City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening and welcome to our city of Covington council meeting November 4th, 2025. This meeting is hereby called to order. Can I get a roll call? Councilman Lewis here. Councilman Bushnell here. Councilman Roberts here. Councilman Inman here. Councilman Burrell here. Councilman Bodsburg here. Councilman Barrett

here. If you don't mind, would you please rise for a moment of silence which will be followed by the pledge of allegiance and would Miss Alice could please lead us in the pledge of God. Thank you very much. Um, coincidentally or maybe not, uh, Miss Alice Kuon is our first appearer and our first item on the agenda. Would you please come up and introduce yourself and give us your address, please?

My name is Alice Kudang. I live at 125 South Vermont Street. We've been here almost 45 years now. So, we're newcomers. Um, uh, we wanted to come today. Usually, I'm here fussing about something that the mayor's doing or something. Well, don't hold back.

People are doing and I'm mad or I need a stop sign. But tonight is a good night um because I want to thank someone who is very important to us and I might cry and I'm sorry to do that. On July 17th, um my husband Robert was on his bike and he decided that it would be a good idea to go down um South New Hampshire that had just been torn up to repave. And the road was grally and his bike got caught up in the gravel and he went over the handlebars and he landed in the road. He broke his leg and he had brain bleeds and officer officer Turggo was there and and really saved his life. Officer Turggo, could you stand up? was was directing the traffic to keep stupid people from going down the road. Um and um he saw everything that happened and he ran to take care of Rob who had been knocked out. He knew Rob because Officer Tgo and Emily were in the same class at St. computers, but he didn't know her number or how to get in touch with her, but he knew John Alfred was in the same class. And he knew John Alfred was an attorney and he knew Emily was an attorney. So, he put all these things together and within seconds he had Emily on the phone and she rushed to her dad and we were able to get him to

the hospital in minutes in minutes. So, he's our hero. He does went way beyond the call of duty. The Coington Police Department is incredible. I thank all of y'all. I think more for working hard on bringing about a wonderful police department to our city. And we would like to thank Officer Turbo tonight just with a few um a few thank yous. We have a cupcake concept. Gave you some cupcakes.

And and Rob's grandchildren. This is Maggie. She has some gift certificates to the Haven and give certificates to Lowe's and to be [laughter] we can't thank you enough. It's been it's been a hard hard road. Um we've had excellent doctors. We've had amazing neighbors who are here tonight who have brought us food and who have let us use apartments um at their house because we have a you know upstairs house we have people checking on us all the time and it has been a difficult difficult journey but we couldn't have done it without you and without officer J without the city of Cington so thank you from the bottom of my All right. Thank you very much. [applause]

Officer, would you like to say a few words? It's going to be hard. That's why I didn't want to speak next. Do I have to do uh Officer George Tujo at 113 St. William Street? Great. Excellent.

Very much. Uh I'm just thankful to be here and be part of a great organization as the Covington Police Department that uh continues to serve the citizens uh in the ways that help them out. You know, there will always be people that have to be arrested and there will always be people that have to be ticketed, but it's not every day that you get to change somebody's life or help them, you know, do the things um that they want to do, whether it's, you know, attending a community event or being in the role of a fireman because I I really had to start with first aid there, you know, when I came upon Mr. Kub. Kudos to Cington Fire Department because Barrett Abear was there like matters. He took control. I just assisted him. And kudos to also Mr. James Sander. He is the um custodian at the Christ Episcopal. He helped bring Mr. Kon's bike back to his house because he says, "I know where they live. I'm going to go drop it off." But uh I'm glad to be here. I hope to continue doing things to help the citizens of and I'm much appreciative being recognized.

