City Council - Regular Meeting

Then we have the variable rate that we pay based on the price of electricity that we purchase from LEPA.

So far, it's like you say a variable rate. Is that like 3%? I'm trying to remember what it is.

No, that's solely based on the invoice that we get on a monthly basis from LEPA. So what we do is we divide it up by usage. And then that's how we determine what their residential rate is. In regards to the contracts, they have set rates that they keep with. It actually kind of helps residents in a sense because with the contract usage, we pull that out. And then what's left over, that's what we divide amongst the residents. So having these large contracts actually help the residence rates. I don't know if that helped answer your question.

Well, yeah, I was looking at that demand charge. It's like 2.36, and Compared to what a resident paid, that's what I wanted to know. Just say if you can look at it in that way.

And it's because of the volume. So you almost give them a discount based on the volume. So these are some of the highest users of electrical and water. So because they are such high users and they bring such an impact with sales tax and everything else to the city, you almost give them a reduced rate. But they have a facility charge that residents don't pay, but it's solely based on just a high volume of usage.

That's kind of the mindset I was thinking, that with them being such a larger facility, that they're using probably more. And I think we probably need to look at that maybe in the future, since they're using so much, especially with the water, instead of going the other way, as far as on the lower end, possibly increase it.

But we actually take out their usage. So you have to remember that when you're looking at how much was billed, we take out their usage. So the resident doesn't pay just because they have a reduced rate. The resident doesn't pay additional because they have their reduced rate because we take out all of their usage. And we just take the residual and divide it up. by the usage of actual residential homes, what's classified as residential homes. So it's not a negative impact to the consumer or the resident because we are doing it that way. So I just don't want the rate to confuse anybody or look a certain way because it's not that it's a negative impact to the resident at all because we actually remove their usage out of that equation, which I say, like I said, it actually helps. The base rate, how we set it up for our residential homes, of course, that's the money that stays with the city. The variable rate is what we cannot control because that's just based on the cost. Like natural gas? Yeah. So that part we can't control, but we do control the base rate. So that's the money that stays with the city that helps run the utility department.

Councilman PT, there's actually two different rates. You have a 236 and a 250. The 236 is if the consumer actually peaks over a 5 megawatt during the year, they're charged at the 236. But if they fall under that throughout the year, they're charged at the 250. So the more they use is kind of an incentive. The variation rate that she's talking about is actually the variable rate. Right. The PCA. That's the PCA. Right. The PCA charge is actually the cost of generation. That is the bill that we get from LEPA. The PCA pays for that bill from LEPA. The rates that we have is something separate.

I gotcha. So we couldn't, like, break that down, like, for us, just say, like, the PCA charge, like, so for us, like, those big industries, what is their charge, like, for us, the PCA?

It's right there with the residents. Yeah. Okay. It's very close to the residents.

Okay, gotcha.

Okay. Yeah, the main variable there or the main separation is going to be your base rate. And, again, the base rate is not for the generation of, yeah. That's for what stays with the city.

All right, guys.

You know, I know everything is a little bit higher nowadays. Summer is always you get more usage. It's hot. You get a lot more usage, and you do see bills go up because the units are being used more. But I guess I'm segueing into saying this. While we're talking about energy, generally speaking, Tim and I go to these LEPA meetings every month, and we are consistently – how would you say, the lowest, among the lowest, whether it's in the top three of lowest or maybe in the top five. And that's out of the whole state of Louisiana. So I just thought I'd share that and think of it in a more broad perspective. Okay. Any other comments or questions about this? All right. Seeing none, Mrs. Stacey will call the vote.

Nielsen? Yes. Smith-Kirkendall?

Yes.

Harrington?

Yes. PT? Yes.

All right. That motion carries. And this next resolution is read by Councilman Nielsen. Look, I'll just say on the record that that is William L. Townsend.

No, Williams.

Yeah, Bill Townsend. So we'll email Townsend and just go out the S, okay? All right. Go ahead, Councilman.

