City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening and welcome to tonight's City Council meeting, August 11th, 2026. This meeting is hereby called to order. I need a roll call.

Councilman Callahan? Here. Councilman Bushnell? Here. Councilman Roberts? Here. Councilman Inman?

Here.

Councilman Burrell? Here. Councilman Botsford? Here. Councilman Barrett?

Here. If you can please rise for a brief moment of silence, which will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. And would Mr. Bobby Cooper please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Thank you for joining us this evening. We have two appearers. Four on the fourth, Councilman Roberts.

Yes, I get a little excited about this one. There's some history there. I always think I used to be grateful when this happened, and then I got humbled, and now I sit in a seat where I don't have anything to do with it. I'm just proud to see where it is. So I want to introduce Donna Lesh. I'm not sure if Diane is going to get up and speak, but they have run the four and fourth for 27 years.

Six years?

Yeah. And it's an amazing race. That's not just a race. It gives back to the community. I will not steal their sunshine. Donna, it is all yours. Thank you very much.

Can I bend this? I don't want to make any noises. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for the opportunity to be with you tonight. My name is Donna Lesh, and I am proud to serve as the Executive Director of the YMCA. Tonight we celebrate another successful four in the fourth race. This was the YMCA's second year of serving as the coordinator of the four in the fourth race, and still to this day we are incredibly grateful for the trust that Diane and her team placed in us when they passed the torch. We recognize that we simply did not take on just a race. We were entrusted with a tradition, a legacy, and something that has become part of Covington's identity. This year's Four and the Fourth took place as our nation celebrated its 250th birthday, a truly remarkable milestone. And here in Covington, we celebrated that milestone in the best way that we know how, together. We were especially fortunate this year to have several nonprofit organizations answer the call for volunteers with incredible generosity and enthusiasm. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Ansley's Angels, Hope House, and the Brookett Forward Foundation for volunteering, supporting the race, and helping us make this year's event such a success. Thank you all. This year we had 402 participants, including 55 youth under the age of 18. Those numbers represent more than registrations. They represent families spending time together, young people being active, friends creating memories, and a community coming together celebrating something bigger than ourselves. Oh yes, and people drinking beer and running around in bathing suits and shorts and stuff. That's part of it as well. And of course, events like this simply cannot happen without the tremendous support of our city. So we are grateful to our city leaders, to every department and individual who work behind the scenes to make this event safe and successful. From permitting to our police and fire departments, To the teams who care and maintain our beautiful parks, we thank you. Your dedication and partnerships are part of what makes Covington such a vibrant, welcoming, and special place to live. The race is more than a day of running and fun. It's an opportunity to support organizations that are doing important work in our community. Tonight, we are proud to share how the proceeds from this race will be distributed. $500 will be split between the Wade Sharp FOP Lodge and the Covington Firefighters Association in support of our first responders and their families. $750 each to Hope House and the Brookett Forward Foundation. And finally, in recognition of their incredible support and presence at the race, we are honored to present Ansley's Angels with a donation of $2,000. These donations are a reminder that when a community comes together, the impact reaches far beyond one morning, one race, or one finish line. We are proud to carry forward the four on the fourth race. We are proud to be a part of this community. And we are incredibly grateful to celebrate this milestone with all of you. And we'll see you next year on the fourth. Thank you.

So the one word you heard over and over again was community, and we are extremely fortunate to live in such a community. We're all very willing and very able to give back to support those around us. We often talk about how easy it is to put one foot in front of the other, buy a meal ticket, come out and show up for an event that makes this community as incredibly special as it is. We know that there are a lot of individuals that contribute to the success of this. You just heard the great proceed distribution, and that doesn't happen without a lot of support from the community. There are, though, important folks who make sure that things like this happen, who work tirelessly, who come above and beyond to contribute to what we now refer to as the Covington Community Fitness Award. And this is an award that stems from all the great things that happened with 4 on the 4th and acknowledges an individual who goes above and beyond willingly and without often being asked to help lend itself to the success of this race so that we can give all of these great proceeds back to the organizations that support our communities, our fellow neighbors, our family, and our friends. It is our pleasure to recognize an individual this year who asked, what can I do? How can I help? What do you need to make sure all of the tiny little details fall into place on race morning? Donna and Jamie and the rest of the team from the Y as well as the organizations that we support all contribute, but there's a lot of other little details that go into making an event like this successful. Who's gonna pick up the ice? Who's gonna haul the trailer? Who's gonna do all of these other little tiny things that are very important to make sure there's water at the finish line, that tents are set up for shade? So in tradition of what we've now created, which by the way was an idea sparked from Councilman Roberts that we should recognize something that grew from this event. So it is with great pleasure that I ask you to join me in recognizing this year's recipient of the Covington Community Fitness Award, Presenter Jonathan Beaudoin. With our deepest gratitude for your outstanding contributions to the Four and the Fourth, unwavering dedication, and selfless service to our community, your efforts will benefit many. Thank you.