Excellent. [applause] Not only is it a awesome uh story, but it uh it's coveting, right? This is coveted. Thank you, Alan. Thank you. Appreciate that very very much. And that's the kind of good We ought to quit the C council meeting now. We on a good But thank you. Thank you very much. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Under our consent calendar this evening, we have our regular meeting minutes of October 14th, 2025. An introduction of item number 2025-11-01, an ordinance of the city of Covington enlarging the boundaries of the city of Covington describing the property to be annexed and added there to as tracks B1, B1A, B1B, and B1 C. Section 29, Township 6 South, Range 11 East. This also classifies this property as zoning district CR, which is regional commercial under the zoning laws of the city of Cover. It refers to zoning case number 25-10-01 annex. I need a motion to accept the consent calendar. Motion accept.

I'd like a second. Second. Roll call, please. Councilman Lewis. Yes. Councilman Bushnell. Yes. Councilman Roberts. Yes. Councilman Enen. Yes. Councilman Burrell. Yes. Councilman Bodber. Yes. Councilman Barrett.

Yes. Under our regular agenda unfinished business items to be voted on. Public hearing and action on item number 2025-09-05. an ordinance of the city of Covington adopting the 2026 operating budget and the five-year capital outlay budget for the years 2026 through 2030. Um there is going to be a motion to amend which will be what I would fondly refer to as last minute add-ons that has been produced to each council member. There's any question either myself or administration are happy to expand. Um, is there any public comment at this time on the 2026 operating budget and the 5-year capital outlay budget? Are there any further comments from the council? Hearing none, I would like to close the public hearing. I need a motion to close.

So move. I need a second. I would like to make the motion to amend myself uh the ordinance that was introduced on September 9th, 2025 to reflect the appropriate list of changes which has been provided to this council by administration. I need a second. Second. Roll call, please. Councilman Bushnell, yes. Councilman Roberts, yes. Councilman Enman, yes. Councilman Burrell, yes. Councilman Bodzford, yes. Councilman Barrett, yes. Council Lewis. No. I'm sorry. Yes. I'm sorry. Yes.

At this time, I would entertain a motion to adopt. So move. I'd like a second. Second. Roll call, please. Councilman Roberts? Yes. Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Barrell? Yes. Councilman Boxford? Yes. Councilman Barrett? Yes. Councilman Lewis? Yes. Councilman Bushnau?

Yes. I do want to take the opportunity to thank administration, the council members, and the department heads for making this one of the u this most streamlined and um I don't want to say enjoyable, but I want to say streamline. U this this budget process, I I spoke today briefly to a to a group on it. People don't realize the number of meetings, the emails, the text messages, the committee meetings. And if we didn't have access to the administration and department has the way we do, I don't think it would be nearly as streamlined. So kudos to the administration and uh thank you. Moving on to public hearing and action on item number 2025-09-06, an ordinance of the city of Covington setting the compensation for the mayor of the city of Coington for the year 2026. Is there any public comment concerning the action on this item? Hearing none, is there any further council comment? Hearing none, if there's no more comments, I'd like to close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to close? So move. I'd like a second.

Second. Can I get a motion to adopt? So move. I need a second. Second. Roll call, please. Councilman Edman, yes. Councilman Brell, yes. Councilman Bodford, yes. Councilman Barrett, yes. Councilman Lewis, no. Councilman Bushnell, yes. Councilman Roberts,

yes. Public hearing and action on item number 2025-10-01, an ordinance amending the official zoning map of the city of Covington to reszone lot 4A square 25 Connelly addition to the city of Covington and lot one square 26 Connelly addition to the city of Covington from neighborhood commercial to regional commercial and it also provides for all those further matters that are in connection there with concern concerning zoning case number 25-09-08 ZC. Councilman Bushnell.

Thank you, Councilman Barrett. Yeah, this is Mr. No Masonry's flooring on 31st Avenue. Uh like he has lots 105 West 31st and 109 West 31st where his warehouse is. He's simply just trying to add on to his warehouse store so we can keep business there. Uh been a business in our community since 1972. So I love Stay here, sir. Excellent. Administration, any comment hearing? None. Are there any public comments? Any further council comment or question? Uh, if there's no more comments, I would like to close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to close? Public hearing on that is closed. If there's a second, second. Is there a motion to adopt?