Resolution number 54 of 2026, a resolution approving the hiring of special counsel to assist the city of Natchitoches with issues. related to oil, gas, and minerals, and authorizing the mayor, Ronnie Williams Jr., to execute an engagement letter with Special Counsel William L. Townsend III, whereby the city will contract for legal services. Whereas, per section 4.02 of the Charter of the City of Natchitoches, Louisiana, Special Legal Counsel to the City of Natchitoches must be approved by the City Council, Whereas further, the City of Natchitoches has been approached regarding a seismic permit for property owned by the City of Natchitoches, and the City Council desires to retain special counsel with experience and expertise in the areas governed by the Mineral Code. And whereas further, the City of Natchitoches anticipates that issues will arise in the future that will necessitate the services of special counsel with expertise with regard to oil, gas, and minerals, and whereas further, the city council desires to retain William L. Townsend III as special counsel to provide legal advice and services to the city of Natchitoches regarding issues related to oil, gas, and minerals, and whereas further, the parties further desire to memorialize in written form the employment arrangement between the city and the special counsel, and whereas further, the engagement letter, sometimes here I have to refer to as agreement, is attached here to and have been reviewed and approved by the City Council of the City of Natchitoches, whereas further, having reviewed the attached agreement, the City Council of the City of Natchitoches desires to authorize the Mayor to execute the agreement on behalf of the City. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City Council of the City of Natchitoches, in legal session convened, does hereby authorize and approve the retention of William L. Townsend III as special counsel for issues relating to oil, gas, and minerals, and does further empower and direct the Honorable Ronnie Williams Jr. Mayor to execute the attached engagement letter between the City of Natchitoches and William L. Townsend III. And I move to adopt resolution number 54 of 2026. Second.

Motion made and seconded. Alex, do you feel additional comment is needed?

make the resolution self-explanatory, but we were contacted by oil and gas companies to look at property located around the park in Agadish. And I know we used Bill Townsend in the past, so Tommy contacted them and asked them, will you help us? They agreed, so we put this resolution up.

Okay.

To help the city in any type of... Well, right now, we'll be helping out with this permit, and And we're anticipating an all-gas lease in the future, and he would negotiate that also.

Okay. Any comments or questions about that? All right. Anybody? All right. Seeing none, Mr. Stacey, roll call vote.

Nelson.

Yes.

Smith-Kirkendall. Yes. Harrington. Yes. Peachey.

Yes. All right. The motion carries. Councilman Harrington, it's the next resolution.

Resolution 56 of 2026. This is a resolution designating Friday, September 4th, 2026, as an official holiday for employees of the City of Natchitoches for the year 2026. I move to adopt Resolution 56 of 2026.

Second.

Motion made and seconded. This is our standard. Employee Appreciation Day, I think we'll call it. So, hey, we've been doing it for some time. Right, Councilman Nielsen? A long time. A long time. All right. Any comments or questions here? Okay. Seeing none, Mrs. Stacey will call the vote.

Nelson? Yes. Smith-Kirkendall? Yes. Harrington? Yes. P.T.?

Yes.

All right, that motion carries. Council, at this time, I would ask that there will be a motion put forward to amend the agenda to add resolution number 57 of 2026. We know the project in front of Central Fire Station that has been going on. Most of the change order, most of it will be paid for by the state, okay? All right.

Mayor, I'd like them to make a motion to amend the agenda. to add the resolution number 057-2026. Second.

All right. Motion made and seconded. Just we don't have it on because that was, you know, we just kind of slipped through the cracks on me. But that's why we asked you to amend the agenda to put it on, okay? All right. Any questions about this motion? Okay. Seeing none, Mr. Stacey, roll call vote.

Nelson. Yes. Smith-Kirkendall. Yes. Harrington. Yes.

Yes. All right. That motion carries. Now that we have the resolution on the agenda now, it's going to be handled by Council Member-at-Large Smith-Kirkendall.

