a good chance to, to speak to an officer when he hadn't pulled you over, right? And at the end of the day, it's a great community project. Are we going to be playing some music at that as well?

We're going to be playing some music. All right, I'm going to put in... Some spotty music. It's about half the time.

I'm going to put in a song request to hear there. And so back to the budget. The most unpleasant but yet serious thing I think that we actually do on a yearly basis, thank you, Nina Sweeney, our finance director, Dana Blount, for putting together these proposals, and the mayor and his entire staff for getting it to as timely. And now it's our job. It's on our plate now, and we're welcome to do it. September 22nd will be a city council budget meeting. That is not one that is open to the public. because of the sunshine laws, I will see you there. But we will go through the budget and we will formulate some ideas, questions, et cetera, that the administration gives their feedback on and we will pass a budget timely again. With that, I will turn it over to administration.

Thank you, Council President Verrett. Perhaps the most famous person to ever come out of the city of Covington is a person that most of us in Covington have never heard of, and that is Theo Vaughn. Theo Vaughn the comedian today has over 30 million followers on social media. He recently interviewed Senator John Kennedy. It's a great interview. Ella Langley, during the presidential campaign, he interviewed Donald Trump, and he was voted most humorous in his class when he attended William Pitcher. He played basketball with Joey Roberts, right, at the Y, when it was on 190, back over there. He used to climb over the fence, or he used to sneak over the fence? Which one?

I cannot confirm or deny.

But Theo recently, there's a video clip of him stating how pleasantly surprised and amazed he is at what his little hometown has grown into. So I suggest to anybody that hasn't seen that clip or go check YouTube, go on the City of Covington's Facebook page. I think that clip is there and enjoy that. The last time I checked, it had over 3,500 reactions, all positive, as far as I could tell. And I think that's more than any Facebook post Covington has ever put out has had. So I just wanted to share that with you. I'd also like to remind our residents that to follow up on what most of the councilmen were saying about visiting our police department, You almost have to think about the Covington PD as our own little private security force. You as a resident has this huge resource at your disposal. And I think so often I see residents trying to handle little things like solicitors or dog leash laws and you don't have to do that. We have people for that. And they're good and they're professional and they're trained. So if you haven't already, you need to text capital CPDLA, Covington Police Department, Louisiana, CPDLA, all caps, to 847411. You'll get an auto response. Enter that in your phone as a contact, Covington PD, and that's your way to text message directly. Any concern you have, you can text, and it will go directly to an officer on duty. Now, if that officer is involved working an active accident or an incident, no, this is for non-emergency only. Emergency, you still call 911. But this is just a great resource. And in the time it takes you to complain on Facebook you could have actually contacted a police officer and had it handled. So that's a little bit I'd like to share. And then I'd also like to mention that noticeably absent this evening is our Chief Administrative Officer, Erin Starr. This is the first meeting since she's been CAO that she has not attended. Her mother has had health issues the past year or two, and those have taken a turn for the worse. So I ask that you keep Erin, her mother, and her father in your prayers. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. All right. We will adjourn, and we will have our next council meeting. Oh, Rod? Come on, Rod. Let's do it.

Oh, my Lord.

Well, then, I look forward to your October presentation. I think we ought to start looking at the legal budget first.

All right.

Good night.