Motion to adopt. I need a second. Second. Roll call, please. Council member Ralph. Yes. Councilman Bodsworth. Yes. Councilman Barrett. Yes. Councilman Lewis. Yes. Councilman Bushnell. Yes. Councilman Roberts. Yes. Councilman. Yes. Public hearing and action on item number 2025-10-02. An ordinance of the city of Covington to amend the 2025 operating and capital budget. Councilman Roberts.

So, I'm going to defer to administration on this, but go ahead and take notice of the bottom block there. There's a $18,000 decrease to the general fund, $73,000 decrease to the utility fund, and then a $429,000 decrease in intergoal revenue. For the specifics, I'll go to um so the first item that's on this list, the intergovernmental agreement revenue. So, we took in a section of DOT uh roadway, a section of 31st Avenue that goes by. Um so, we took that in and when the original resolution was passed administration was here. The idea was that we were going to get road credits from DOT for taking on the maintenance and then also we were going to get improvements on Columbia Street. But since we need to reconstruct that bridge, we didn't want to go ahead and do an overlay. So we went back to the state and said, "Look, we'll take it in, but we want to go ahead and get the cash payout for the whole thing." So that's what the $423,000 represents. So that is money coming in from DOT for taking in a portion of their um for the vehicles. So the cultural arts and events item the vehicle there. So we added that to the uh to this budget to the 2025 budget and remove it from the 2026 proposed budget prior to adoption because we need to go ahead and get that vehicle purchased. So this is the the small utility cart that you see people driving around in. newsletters and whatnot and so it's been in disrepair and we're spending too much money on repair. So we wanted to go ahead and then on the last item I can let questions about this. This is for the downtown overlay project. She needs an additional $73,000 for that.

Any public comment or question or any council comment or question? I need a motion. I was going to ask Cali, can you uh kind of go over that 73,000 for us? Why the additional was needed so everybody knows.

So, this is an addition to a previous budget amendment for the sewer portion of the downtown overlays. The reason that the additional 73,000 is needed is because um when we were our public works department was doing smoke testing in downtown to make sure that the subsurface infrastructure was good for the overlays, we found believe it was 72 defects um many of which were underneath the roadways that still need to be addressed prior to the overlay. And we're joining that with the repair of those defects with the overlay project. And this is 73,000 out of the 500,000 previously budgeted through amendments.

Okay. Thank you. I need a motion to close the public hearing. Motion to close. I need a second. Second. I need a motion to adopt. Is there a second? Second. Roll call, please. Councilman Bodzer, yes. Councilman Barrett, yes. Councilman Lewis, yes. Councilman Bushnell, yes. Councilman Roberts, yes. Councilman Enman, yes. Councilman Burrell, yes. Seeing that there are no items for discussion and no new business. U we will roll on to the council district reports beginning with district A. Councilman Lewis.

Thank you. Um, District 8 seems to be doing good. Uh, I don't have any good big problems to report or anything, but Thursday we did we had a community meeting for our upcoming Boys and Girls Club. Uh, everyone was invited to come and speak or talk or give you input about the new club coming up. Um, we had a small turnout, but I I think Thursday was a lot of things going on also. So with that, um, I was able to talk with the CEO and a few other things, some members, uh, community leaders, church leaders. Um, just a few notes from from that meeting. The club plan to serve, you know, youth from six to 18 years after school, summer program, um, academics, help with tutoring and such. Uh some of the amenities they plan to put inside the building is a STEM lab, art studio, gymnasium, small a small gymnasium, uh cafe, game room, and a teen center. Um of course, there'll be classrooms, um library, games, cafe, and there'll be a lot of staff spaces. But overall, you guys, if you go to the website for the Boys and Girls Club, it looks like it's going to be a great um facility for the city and our youth. You guys know the history of Boys and Girls Club and the impact and how it really impact our youth. So, everybody just go and try and support it. If you have any questions about it, let me know. I want to get in touch with anybody at the Boys and Girls. I'll be glad to get you in touch with them.

District.