Thank you, Mayor. This is Resolution No. 057 of 2026, a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Change Order No. 2 to the contract between the City of Natchez and Skyplex Trucking LLC for Second Street and Two Line Street concrete pavement replacement, which is bid No. 0680. Whereas the City of Natchez was awarded state capital outlay funding for the replacement of concrete pavement on 2nd Street and 2 Lyons Street. And the City of Natchez executed a contract with Skyplex Trucking for construction of this project with a contract amount of $2,315,156. And whereas change order number one to this contract was executed on June 23, 2026 to revise the contract amount to $2,327,084, whereas an additional $280,000 in state funding recently was appropriated for this project. And whereas sub-grade soil issues have been experienced during the construction of phase one of this project that resulted in the need for extra work not covered by the original construction plans. And whereas the city engineer drafted change order number two dated July 31st, 2026, in the amount of $73,919 to provide for this extra work, and whereas the state of Louisiana Office of Facility Planning and Control is currently reviewing change order number two, And upon approval, it is expected to provide state funds equal to 75% of the change order in the amount of $55,439.25. Now, therefore, it will be resolved that the Niagara City Council hereby authorizes Mayor Ronnie Williams, Jr. to execute change order number two for the Second Street and Two Lions Street concrete pavement replacement project. upon approval by the State Office of Facility Planning and Control. And I move for adoption of resolution number 057. Second.

Okay, motion made and seconded. Here. Yeah, we got Nick Verrett here. Come on, Nick.

Good evening. Nick Barrett, city engineer. I apologize, I don't have any diagrams to show you this evening, but this is pretty self-explanatory, really. In the first phase, the first section of 2nd Street between Church Street and Trudeau Street, when we removed the existing concrete pavement, And we cut down the 12 inches to get to the new subgrade elevation. We encountered very unstable soils. And so the first step in trying to correct that situation is to have the contractor to plow open the area. You might have seen some of that work done to try to dry it out and make it more stable when they roll it back in. But after doing that type of work for several days, it was apparent that this unstable soil was going to have to be removed. We wound up undercutting some areas about three feet, other areas about a foot, foot and a half, and to get down to some more stable material. And then we brought back in some new select fill and brought that, got density on all of that. And then we were able to have a stable subgrade in order to place the new concrete pavement. So that's the bulk of this change order. One of the other aspects of it, In the Church Street intersection, you know that we actually had to break out to install a new manhole in the Church Street intersection. And so the plan quantity for the removal and the replacement of that existing composite pavement there, those plan quantities were insufficient with... What actually had to be done. So that's another portion of the change order. So total is 73,000. As Councilwoman at large read, we expect 75% to be paid by the state. So that would leave us about 18,000. And the good news is, too, we did get an additional appropriation in this last legislative session, another $280,000 to apply to the project. So we'll see what all we can do with that and maybe add some additional work at the end once we see if we have enough money to do what's planned. So any questions about any of that? And I can give an update, too, as far as the status of the project. We had actually anticipated at the end of last week being able to reopen at least a portion of the portion that's been closed, at least the northbound roadway to the northbound lane to be reopened to traffic. But we have had some insufficient structural, concrete, compressive strength results in our testing. We're looking at another test tomorrow that hopefully will allow us to open that lane. We shouldn't get too excited at that because really all that will do, it'll flip-flop traffic on Trudeau Street instead of going down Trudeau and then south on 2nd Street. It'll allow the traffic from Trudeau to go north on just the northbound lane of the roadway that's closed off. Because really, Southbound Lane, there's no place for traffic to go at this point, because we are working in the next section from Trudeau Street to Two Line. And the good news is, is at least in the half of the roadway that we've taken concrete pavement out already, we don't have the unstable soils. So hopefully, no additional costs, hopefully, when we continue the work there. Okay, any questions?

Nick, I was thinking of something. Oh, the schools started back today. Did you notice anything? Because I know there were some comments about the project going on and schools starting. So did you notice anything?

Yeah, and really and truly, I don't see that it's changed traffic patterns accessing the schools across the river because, I mean, Second Street obviously does give another route for traffic maybe going to NSU. or maybe even from that direction coming to Church Street to cross the bridge. So, yeah, I mean, by having one route out of the several not available, it's probably affecting traffic some, but probably not nearly as much as what we would normally think. We'll continue to monitor, and we've been in discussions with Chief Collins, too, about the possibility of paying for some off-duty officers or something to help with traffic control, especially in the mornings. But we'll continue to monitor.