Yeah, I will follow that. I won't talk too long. For eight years, I have purposely never mentioned YMCA up here, just out of, I didn't want to be selfish. I was a director for 11 years there. This is my first meeting not being a director. I couldn't have a better person be in the lead role right now. And it is neat to say congratulations from this side of it, but it's also, purposeful enough to say, me and Donna came up with the slogan, help us help others. The YMCA is a nonprofit. All we want to do is help this community. We've always done it. We've been around for 170-something years. And the fact that they're doing what they're doing is exactly what they're supposed to do, help them so they can help others. And that's truly what we're supposed to do as a community. So kudos to you guys. Congratulations to everybody as well.

Kudos. It's wonderful to live in such a tight-knit community, and thank you, each and every one of you. And I see that you've got some good recipients here. Keep up the good work, and whatever the City Council can do in the city, let us know. We have as our second appear, Mr. Bobby Cooper. Mr. Cooper asked to speak before the Council on Historic Preservation.

Good evening, everybody.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to present to you briefly. So I've been away for 20 years. We say preservation begins with a story, so I have to tell the story. I've been away from Covington for 20 years, but actually more than that, right after high school in 74. So it's great to be back home again. But I was in North Carolina for 20 years, and Leaving here, I didn't know as much about preservation as I do now. So I consider myself a preservationist. And with a parish like St. Tammany, with the pressure of growth, it puts a lot of pressure on preservation. One of the things that we ended up getting involved in in North Carolina was cemeteries. But I have to tell you this. We've had Cooper's, my family has been in St. Tammany Parish since 1794. I used to think it was 1820. I didn't, but I've learned it's 1794. So we've been around a long time. And I thought we came in through New Orleans, just as a port of entry. But no, we came in through Virginia. And my fourth great-grandfather owned property in Franklin County, North Carolina, where i happen to move a hundred counties in north carolina and we genetic homing device ended up in that county and he owned property and he sold it in 1779 there was something going on there i don't know revolutionary war or something well he was a tory so he escaped north carolina and migrated south so It's just very interesting that I have family in the cemeteries that we were working to preserve. Also, we have connections to the home we bought. We bought a home that was built in 1890 and we have connections to that too. It's really bizarre and it just stirred up all the interest in preservation. So now that I'm back, that's something I want to bring that skill and that interest back here, somewhat to bring life to the cemetery. But those things erode, and they need proper care, but they're individual plots, and the municipalities own the property but not the individual plots. sites not the individual plots that creates some maintenance issues and what that's one of the things we worked with and we were able to get funding we're going to fundraising and we were able to do many thousands of dollars worth of major repair work inside the brochures i gave you you can see some of the before and after work covington's done a really good job i've seen your site and i've seen the work that you've done with the mapping etc i have one major complaint and that is you can tell people they can paint their headstones gray or white that's a big taboo Because they used to be whitewashed, which was a lime-based wash. And that's how you would do it if you have to do it. But there are ways to treat them. But good Samaritans end up doing more harm than good when they go out with the wrong kind of paint, bleach, concrete, caulking, epoxies, et cetera. So there's a way to do it. And one of the things that we're going to be offering is workshops and individual workshops individual plot work, clean up work, that sort of thing. So that's one of the things I wanna do. And we're gonna tie it in with Covington's, what Covington already has going on. I know Wish Springs is coming up in October. Cemeteries aren't just for October and Halloween, they're 365 days a year, and we want to be involved with both cemetery and also just general structures, housing, et cetera, preservation-oriented. On the back of these brochures, I just have a handful for anybody else here, but everybody here's got one. On the back, I have some QR codes for essentially work that we've done that shows what we've done in North Carolina, the historic Oakwood Cemetery. Actually, we started a Facebook page here. We haven't promoted it very much. Two years ago, we started it. The Covington Cemetery, number one. And the Barrow House and Gardens in Lewisburg, that was our home. And so that's part of my portfolio, I guess you could say. And RWC Plus Partners LLC is the business name that I'm doing this through. But it'll be a combination of volunteerism and work. But I just wanted to introduce myself, introduce the idea of historic preservation in the cemetery. And, you know, we It's a big difference being in Louisiana, again, being back home. I've had to untrain myself, because I said parish for 10 years, and I finally learned how to say county up there, and now I catch myself every now and then slipping with that county name instead. But we did a sip and stroll with souls in North Carolina. Even though we'd have 65, 75 people coming, we barely killed a few bottles of wine. I think it's a little different here. I don't know. That's just one of the minor cultural differences of the two. But anyway, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to be here, and thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. Under our consent calendar this evening, we have the regular meeting minutes, July 7, 2026. We have introduction of item number 2026-08-01, an ordinance of the City of Covington authorizing the mayor to sell on behalf of the City of Covington the alley traversing square 2810 that is located in Division of New Covington in the City of Covington, St. Tammany Parish. Refers to case number 26-07-04, request for revocation, sale, or exchange. We also have introduction of item number 2026-08-02, an ordinance of the city of Covington revoking the alleys in squares 1602, 1701, 1702, and 1703, and South Madison Street between squares 1701 and 1702, and South Monroe Street between squares 1702 and 1703, all in the division of New Covington. This refers to planning case number 26-07-03, RSF, and case number 26-07-15. In addition, we have introduction of item number 2026-08-03, an ordinance of the City of Covington revoking the utility servitude and a portion of the revoked Dixon Street right-of-way. This is located in the wayside addition to the City of Covington. We also have introduction of item number 2026-08-04, which is an ordinance of the City of Covington to amend the 2026 operating and capital budget. And finally, we have introduction of item number 2026-08-05, an ordinance of the City of Covington declaring surplus property owned by the City of Covington and further authorizing the Mayor to execute any and all documents in connection with the donation of said surplus property. I need a motion to accept the consent calendar.