Thank you, sir. District B, I want to give a uh thanks to public works for getting the water line leaky fixed between Covenant Point and Savas with minimum down time. So, thank you for that. And also, they continue the work they do around not only the district, but the city to make us look good. Uh, Covenant PD will have their charity golf tournament next Friday, November 14th at Royal Golf Course in Slide. All proceeds are going to go to the Carolina Derby's Christmas Wish Toy Giveaway. So, get your team, get together, go shag some balls, whatever you need to do. Also, sponsorships are still available, I'm sure. So, uh, contact Covenant PD for those needs. Turkey trot run on Thanksgiving Day is coming up this month. Still got time to get your dragon shoes on. We'll see you there. So, happy Thanksgiving.

All right, District C, Councilman Robert.

Uh, now I am pleased to say that it has been quiet in District C and normally this time of year, it's uh, speeding and everything else that comes with school and and honestly, it's been great. I think you see even more patrols out there and uh they're policing it the right way and people are at least paying attention to it. U kudos to the River Forest residents for throwing a block party. Uh they got rained out uh about halfway through. But when you see community get together on their own without any kind of anything. They just decided to do it. You get a little bit uh excited about things like that because it truly is Coington much like the incident this morning. We've had so many things to be grateful for. And then uh one thing I'm going to share uh I'm a little bit biased about this one. Three Rivers Artfest is coming up November 15th and 16th. Um 10 am to 5:00 pm. They're going to shut the streets down on Colombia. It's huge. It's a great economic value. It causes a little bit of chaos and congestion, but it's all worth it. So get your Christmas shopping ready. There'll be art, music, food, and lots of fun. Over 200 artists. Uh and it's worth going see for sure. So

absolutely. Everything's good. Yep. All right. District D.

Thank you, Council President. uh District D, northeast and southeast quadrants. Uh we've been working with uh public works that they've been wonderful riding around with us, seeing some things that we need to uh assess, including ruts, some repairs on some streets. Uh do keep in mind if you're on Menitry or Jefferson, um those are quite busy streets. So, uh please pay attention. I realize once we get near Jefferson, we may have some students and they they tend to drive while on their phone. easy for me to say while I'm looking at my phone addressing this, but I'm not driving. So, please don't be distracted. And, uh, that includes adults. So, if you're looking at your phone while driving down Menitry or Jefferson, uh, those ruts are coming from somewhere. That's what I'm going to say. Um, ditch maintenance on Simpsons Creek. Uh, I I do want to point that out. And then, uh, last but not least in this this portion of of the district, the Tyler Street corridor. One of the things that was mentioned was uh the potential down the road after we get our traffic study back and it's my understanding that it is ongoing as we speak uh that traffic study I should say is the potential for a uh left excuse me a pork chop at the end of 19th as opposed to just simply a left turn sign because we have a lot of drivers who don't obey that particular sign. So it is somewhat problematic. Northwest quadrant uh bolt plant training, the hazmat stuff. I need to commend the city on this. Uh there was uh public works who initially uh you know tried to get things situated and uh here's what I'll say. The effort was certainly appreciated and then on the back side, what was even more appreciated was a revisit for revisit for hazardous materials training that the city has put together. So, I'd like to thank the mayor and his staff for getting that situated and public works for uh and and

fire and safety for being involved in that as well. And even D was a DEQ there as well if I'm remembering correctly and and homeland security. So, so yes, how can I say this? Uh it's a revisit to some things and some items that are incredibly important to the community. So, thank you to the administration on that. Um North Taylor at some point is going to be a focus down the road. We have a lot of road work going on around the city. Um, but that is that is coming in in the distant not hopefully not too distant future, but it's it's on the list. Uh, Southwest Quadrant, Culver's on St. Mary. I need to give public works credit for this as well. Uh, they were the ones who were, you know, trying to uh, how can I say this? Move some water that needs to be moved. Um, and the speed limit on 15th. Thank you to the administration. I don't know if you've driven down 15th on the west side of Tyler as of late, but the speed limit is no longer 25. It is a robust 30 miles an hour now. So, uh

that that's because I couldn't go less than 35 on that stretch. I just kept going and going, this speed limit is too low.