Was this a nine-month project when it started?

said against this project how long is it an animal project about a nine-month project of the uh... well two hundred and ten days so uh... right now we're a little bit probably a little bit behind schedule because of the issues that we did encounter in the first section uh... hopefully the next section is going it's so far going smoother so uh... we shouldn't be as long we hope on the second section so I think we should finish well on time. And we're trying to get this next section of Second Street done so that we will not interfere with the upcoming car show. That's the real deadline that we're targeting. That's beginning of October. First part of October, first weekend of October. So as of right now, we don't see any issues that would cause us any concern about meeting that deadline.

So you're trying to finish that, but then at some point you've got to get to two lines.

Yes. Yes. That's what I'm saying. Once we get Second Street open, we'll have it ready for the car show. And then, yes, we do have two-line work from Second Street to Fourth Street, and then some isolated patching to do in other sections of two-line. But our big goal right now was to get Second Street finished well before the car show. Car show comes in. Yes, sir.

Okay. Any questions for Nick about this? But this project, I do want to say something real quick, not related to this project. Nick could help us out a little bit. Steve, do you have that picture? Were you able to get it? I can't get to it. You can't get to it. Look, so that's a sign out in front of City Hall today, did you? You see that sign? Who put the sign up?

The sign in front of City Hall about the road closure?

No, there's a sign in front of City Hall. Okay. The audience said it's... I know my city hall people saw it.

Clarissa, would you go there today when I get the sign?

It's a project being funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. So they put a sign up. Did you see it?

No, sir. This project is being funded.

I'm just excited about it. So it's the earmark. It's the earmark. And so they put a sign up. And I'm like, I saw it today. I'm like, who put the sign up?

Okay. I'm confused about that because that's not the funding source for this project.

Well, no. It's a totally different project. Oh. It's talking about the earmark. So I guess they're just acknowledging the earmark. That's not what it is?

No. Okay. Sorry.

It's the Youth Department of Housing and Urban Development.

I'm sorry, Mayor. That's a different project that's being funded. Oh, it's a different project. That's the demolition project that's being funded.

Oh, that's the demolition project. So we have to put sign up because it's happening, right? Correct. Oh, it's going on. Okay.

Well, that confused me.

Oh, yeah, yeah. I was confused, too. But that's good. Hey, money happening. Projects are happening. So it's a demolition project. Okay, good. So the demolition project has started. All right. Good, good, good, good. Okay. So we do need a vote to accept. We got the motion already? Okay. And a second? All right. Mr. Stacey, roll call vote.

Nelson. Yes. Smith-Kirkendall. Yes. Harrington.

Yes. P.T. Yes.

All right. That motion carries. All right. Lastly, financial report. I guess we have announcements, but before announcements, we have the financial report by Mrs. Clarissa Brown-Smith. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We'll get the slides up. This is going to be the sales tax information as of June 2026, which is nothing up?

I don't think I got anything.

That's okay. That's okay. I'll go through the numbers. I'm sorry we don't have a visual. But this is going to be as of June 2026, which is our first month in our fiscal year. So we'll have some different information as well as is halfway through the calendar year. So definitely some interesting information. The first slide would have been just our little pie chart that shows our piece of the puzzle. And $7.3 million has been collected in sales taxes for the city of Natchez as of June 2026. Again, we're looking at about halfway through our calendar year. The next chart just kind of shows you some comparative data by the month of the last three years, 24, 25, and the current year of 26. When you're looking at the comparison of June, same time last year to this year, We're slightly down about 1%, which equates to about $12,700. So not a large dollar amount, but we are slightly down for the month of June. Same thing will be shown. On the next slide or the next chart was a cumulative number. We collected $7.3 million. As I stated before, last year we collected $7.39. So slightly down, a little less than 1%. It equates to about $27,000 that we are down when you just compare last year to this year, but still doing really well. Not a huge gap there at all. The next information just shows from a fiscal standpoint, which means that this would be our first month in our fiscal year. So it's just going to be showing June. It would have been showing June. And it just shows that for the month of June, we have collected $1.2 million in sales taxes. We are slightly down 1.2%, which equates to about $14,000. So not a large dollar amount. So trending very, very close to last year. And so that's as of June of 2026 based on our fiscal year, not our calendar year. I also had a chart showing the TIF tax of 2%. That's one that we like to carve out. We are up 13% there. Last year, same time, we collected $29,134. This year, as of June, we collected $33,015. So we're up about 13% there. So doing really well with that particular tax. Looking at some of our other TIF districts, the hotel occupancy, which is TIF A, we are slightly down from last year. We collected $21,202 this year, so slightly down from last year. TIFC, we are up 11%. We collected $150,662. Last year, we collected $135,680. So we are up almost about $15,000 there. So we're up 11% there. The next tax, we have the Economic Development District A. Slightly down there, about 8%. We collected last year $31,896. This year we collected $29,583. So not a huge dollar difference, but we are slightly down there. Excuse me, Clarissa. Which one are you on now? I'm trying to. I'm on the Economic Development District collections. Which one? The Economic Development Districts.