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Callahan? Yes. Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Roberts? Yes. Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Bosford? Yes. Councilman Burrell?

Correct.

Yes. Sorry. Under our regular agenda, unfinished business. Items to be voted on, public hearing and action on item number 2026-07-01. This is an ordinance of the City of Covington declaring surplus equipment owned by the City. Councilman Burrell.

Thank you. As is very common, the city from time to time will declare certain property surplus and we no longer need it. It's no longer of use to the city, so we go ahead and declare it surplus and sell it. What makes this one a little bit different is we have two exhibits to this one that list out all the various property that are declared surplus. Exhibit A is your typical one, outdated technology, old vehicles, office furniture, et cetera. Exhibit B is where it gets exciting because exhibit B is a bunch of Let's see, items from the CPD's evidence locker that we've been given permission, they can declare it surplus, but we've got jewelry, watches, coins, tools, all sorts of cool stuff. So I don't know how this surplus process actually works as far as the auction or the selling or the buying, but there's some good stuff out there and it may have some real value to somebody, but not to the city of Covington, so.

I think that's about as straightforward as it could be.

It's a great list. You've got to look at it.

I have my eye on a couple of watches.

I probably wasn't too close to the list, fellas.

Is there any public comment? Any council comment? All right. Well, hearing none, I need a motion to close the public hearing. So moved. I need a second.

Second.

I need a motion to adopt. Motion to adopt. I'll make a second. Roll call.

Councilman Bushnell?

Yes.

Councilman Roberts? Yes. Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Borrell? Yes. Councilman Botsford? Yes. Councilman Barrett?

Yes.

Councilman Callahan? Yes.

All right, moving on, public hearing in action on item number 2026-07-02. 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. Councilman Burrell.

Thank you. I think most of us are aware that this project has been under design for quite some time to replace the bridge on Columbia Street. Due to new current bridge standards, the replacement bridge is going to have to be significantly wider than the bridge that's currently there. So that's the reason for the potential acquisition of additional property servitude, right-of-ways, et cetera. And in speaking with Callie, this is really like the last piece. Once we have all these servitudes and right-of-ways and properties acquired, we can finally go to bid on this project. So it's exciting. Administration, anything to add?

No, I think the Councilman's doing a great job.