So, the the residents seem to have appreciated that. And with the with the u walking path down 15th, there were certainly some u how can I say this? public safety considerations that were negated by that walking path. So, it's not a typical situation where you have to worry about someone walking down the side of the road or anything of that nature. So, it certainly worked out and it it's been appreciated. Uh Gallagher Park updates, the tennis court, if y'all haven't seen it, is coming along. Um I have reached out to one of our local high schools. I'll let you guess which one. Uh they're talking about uh using their labor to put up the fence line along 15th at Hubie Galler Gallagher to keep keep uh that public safety in mind in terms of children being that near the road. Uh there's a potential pavement track and then of course shade trees uh including the nut all oak if I remember correctly. So those are all good things in the future. Library, tons of kids activities, story time, story tots, kids playdates, etc. please go to their website because it is a neverending uh supply of activities for the for the children um in within the district. I want to give Mr. Dakota a shout out. He's going to be honored again this month for his advocacy for abused children and that's just his latest recognition for a lifetime of advocacy. So good on him. Congrats to that sincerely. Events galore. I mean you've heard some of them mentioned already. It is a beautiful time of year in Covington and I tell you what, these events just showcase the crown jewel that we are on the Northshore. Uh Halloween lighting everywhere. It was festive and more importantly safe crowds. I mean it it's just some a sight to see. Uh I drove into the village uh on a on my golf cart and I immediately turned around and

drove out because the crowds were so thick through there. But it was a wonderful event. So kudos to my neighbors over there. And then last but not least, um yeah, happy Thanksgiving to all. For me, that's faith, family, and friends. So, God bless. Thank you, sir. District E. All right. Thank you. Uh District E, I think everything's going well. Um as everyone's mentioned, we've had many events recently and have many more coming up. And mayor, correct me on this, but it feels like October was the busiest month of the year. I mean, starts with historically October and April.

Yeah. And I mean, it was all pulled off flawlessly and just excellently and rocking the rails every week and everyone who works for the city, uh, first responders, cultural arts and events, public works, administration putting in overtime for all these events. So, just thank you to everybody. I mean, it's fantastic place to be, fantastic people to work with. So, appreciate all y'all's effort. Let's keep it rolling in November. And happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Excellent. slowly. Roll it slowly now. Slowly.

Uh, all right. U, first off, uh, you know, happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Uh, Veterans Day is November 11th. Uh, it's out here at the Justice Center at 10 a.m. Uh, please come on out and show your support for your veterans if you can you can. U Do you happen to know who the speaker at the Veterans Day? Yes, I do. I am. Oh. [laughter]

But, uh, you know, being a veteran and, uh, doing the things that I've done, it means a lot. There's a lot of veterans in our community, uh, that, you know, they're unsung heroes and stuff. There's a lot of issues that needs to be addressed and hopefully we can touch on those a little bit later or at the event to bring light onto those subjects. Uh, the Heroes who cook just happened in the Justice Center for the Hope House. Amazing event. I mean it was it was they knocked it out of the park again as usual. Uh of course that goes to the child advocacy center hope and then on uh December 6th uh free porch fest from 2 to 5 p.m. It's going to be in district. Uh I actually had one house drop out on me because of health issues. So Todd's helping me out on that so we can go there and get one more person for the train. And if you'd like to donate, of course, like I said, this is a free event, but they do take donations uh from businesses or people, and that it goes through the Cington Business Association. So, if you can, please go over there and make a donation. 100% of it uh after we pay for everything goes to the house. Um also, I wanted to mention my updates here for the uh the food bank. Uh the October stats averages uh for October were 83 daily households. Uh total for October was 1,245 households served. Uh new household registrations were 102. So that's up comparison averages for October uh 2024 was 82 daily households comparison total October 2024 1,225 total households. Uh noteworthy items. Um they're thankful for all the uh recent food drives and extra donations during this time. Uh the government