I'm sorry if I'm going too fast.

I apologize. So looking at Economic Development District C, we are up 1% there. We collected $258,000. This year, last year, same time, we collected $256,000, so about a $2,000 difference. But it is an increase. Looking at Economic Development District D, we are up 26%. Looking at Economic Development District E, we are down only 2%. And looking at Economic Development District F, we are up 33%. So a little bit of a mix there as far as which districts are doing well, which are not doing as well as we did last year but still trending very close. So I don't see that there's anything to be alarmed about at this time. I did include the DMV sales report. We are up 4.2%. Last year, this time, we had collected 1.6 million. I'm sorry, the sales were at 1.6 million. This year, same time, the sales are at 1.7 million, so up 4.2% there, so trending upwards. And I think that would have been all of my sales tax report. Any questions?

I always try to get them letters mixed up. I know you said F was up 27 or 33. F is up.

Yeah, F was upward 33%. Last year, same time, we had collected 17,872. F is which one? F is going to be your River, not River South Common.

Flying Heart?

Flying Heart.

Flying Heart was up 33?

Mm-hmm, up 33%.

Okay, that's good. That's a good number.

Mm-hmm.

And so one of them was up 27. That probably was Riverside, huh? Not out of Riverside, probably Riverside Commons.

Economic Development, D. D. Mm-hmm.

Do we know which one is?

That is Riverside, right?

That's Riverside, okay. So they were up 27. Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah, that one's been doing pretty good.

Very good.

Mm.

Very, very good.

Okay.

Any questions? Any other questions?

Well, what's the Hobby Lobby one? Is that?

Hobby Lobby is E, if I'm not mistaken.

E? How high is that doing?

It was down slightly, 2%, but nothing to be alarmed about there.

Gotcha.

I think it equated to less than $1,000 difference. Right, right.

Okay.

That includes Hobby Lobby, Whataburger, and the old McAllister's, right? That's just Hobby Lobby. It's just Hobby Lobby. Oh, it's only Hobby Lobby? Yes, sir.

It's only Hobby Lobby. You remember this one is the one that a percentage of it goes back to them for whatever infrastructure enhancements they made? Mm-hmm.

All right.

So you had a couple that were way up. Yeah, that's what I say. It's like a mix. Missed a little bit, except that 8% was a little bit. But like you say, some of them were.

And some of them, sometimes they're due to just reporting. Sometimes, yeah.

Okay, you got it here.

You got your cheat sheet with you.

Yeah, we don't have one on Chick-fil-A. We just did that.

That was just a one-time, yeah, that was just a one-time.

Yeah, that was a one-time CEA little deal with them. Okay. All right, any comments for Ms. Lewis? All righty. Okay, we have a few announcements. Look, our next meeting is on the 24th. Please download the Golden Acotish app. Also regroup as we are technically in hurricane season. But the Golden Acotish is starting to really – hit our stride in a little bit, okay, with a lot of things happening on the riverbank and in town. All right, we're going to talk about a few of those things next, those events coming up. Okay. All right, 100 years of Natchitoches Christmas community interviews. Now, this is taking place tomorrow, beginning at 12 noon to 4 p.m., and this is a call out to the community. It says, we invite community members to stop by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame for a quick 10-minute interview to share a favorite memory, family tradition, or story from Christmases past. No appointment needed. Walk-ins are welcome. Interviews will be casual and brief, and no preparation is required. All right. So there may be a little short wait period, but again, this is taking place. So I'm thrilled about that. We already discussed this earlier. 27 years of the Zydeco Festival and Poker Run on Cane River. And again, you heard our former chief home say only $20. All right. Only $20. But that Friday night is free. It's just 24 that Saturday. Okay.