Me too.

Thank you.

All right, any public comment? Any further Council comment?

uh only two questions i'd have is i guess it would be for you callie um is one um a lot of people use that walkway on the side of it uh to get to and from work as well as to go to the grocery stores and stuff what is the plan uh when the bridge is being built or reconstructed or however you want to put it to help with that uh while the bridge is being reconstructed unfortunately they will have to reroute much as vehicle traffic will Okay. And so then in the next design, I guess that's going to be considered in the design is to have a, a walkway.

I believe it's included in the design. Yes.

Okay.

Thank you. Is there a motion to close the public hearing? So move. I'll make a second. I need a motion to adopt and I need a second second roll call please.

Councilman Roberts. Yes. Councilman Inman. Yes. Councilman Burrell. Yes. Councilman Bosford. Yes. Councilman Barrett.

Yes.

Councilman Callahan? Yes. Councilman Bushnell?

Yes. Public hearing and action on item number 2026-07-03. This is an ordinance of the City of Covington authorizing the mayor to sell, on behalf of the city, a portion of the McDougal Street right-of-way between East Tate Street and East 32nd Avenue. Councilman Bushnell?

Thank you, Councilman Verrett. This is the cellar portion of the right-of-way. It's measuring 50 by 120. So it's just the northern end of this right-of-way. And I think we have the petitioner here tonight, if you would like to come up.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We own Little Red Schoolhouse in Covington. Been here 52 years now. We own both sides of the right-of-way back there. and we wanna be able to increase some, the big thing right now is community gardens, and they wanted the children to be able to grow stuff, and we own a big green space on the other side. We can't legally cross the right of way with children, though. Councilman Bush know the paperwork, the state will not allow us without a field trip, basically. And it's a lot of paperwork, a lot of time, and it's a nightmare to do. But this would allow us access to be able to walk straight into it. It'll all be one piece then, and we can go straight over. Any questions for anybody?

Can I get your name and address for the record?

Gary Miley, 304 East 32nd Avenue, Covington, Louisiana.

Thank you, sir. Council questions or comments?

I'm going to make the weird question. It's much safer to walk directly to the other piece of property.

Yes, sir. So it makes total sense. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And the city hasn't used that. We've been in that building since 84. The city hasn't used it since before that.

Yeah, and you know, Councilman, you've done a really good job as far as explaining that there was an old water thing that's been cut off. Clico doesn't have a problem with it. So it just really makes sense, especially if it's for the safety of the kids. Appreciate it, sir.

Plus it lets it safely travel for the kids. You have to go through all the government regulations that you've got with the permission slips every time to utilize. I think it's great for the students. I think it's great for everybody.

It's going to work out really well. The city won't have to maintain it anymore, and we've actually been maintaining it the last few years.

The south side of it is actually being used as a parking lot for the other business.

Let me just say this publicly, that when the first discussion occurred on this property, There were some concerns. Yes, sir. And the city engineer, public works department. And I'd like to give Councilman Bushnell a considerable amount of credit because I think through his hard work, those issues and concerns have been addressed. Very much so. And that's how things get done. And so kudos to Councilman Bushnell.

Mayor Marks helped us. I mean, it took everyone. And Blake's been the hardest worker in the whole deal.

Thank you for getting, thank you for getting everything. We can't get any larger gentleman. Let's be honest. Mr. Molly provided everything we asked for. So thank you for that.

This is how the process should work. And it has my support because the process worked. Um, is there any, um, public comment or questions? And if there's no further council comments or questions, I need a motion to close the public hearing motion. I need a second second. Is there a motion to adopt motion to adopt? I need a second.

Second.

Roll call, please.

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

Congratulations. Thank you, everybody, for your time. Thank you, sir. Thank you. All right, moving on to public hearing and action on item 2026-07-04. This is an ordinance of the City of Covington. It is a budget amendment to the 2026 capital and operating budget. Councilman Burrell.

