By Dave Freneaux

    Over the next few weeks Mayor Mac Watts will be negotiating a new City Services Contract with IBTS, The Institute for Building Technology and Safety.  The Mayor’s decision to request proposals for a new City Services contract in very competitive economic times will likely result in trimming Central’s 2011/2012 budget by $500,000.  Mayor Watts shared that he will be assembling a small negotiating team to finalize the contract with IBTS over the next several weeks.

    In late 2010 twenty-one citizens from varying fields of experience came together and spent hundreds of hours drafting a new Contract for Central’s City Services.  Nine highly qualified citizens then spent untold hours preparing for and reviewing proposals submitted by four quality companies vying to be awarded Central’s City Services Contract.  Tuesday night all of these efforts came to a focal point when the Selection Committee voted unanimously to recommend to Mayor Watts that IBTS be awarded the contract.  Many following this process probably had chosen a favorite, but the committee was charged with impartially identifying which company provided the best value for the City of Central.  When the scoring was completed, that company was IBTS.

    IBTS is a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of providing services such as these to governmental entities.  If the contract negotiations between Mayor Watts and IBTS go as expected, IBTS will be transitioning in to take over Central’s City Services effective July 1, 2011.  The Mayor states that he will be submitting a budget to the City Council tonight which will include sufficient funding to support this contract.  The City Council will be approving the City’s 2011/2012 budget by the end of June.

From the City of Central website 

I. Preliminary Business

(1) Call to Order

(2) Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

(3) Roll Call

(4) Approval of minutes from the May 10, 2011 council meetings.

II. Unfinished Business

None

III. New Business

1) Mayor’s report and presentations.

2) Report from CH2MHill on services provided to the City of Central.

3) Introduction of the following item (with public hearing to be held at the June 14, 2011council meeting)

a) An ordinance amending the Annual Budget of the City of Central for Fiscal Year 2010-2011. (By Councilman Washington)

b) An ordinance adopting the Annual Budget of the City of Central for Fiscal Year 2011-2012. (By Councilman Washington)

4) Public Hearing and action regarding the following instrument(s):

a) A resolution urging and requesting the Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish to allow the Sheriff to sign the Homeland Security Urban Area Security Initiative Grant and to reserve the legal issues for resolution after the grant has been executed by the Sheriff. (By Councilman Messina)

b) An ordinance amending the Unified Development Code of the City of Central Section 13.6 (I) (4) relating to private servitudes of passage construction standards. (By Councilman Moak)

Zoning Commission Action: A motion to recommend approval with the following stipulation was made by Mr. Walker and seconded by Mr. Johnson – Line 4 on page 2 shall be changed to “with a paved six (6) inch concrete or asphalt apron at least…” Motion passed with five (5) Yeas (Johnson, Rauls, Reado, Walker & Bonvillain), zero (0) Nays, and two (2) absent (Burns & Giles).

5) Other items for discussion by council:
a) Recommendation to Mayor Watts by City Services Committee concerning the City Services Contract.

IV. Zoning Cases

(1) Introduction of the following item(s) (with Public Hearing to be held at the June 14, 2011 council meeting):

a) PUD-2-11 PUD Concept Plan Twin Lake Estates This property is located on the north side of Denham Road between the White Oak Run Drive and Hidden Creek Drive intersections. The applicant is proposing a Planned Unit Development Concept Plan consisting of low-density (maximum of 2 units per acre) single family residential land use according to the city of Central Master Plan. (Applicant: Jim Clark)

b) RV-2-11 Revocation of Public Right of Way This property is located on Magnolia Square Drive on Tract C-2-A of Village of Magnolia Square Subdivision. The applicant is proposing to revoke an alley for a commercial use in a traditional neighborhood development. (Applicant: James H. Nunnally)

(2) Discussion and Action regarding the following case(s):
None

V. Other Business

(1) Public Comment
* Restricted to items not on the agenda. A Public Comment Request to Speak Card must be turned in to the City Clerk prior to the start of the meeting in order to be considered. Public comment is limited to 10 speakers with three minutes each.

(2) Announcements

(3) Adjournment

The City Services Selection Committee held an important public meeting last night during which they scored each of the companies vying for Central's city services contract.  At the end of the meeting, the committee made the decision to recommend IBTS to the mayor.  There will be a final meeting tonight for the committee to wrap up their recommendation information for the mayor.  The meeting will be held at City Hall at 5 PM.

From the City of Central website 

 CITY SERVICES SELECTION COMMITTEE MEETING

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.

Central City Hall

13421 Hooper Road, Suite 8

Central, Louisiana 70818

AGENDA

I. Call to Order

II. Prayer and Pledge

III. Roll Call

IV. Review and approval of minutes

A. May 11, 2011 meeting

B. May 13, 2011 meeting

C. May 16, 2011 meeting

V. New Business

A. Discussion and action regarding evaluation criteria and ranking of proposals

B. Discussion and action regarding evaluation of cost of each City Service Proposal

NOTE: Items V(C) and V(D) may be discussed in Executive Session pursuant to Article 1, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution, La. R.S. 42:17 and other applicable provisions of law.