continues to shut down with SNAP benefits. Uh the food bank is stocked and ready to help in any way possible. So if you know that somebody that's having food insecurities in any way, shape or form, please send them over to the food bank during this difficult time for them. I'd hate to see anybody go without food. U October continued trend in decline in food donations. Also it's approximately 11% down uh from prior years uh combination of production of USDA products u and don community donations are also down so please you can have a virtual food drive monetary uh donation to them uh businesses churches whoever please just put like you can go to the food bank and get a free food donation basket and people can just drop it off and you call them they'll come get it can greatly appreciated to help us stock their shelves. Uh, Palace with a Purpose and Trim the Trail Head are one of their major fundraisers coming up in November, December. So, please visit their website at northshore foodbake.org for more information. And last but not least is their most needed items. Applesauce, canned spinach, carrots, canned chicken, cereal, cooking oil, and grits. I do want to point out real quick, Coington High School is currently uh going through a food drop with food bank and my class is in second place. They need to step it up. I expect them to handle their business.

That's it. Thank you.

Right. Um want to make a comment about their last weekend Ozone Songwriter Festival, Ozone Music Foundation. It's a perfect example of this council working with administration to help nonprofits do things in our community. And you say, well, what you know, nonprofit, what it's just a big party. No, it's songwriters from throughout the United States that have an opportunity to showcase their talents here. It is exceptional economic development and it's so wonderful that the city partners to find these. They looked for a home for seven years and they were looking to move to Nashville and the discussion was had you know man that we could just have a place like and then the discussion turned to you in so I would like to announce on behalf of the music foundation they've asked me to announce they are going to make coington their permanent home that was three days of music 120 performance

[applause]

So now going off of this calendar, I have to begin by saying that I hate the University of Alabama and they are going to play this weekend and in spite of our troubles, we're going to be right. Uh the very next day, regardless of what happens, the St. John Fools and Miss Rule will have their annual chicken drop, which is always a lot of fun. But I want to say that there's always is for a good cause. We're going to split the proceeds this year between the Saint Tam Art Association and YMCA. And I'd like to thank Joy for participating in that. November 22nd of the Trail Head is the power of Pearl. It's an excellent program put on by St. Tam Health System to recognize and understand um that early detection, especially with lung cancer, but in all cancers are is extremely important. And I encourage you to come out for that walk. And although we'll have a council meeting before it, now's the time to bring it home. On December 14th, the History and Holly Home Tour, the Covenant Heritage Foundation, it is an annual event. It is a signature event and we really do need as president of the CHF, I'll tell you that we are doing more and more events because every time we do one, people want more and uh that's a good thing. But please buy those tickets and come out. It'll be a bright sunny day on December 14th. I guarantee. And uh as I was talking, I've got someone texting me to say that our lieutenant governor will be here on December 9th at St. Paul's uh for the Coington Rotary Club's Feeding the Need fundraiser. I would I would ask that you take a look at that and join if you can. And with that, we will pass it on to administration.

I'd like to uh defer my time to Rod.

We um the [clears throat] new November December newsletter is available throughout the city. The little green boxes council tonight has done a wonderful job of highlighting the events that we've had in the past month and the events that we have coming up. Councilman Barrett has alluded to the fact that this is part of our economic development to put a bow on top of that that package. Really what we're doing is our economic development is based on experiential tourism. We we give experiences to the people who visit. Whether it's the History and Holly home tour with the CHF, the Fools of Miss Rule with 12th Night, the American Heart Association with their historical walk downtown, uh, Rocking the Rails, the Ozone Music Festival, you go, we name all the events, but what we're really doing is we're providing an experience for somebody to come to town, uh, enjoy Covington and and live like a local. Like you can come to Covington and visit and live like a local. We have seen a significant uptick in uh visitors from out of town coming to Covington to enjoy our fine cuisine, to enjoy our restaurants, and we thank those people from Mandeville for coming to Coington to dine with us. And that's all I got.

Good stuff. All right, our next meeting will be December 9th. U see you then.