Thank you. So one of our biggest jobs on the council is to work with the administration to set the budget for the following fiscal year. And we do the best we can to plan for everything, but life happens, things change. And so every year, mid-year, we come back with this mid-year budget amendment. It's really not that big this year. It's exciting stuff. We're adding some new positions in an engineering department, some different things as far as equipment and some building improvements and whatnot. So this is totally typical. As is life happening, I'm going to propose an amendment to the budget amendment because there's one item in particular on here, the Columbia Street landing project that has been, we've been chasing it for about two years. And like when you're shooting skeet, you need to lead to hit the target. We're gonna lead this one a little bit and add a little bit more money so we aren't continuously chasing this project. So my proposal to the amendment, to the budget amendment, is to add an additional $25,000 taking the total decrease to the general fund from $209,212.55 to $234,212.55. That's my proposed amendment to the amendment. I think it's a good proposal. I think that particular project has taken some time and time.

Not in particular anybody's fault. The fact of the matter is that that's a project that has been a moving target. So I like the way you're approaching it. Rod, I think we would need a motion to amend. I'll make a motion to amend. I need a second. Second. Let's do a roll call on that.

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

Yes.

And, um, yeah, I wanted to ask the question, is there any public comment in regards to the previous budget amendment? Any council?

I'd like to add that, um, councilman mural said it's been two years that we've been working on this and in governmental terms, moving at the speed of gut. We're actually, that's pretty fast. Okay. That's that that's booking. That's about as quickly as we can do these things.

Good thing we already voted for it. All right, so I'm going to ask there be a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved.

I need a second. Second. I need a motion to adopt.

Motion to adopt.

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

Councilman Bosworth? Yes. Councilman Barrett? Yes. Councilman Callahan? Yes. Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Roberts? Yes. Councilman Ingemann? Yes. Councilman Burrell? Yes.

Thank you. Under new business, we have items to be voted on. Resolution number 2026-15, this is a resolution of the Covington City Council to consider waiving land use permitting requirements for the state of Louisiana expedited temporary housing assistance program. This is something that we do annually. Would the administration like to give a brief overview?

Sure. So this is something that the parish asks us to put before the council to opt in or to opt out in the event that there's an emergency and we need to work with FEMA to get emergency housing. This gives you the opportunity to get emergency housing without having to follow all the permitting and regulatory requirements. So this allows you to move faster, and so FEMA will look at this to see if we've opted in or opted out, and that will allow them to respond faster to providing emergency housing. So I recommend you opt in. Thank you.

Absolutely. Any public comment? Any further council comment?

Yeah, just one question, and I just can't remember. They also waive the fees for... there's no permitting fees or anything.

So that would be by local ordinance. So if you recall, after Ida, we pass an emergency ordinance and in that ordinance, not only did we allow the mayor to allocate funds as necessary to respond to the event, it also waived any permit fees associated to recovery for that event.

Okay. Thank you. I need a motion to accept. So moved. I need a second roll call please.

Yes. Councilman Callahan? Yes. Councilman Bushnell? Yes. Councilman Roberts? Yes. Councilman Inman? Yes. Councilman Burrell? Yes. Councilman Botsworth?

Yes. Moving on to Resolution No. 2026-16. This is a resolution ordering and calling for a special election to be held in the City of Covington to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds, making application to the State Bond Commission, and providing for other matters in connection therewith. I would ask Nina Sweeney, our finance director, to come up and give a brief overview of the proposed resolution.

This resolution calls for a special election Saturday, December the 12th. It's asking voters to authorize up to $4.7 million in general obligation bonds. These bonds have a 20-year max term. and interest to not exceed 6%. This is to fund capital improvements citywide, including roads, streets, bridges, public buildings, parks, drainage, public safety facilities, and sewer collections and treatments. And this has no increase in our current 3.5 mill rate. And if you have questions, we have representatives from our bond council, Grant, and municipal advisor, Stephanie.

All right. Is there council comment or questions? Is there any public comment or questions? Grant, great job as usual.

I'll make just one comment. The city's been growing. We've had so many projects. Without an increase in property taxes, I think this is a great opportunity for us to continue that momentum that the administration and the council have built.

So I'm fully in support of it. I agree. All right. Thank you, Nina. I need a motion to accept. So moved. I need a second.

Second.

Roll call, please.

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

Yes. We will now move on to our council reports, beginning with District A.

Thank you. I want to thank you for the love that y'all gave me during my... Ongoing times I had and uh the residents of New Covington it would be construction being held between Columbia Street and 28th Street on Tyler off of Tyler so Taylor so be cautious Thank you.