C. Discussion and action regarding Legal and Financial Qualifications of:

CSRS, Inc. dba Central Municipal Services Group
CH2M Hill
Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS)
Severn Trent Services

D. Discussion and action regarding Qualifications, Experience and Resources of:

CSRS, Inc. dba Central Municipal Services Group
CH2M Hill
Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS)
Severn Trent Services

VI. Unfinished Business

A. Discussion and action regarding completion of selection process
B. Discussion and action regarding recommendation of City Services provider to Mayor

VII. Closing Remarks – Chairman
VIII. Adjourn

From the City of Central website 

CITY SERVICES SELECTION COMMITTEE AGENDA- TONIGHT AT 5 PM AT CITY HALL 

I. Call to Order

II. Prayer and Pledge

III. Roll Call

IV. Review and approval of minutes

A. May 11, 2011 meeting

B. May 13, 2011 meeting

V. New Business

A. Discussion and action regarding evaluation criteria and ranking of proposals.

B. Discussion and action regarding evaluation of cost of each City Service Proposal.

NOTE: Items IV(C) and VI(D) may be discussed in Executive Session pursuant to Article 1, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution, La. R.S. 42:17 and other applicable provisions of law.

C. Discussion and action regarding Legal and Financial Qualifications of:

1. CSRS, Inc. dba Central Municipal Services Group

2. CH2M Hill

3. Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS)

4. Severn Trent Services

D. Discussion and action regarding Qualifications, Experience and Resources of:

1. CSRS, Inc. dba Central Municipal Services Group

2. CH2M Hill

3. Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS)

4. Severn Trent Services

VI. Unfinished Business

A. Discussion and action regarding completion of selection process

B. Discussion and action regarding recommendation of City Services provider to Mayor

VII. Closing Remarks – Chairman

VIII. Adjourn

CentralSpeaks.com has uploaded video of the four presentations made today (Friday) to the Central City Services Selection Committee, as well as the discussion and vote going into Executive Session for questions of the porposers.

Go to the CentralSpeaksTV icon at the top of any page to view the videos.

From the City of Central

Building permits continued at a normal pace in April in the city of Central. A total of 10 new residential permits were issued. The total valuation of these permits was $3,021,208.

​Within these permits, one was issued in Village Lakes with a valuation of $279,784; two in Woodstock with an average valuation of $328,697; two in Burlington Lakes with an average valuation of $195,939; two in Wisteria Lakes with an average valuation of $312,256, and one in Hampton Village valued at $321.932 . There were two permits issued on private parcels of land around the city with an average valuation of $372,854.

​So far this year, a total of 52 new residential building permits have been issued.

    The nine-member Selection Committee tasked with evaluating the proposals for Central’s City Services Contract will meet Friday, May 13th, to interview the four bidding companies.  A 9AM and a 1 PM session will be held, with two companies interviewed in each session.    Portions of these meetings will be in executive session. 

  Next Monday through Wednesday the committee will meet as needed to evaluate the proposals and arrive at a recommendation to Mayor Watts, who will make the final selection.

From the City of Central website

The City of Central Planning & Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 6:00pm at Kristenwood Meeting Facility, 14025 Greenwell Springs Rd, Central, LA 70739 to consider the following item(s):

SS-6-11         Subdivision of Tract 6-A-1-A of the Hilda N. Lee and Barbara Lee Kirby Property This property is located at the east side of Blackwater Road  south of the Arleen Avenue Intersection in Section 12, T-5-S, R-1-E, GLD, EBR, LA.  The applicant is proposing to subdivide one tract into two.  (Applicant:  R. Dale Hodges)

PUD-2-11       PUD Concept Plan Twin Lake Estates This property is located on the north side of Denham Road between the White Oak Run Drive and Hidden Creek Drive intersections.  The applicant is proposing a Planned Unit Development Concept Plan consisting of low-density (maximum of 2 units per acre) single family residential land use according to the city of Central Master Plan. (Applicant: Jim Clark)

RV-2-11         Revocation of Public Right of Way This property is located on Magnolia Square Drive on Tract C-2-A of Village of Magnolia Square Subdivision in Sections 41, 42 and 71, T-6-S, R-2-E, GLD, EBR, LA. The applicant is proposing to revoke an alley for a commercial use in a traditional neighborhood development. (Applicant: James H. Nunnally)

Submitted by Rep. Clif Richardson's Office

Crews are currently hauling embankment and driving piles, which act as a support for the bridge. They are also forming and pouring caps to be placed on top of the piles to form bents. These bents will allow crews to place girders, which are currently being casted. To date crews have driven 82 of 180 piles and poured 11 of 30 caps.

ABOVE: East view and the forming of caps for the Magnolia Bridge
 
For questions or comments, contact DOTD’s Customer Service Center at 1-877-4LA-DOTD (1-877-452-3683) or e-mail dotdcs@la.gov. The center is open 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. You can also visit the project’s Web page by going to www.dotd.gov and clicking on "Projects" from the Programs & Projects section of the main menu on the left-hand side of the page and selecting the LA 64 Magnolia Bridge Replacement Project link.
You can also follow the La. 64 Magnolia Bridge Replacement Project on Facebook.
Again, we thank you for your feedback and patience during this construction. Additionally, at your convenience, please let us know how we are doing by filling out our Customer Service Survey.
State Project Number: 262-31-0016
Start date: October 2010
Finish date: Fall 2012
Cost: $19.9 Million
Contractor: L & A Contracting Co. of Hattiesburg, MS