So that's exciting.

All right, Bigfoot Festival. We're gonna really, it's gonna be a really good video this year, right? But Bigfoot Festival, it's the third annual. And so they're coming back to the Nacotish Event Center. which is going to be September 5th. So that's the same weekend as the Zydeco Festival. So there will be plenty to do in Natchitoches. And they have the fees below $15 for 12 and over and then $10 for 12 and under. So they've got speakers lined up, all right? It looks like there are different speakers for the event. They're going to be there from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. All right? It should be fun. Then we're getting ready for the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival, the 18th, excuse me, through the 19th, that's a Friday and Saturday as well. So Zydeco Festival is 27 years, this festival is 25 years, all right? And it is free to the public in terms of admission, but obviously your food, you know, things like that, the rides, other things you can play with, play on, that's gonna be a cost of that, but free admission, okay? All right, so good. All right, the Natchitoches Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, they present the third annual sickle cell awareness event. And this is going to take place at the outpatient medical clinic. All right. And it looks like there are some, or in collaboration, I'm sorry, with the Operation Medical Clinic, SCARF, Zeta Phi Beta, and the crew of excellence. So this is going to be Saturday, September 19th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. And it will take place, look like at the MLK Rec Center, right? 660 Ronald King Drive. So MLK Rec Center. So blood drive, all right? It's a blood drive. Okay, good. Okay, the annual Women's Resource Center Gala, September 24th. Let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him. Then let your faith grow. So they've got a scripture that they're promoting with the event. They typically have a speaker and it's going to be held at the event center. I think it's like an evening event. It's always an evening.

I'm at the Naginish Car Show.

It's taking place the October 2nd through the 3rd as we kind of heard Nick talk about it as he referenced the car show as it's related to the project that's taking place. But I think the entries may be growing than what they were previously. It's becoming one of the favorite events for people, the car show. So looking forward to that, seeing some new cars and taking in some good food and music. All right, this is new to us, but I think it's going to go really well. They've got some, as far as what they tell me, some really good artists and top of the boot at Northwestern State University, October 16 and 17. So this is going to be a pretty big deal. It's going to go to support the university's athletics, I believe, mostly, NIL, stuff like that. All right? Okay, all right. And Steve did show that, he did show the picture. Y'all may have not caught it earlier, but he did show it. So, again, that's in reference to the demolition grant, which I know it's been a long time coming for that one, but we got it. It's going. It's moving. And some properties will be. So, of course, we'll chronicle it on Facebook, all right? Okay, so a lot of announcements, a lot of things to kind of put on your calendar and make sure you attend, all right? At this time, we will hear.

Oh, we got something else. I would like to announce, okay, that the Natchitoches Coalition on Homeliness, they will be sponsoring a Gemstone TSA, which will be held on Saturday, August the 29th, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the MLK Center, 660 MLK Junior Drive, MLK Center. And the tables are $30 per person or 200 seats. Table seats are $30 per person or $240 per table. And you have an opportunity to dress up where you hatch your gloves, and there will be a contest. So the best-dressed person and the best-dressed table will get a prize. So just encouraging everyone, if they could, to please come out and support this. Ms. Natasha McHenry will be a contact person, and that number to reach her at is 318-527-1648. Or you can call 318-753-0010. And this is to help the homeless people and those who don't have shelter and in need of different things. You want to encourage the public to come on in? Send me that flyer, please.

Okay, sure, yeah. It sounds like we've got another meeting before the event takes place, so we can certainly announce it there and also share it on our social media platform. So send that to me, okay?

Sure will.

All right. Council, y'all got anything else? All right. At this time, we have a motion to adjourn.

I'll make a motion to adjourn.

Second.

All right. All in favor?

Aye.

Meeting is adjourned. Y'all have a great night.