Thank you sir district B Thank you, Councilman. The ozone repaving project is expected to be completed by the end of the week, weather permitting. And hopefully once the project's complete, the recovery point patching job will begin. Councilman Edmond and myself had an opportunity to participate in the e-bike safety training class this last month. And I want to thank Chief Collins and the Covenant Police Department for hosting the event. I want to say Officer Clayton and Officer Peterson had an excellent presentation, did a fantastic job with a lot of good information, so thank you again for that. And finally, don't forget White Linen Nights this weekend, Saturday, August 15th, starting at 6 p.m. It's always a great event and a wonderful opportunity to come out and join Downtown Covenant and support local business. We hope to see you there.

thank you excellent district c yes absolutely um school is back in session so i just want to remind everybody not just in my neighborhoods but every neighborhood just be mindful of kids at bus stops for whatever reason running on the street is a thing just just watch what you're doing slow down due to speed limits go a little slower if you want to but uh we just want to make sure nobody gets hurt um if you haven't noticed cleco is trimming trees um and i got a couple of things i want to address just so everybody's kind of on the same page here uh cleco has been proactive with making sure that they address uh how the trees get trimmed why they trim them back like to do and uh i want to give kudos to jim o'berry for uh meeting cleco and i and river forest and doing a walk through with some of the residents to say this is what it's going to look like. It's going to be a little bit different this time. They usually trim the trees back about 10 feet, but they'll trim the trees a little bit higher this time only because they have a resiliency plan going in where they're going to increase the girth of the poles. They'll replace some of the poles with larger poles and taller poles, and the lines are going to probably be around six foot higher in the air. This is gonna help with a little bit of sustainability. It helps with 30 plus mile, I mean 130 mile an hour winds. It's just trying to make sure that our power grid stays intact when we have what we have as far as weather down here. If you see an X on a pole, it means that pole's gonna get replaced with a larger pole. It's not a metal pole, it's still a wooden pole. And if you see a stake in between two sets of poles, there's a new pole going in. So it's just gonna increase the capacity of how strong that line could be when trees do fall. So I just want everyone to be mindful that they are cutting trees back. They do know how to cut the trees. It never looks pretty. They also have to cut trees a certain length back, and I know the mayor is going to touch on this, just to preserve the health of the tree. They can't just go chopping limbs. And I do want to say it just personal, I don't like cutting our trees. I love Covington, I love the integrity of who we are, I love what we look like, but it is a necessary evil for us to make sure that we protect our power grid. So just a heads up, they are doing that, they're in the process of doing that, and they'll be doing that, I'm sure, for the next few months more than likely. And then lastly, because everybody always remembers what you say last, August 29th, we're a little bit over two weeks away to never forget 5K. I know that Chief Michelle probably spoke and I wasn't here. I try not to miss the meetings when he speaks. But 25 years, and I was on my way over here thinking about it, and I'm thinking 25 years of celebration. I thought, that's not something we celebrate. It's really 25 years of reflection. He does a first-class job of what he does with this 5K race. You just heard what a race could do for a community, and I know he does that for all the first responders and the firefighters, and everybody puts on a uniform. So on August 29th, if you can, come out to the Covington Trailhead. Fire Chief Michelle is going to be hosting yet again another successful Never Forget 5K. You can go to the Facebook page, Never Forget 5K on Facebook, and the registration link is there. So I will see you all there.

Excellent.

All right, District D. Thank you, Council President. Look, as Councilman Bushnell said, schools are reopened. Councilman Roberts reiterated. So just be aware. I mean, there's going to be increased traffic, in particular when you are looking at 11th over by the hospital. There's going to be some hiccups in that area, so please be prepared. Just, how can I say this? You know, be calm. Don't let it rile you up. E-bikes, this was mentioned again, Councilman Bushnell. I agree the safety course was an excellent idea. That was Chief Collins' idea and I thought it was fantastic. We will be having some more, as I understand it, in the future. They are needed. because we still have some youngsters on e-bikes. And all I can tell you is, well, they are uneducated, they seem ignorant of the traffic laws, and they typically don't wear helmets. When you put all that together, that's not a good recipe. So we, as the city, are being proactive, and we're taking an educational approach. And I think that that's a very good approach. Some of those e-bikes are going to be on the way to school. So again, keep an eye out during that time period. And some of them will be making their way to the library. So if you're going to the library, they got all kind of stuff going on this month. book club, writing, genealogy. On the tech side, they're doing Excel. If you don't know how to operate your phone or your tablets, just to the best of your ability, they can assist you with that. There's going to be wood carving displays, gardening, in particular gardening that's related to heat resistant plants. And then last but not least, and this is really big as of late it seems, Mahjong. So if you want to learn how to play, this is a good opportunity to go learn. And I'm going to finish up with this. The heat of the summer might be still hanging around, but we need to get out and support our local businesses, our local shops.

they are the backbone of our community so let's get out and and take care of that so and that's all i got good stuff mr key all right i'll be the broken record tonight and repeat the schools just for the fourth time um my district in particular is just interesting with the three schools that we have pretty close to one another and these first two weeks are are pretty painful I get it. I deal with it every day, dropping the kids off too. So just patience is appreciated. I'm actually, or have discussed something with the Covington Police Department. They're checking something out that I noticed today at one of those car line situations. So they're on top of it. We're on top of it. We understand. Just bear with us and it'll all feel normal again in about a month. Boy, that summer break's nice though. Let's see, some upcoming events. Actually this Thursday, Bingo at the Covington Beer Garden. I need to mention this one more often, but they always do it and it benefits a non-profit. And this week it's gonna be the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. If you don't have any plans, Thursday evening, go out to bingo at the Covington Beer Garden. It's always a good time, family-friendly. So it's a lot of fun. Air-conditioned. If you get there early, you can get a spot in the air-conditioning. That's good. And I heard someone mention White Linen Night earlier. You all may or may not have heard, but I heard there's an Arctic blast coming down for Saturday the 15th for White Linen Night. So don't worry about it. Don't check the weather anymore. Just trust me. Get out there. It's going to be a great event. Thank you all.

Thank you, Councilman and Lorde.

uh that's a good one yeah i just want to give an update for the food bank for 20 july the average daily boxes distributed was 93 which is up from last year so are the total boxes distributed was 1639 boxes new households served they had 86 new registrants and i think that has a lot to do with the price of groceries and everything that's out there it's kind of a it's expensive um The summer stock kids food kits, they gave out 555 bags distributed in July. That's a lot. I mean, they do some just incredible work. August most needed items are cereal, dry beans, canned fruit, and applesauce. Clico's working in other areas too. It's just not yours. They're all through town. They're actually advertising on the radios too. They're trying to inform the public. I've gotten calls about them doing the trees, and it's just like, hey, you know what? It's better than being without power. And it's their right to do it. The other thing is I want to remind everybody to shop local. As we said, summertime is the slowest time for restaurants and businesses. So we really need the community to step up, go out, and support everybody. And remind everybody about the farmer's market on Wednesdays at the trailhead and Saturdays right here behind the council chamber. That's it.

All right, thank you. As Mr. Cooper alluded to, the Covington Heritage Foundation announced today that on Sunday, October 25th, we will have our much anticipated and enjoyed Whisperings event. It's a living history experience. It'll be at Covington Cemetery No. 1, right across from City Hall. And in addition to the captivating stories, we'll have historic characters, and we'll celebrate Covington's rich heritage. Please get your tickets early. It sells out, and we get calls at the last minute to please find us a ticket. Let's go ahead and get the tickets early. And you can get those tickets at City Hall and also at bontemps.com. Let me spell that, B-O-N-T-E-M-P-S-T-I-X. And if there's any further questions, please direct them to Sarada Bonnet, our Director of Cultural Events. I'm looking forward to busting out my coat Saturday for the white linen. And hope to see you there. With that, I will turn it over.

Cut the sleeves off first. I had one more thing that I forgot to mention. The American Legion on August 22nd is having their Great American Legion Banana Split Celebration. So come on out and support them. And you might see a local celebrity there that's wearing a banana costume. It's a great time. It's a very great event.

Thank you, Council President and Council. A little update on paving. Councilman Bushnell mentioned Ozone Park and that area being redone. The big one that we're excited about, hopefully this weekend or the first part of next week, is North Taylor. from 26th Avenue to Columbia that has been in such bad shape but we have replaced the sewer main under the center of that street and now we're excited to see that one get repaved along with MLK Park and the repairs in Covington Point. Which leads us to our next paving project, which is phase two of downtown, which includes New Hampshire, Lockwood, Florida Street, and Columbia. Very much like what we recently did with Gibson and a couple of other streets downtown, where we redo the subsurface drainage and the sewer infrastructure under the road first, and then we come back, mill down, and overlay. The issue of the contract, award of the contract was today. So hopefully we'll see that construction start in the next several weeks and have that wrapped up before Christmas. I don't like to give timelines, that's not a promise, a little qualification there. I said hopefully because we're moving at the speed of government. Uh, councilman Roberts, uh, alluded to Clico's work in everything he described and councilman Bodsford pointed at it too. We'll eventually, uh, apply it to all the neighborhoods and inside and outside of Covington. um they are working to harden the grid and they are taking out trees underneath it just a reminder to our residents when you go to plant a new tree please don't do it under a power line some of what we're seeing get cut down today was because somebody 30 40 50 years ago planted it under a power line When I came into office, when most of the council came into office, or some of you seven years ago, we were budgeting $25,000 per year for the restoration, soil remediation, and pruning of live oaks. We are very fortunate, the tree board has done a count on public property, city of Covington, we have over 700 live oak trees. Just one of the treasures of our community. In recognizing that, working with the council, we said, well, these things are really important. Probably more important than planting new trees is make sure we take care of the ones that we have, 150 and 200 year old trees. The council agreed to increase the budget from $25,000 a year to $50,000 a year. The next year, they increased it to $70,000 a year. In the last several years, we have spent close to $400,000 on taking care of our live oak trees. I think that's a wonderful thing and a real testament. to the city and to the council for uh taking that as a priority this summer i was brought a couple of live oaks to to continue this program with and um the the price tag on each one was over ten thousand dollars and i said well let me go see this tree that we're gonna spend over ten thousand and i went out i was not impressed These trees were not the beautiful specimens that you picture at a plantation home or in some of downtown Covington on Rutland. They were fine, but they were stressed, they were struggling, but they were survivors. I met with Dr. Malcolm Guidry to review them, to back up my opinion. He disagreed with me a little bit, as he does, but he said, these are survivors. You don't necessarily have to do anything to them. So we agreed to do some things to them, but not everything that was originally recommended. which leads me to the point now that our priority may shift from the restoration and preservation of live oaks to the replanting of the tree canopy. And that's what I'd like us to be focused on from here going forward is that we look at those places on city property where we can plant Class A trees or ornamental trees, make sure we do it in the right place, we choose the right trees for the right place. So to that end, I put a call out to some of the residents And former Mayor Keith Villery presented to me a plan for downtown Covington that he had created in 2017. And so Keith and I walked that plan. We went by it. Some of the trees he recommended removing ain't there no more. Some of the replacements that he suggested, he suggested others. So he walked through with that. I then walked through with our landscaping company that did the trace beautification smoke tree. We walked through it together. We combined his suggestions with their suggestions. I'm waiting back on a proposal from them, but our number one priority right now in replacing the tree canopy is some TLC, some pruning, some fertilizing, and the planting of new trees in the downtown area. And then from there, we'll move out into some other areas that have been suggested. In addition to that, I've been in contact with NOLA Tree Project. They're the group that organized the giveaway a couple of years ago, two years ago, of 500 trees to residents in the general community. We are working on organizing a tree giveaway on January 16th of 300 trees just to Covington residents. And this will be trees that they can plant in their yard, on private property. As typical, we'll have LSU Ag Center there, probably some people from the Master Gardeners Association, helping people understand where to plant these trees, where not to plant, how large they're going to get in the future, and really tackle the replanting of our tree canopy in earnest. So a lot going on. You guys mentioned the cultural arts and events. They're moving along nicely. Downtown's looking good. It's feeling good. We're in good shape.

Thank you.

Good evening. Um, so just a quick update on where we are with the budget prep for 2027 budget. Um, so thus far, all of the departments have prepared their departmental budgets. We, and we have all met with the mayor. Um, it's going pretty smoothly. I would say not a whole lot of change in how we've done it in the past or any big surprises. Um, so as you know, we'll be introducing the budget at the September council meeting. the budget workshop questions from the council, and then the workshop will be in October, and then adoption is in November. So I just wanted to give you an update.

And our council clerk will be sending out two dates on behalf of the council, which are public meetings, an initial budget workshop, much informally once we receive the budget, And that will be followed with questions from the council directly to the administration. Once those responses are received, we have another public hearing with the department heads. And that's our process. And with that, we conclude tonight's city council meeting. The next one will be Tuesday, September 1st.