From the Central government website

I. Preliminary Business

(1) Call to Order

(2) Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

(3) Roll Call

(4) Approval of minutes from the April 26, 2011 and May 3, 2011 council meetings.

II. Unfinished Business

None

III. New Business

1) Mayor’s report and presentations.

2) Report from Councilman Messina concerning recognition and praise for our military personnel and military veterans.

3) Introduction of the following item (with public hearing to be held at the May 19, 2011council meeting)

a) 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)

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

a) A resolution to urge and request enactment of House Bill No. 322 of the 2011 regular session to give representation to Central, Baker, and Zachary on the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. (By Councilman Moak)

b) A resolution to urge and request enactment of House Bill No. 324 of the 2011 regular session relative to Administrative Adjudication of certain ordinance violations. (By Councilman Moak)

c) A resolution supporting the prohibition of soliciting of employment, business or charitable donations on public roadways. (By Councilman Messina)

d) 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)

e) An ordinance to amend and re-enact Chapter 19 of Title 7 the Unified Development Code and to provide for related matters. (By Councilman LoBue)

Planning Commission Action (February 24 2011): A motion to approve the amendments as amended to Chapter 4 was made by Mr. T.J. Johnson, seconded by Mr. Wade Giles. Vote: 7 yeas (Bonvillain, Burns, Giles, Johnson, Rauls, Reado, Walker), 0 nays and the motion carried.

Planning Commission Action (April 28, 2011): A motion to recommend approval with the following stipulation was made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Walker. – That page 6 of 11, line 17, of the Proposed Amendment remain as orginially amended, to read “two-thirds (2/3) of the entire membership of the Council.” – Motion passed with five (5) yeas (Johnson, Rauls, Reado, Walker),zero 0 nays, and two (2) absent (Burns & Giles).

f) An ordinance to amend and re-enact Chapter 4 of Title 7 the Unified Development Code and to provide for related matters. (By Councilman LoBue)

Planning Commission Action (February 24, 2011): A motion to approve the amendments as amended to Chapter 4 was made by Mr. T.J. Johnson, seconded by Mr. Wade Giles. Vote: 7 yeas (Bonvillain, Burns, Giles, Johnson, Rauls, Reado, Walker), 0 nays and the motion carried.

Planning Commission Action (April 28, 2011): A motion to recommend approval with the following stipulation was made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Walker. – If deemed legal, the changes to Page 7 of 41, lines 24-40, of the Proposed Amendment (Preliminary Plat approval) shall be made retroactive to all currently approved projects, as applicable.- Motion passed with five (5) yeas (Johnson, Rauls, Reado, Walker),zero 0 nays, and two (2) absent (Burns & Giles).

5) Other items for discussion by council:

a) Report from City Services Selection Committee on the status of city services procurement.

IV. Zoning Cases

(1) Introduction of the following item(s) (with Public Hearing to be held at the May 19, 2011 council meeting):

None

(2) Discussion and Action regarding the following case(s):

a) PUD-1-11 PUD Concept Plan Lakeside Commons This property is located southwest of the Sparkle Drive and Sullivan Road intersection on Tracts E-1, E-2, D, C, and B-1 in Section 69, T-6-S, R-2-E, GLD, EBR, LA. The applicant is proposing a Planned Unit Development Concept Plan consisting of commercial, retail, and residential land uses. (Applicant: Kathryn Witty)

Planning Commission Action: A motion to recommend DENIAL of Concept Plan Approval was made by Mr. Walker and seconded by Mr. Johnson. Motion passed with five (5) yeas (Johnson, Rauls, Reado, Walker & Bonvillain), zero (0) nays and two (2) absent (Burns & Giles).

b) CUP-1-11 Conditional Use Permit Voice of Pentecost This property is located at 14754 Frenchtown Road between the Central Thruway and Richardson Drive intersections on Tract B of the Alton R. Ashford Property in Sections 43 and 51, T-6-S, R-2-E, GLD, EBR, LA. The applicant is proposing a 34,000 square foot church and community center as a conditional use in the Rural Zoning District.(Applicant: Joshua L. Hoffpaur)

Planning Commission Action: A motion to recommend Approval of this Conditional Use Permit was made by Mr. Reado and seconded by Mr. Rauls. Motion passed with five (5) yeas, (Johnson, Rauls, Reado, Walker & Bonvillain), zero (0) nays, and two (2) absent (Burns & Giles).

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

By Dave Freneaux (For an Editorial Opinion on this issue, see "Who Will Stand Up for Central?" under the Editorials tab of this website.)

    In a press release from the Louisiana Press Association reporting on the “Freedom of Information” Award given to the Central City News last Saturday, false and unsupportable claims have been made about the City of Central and this newspaper, CentralSpeaks.com.  These untruths were distributed through the Associated Press and have made it to the pages of one of the nation’s largest newspapers, USA Today.  However, those who read the article will likely never know that their impressions of the City of Central have been tainted by misinformation.  The press release is also featured on the blog site of Baton Rouge resident Woody Jenkins who currently prints a tabloid called the Central City News and places copies in retail locations in Central twice each month.

    The Louisiana Press Association, an association which limits full membership to newspapers which have been in print several years in Louisiana, issued the press release in question when it announced that the Central City News was chosen to receive its “Freedom of Information” award.  The press release explains the reasons the award was given to the Central City News.  The problem is, many of the claims made in the press release are simply not true, and are damaging to the reputation of the City of Central and to this newspaper, CentralSpeaks.com.

    The press release claims that Central “has, in essence, privatized its entire city government.” – FALSE

Fact: Central elects a Mayor, City Council Members and a Police Chief.  Central’s elected officials appoint citizens as board members on the Board of Adjustments and the Planning and Zoning Commission.   The Mayor and the City Council appoint citizens to committees to assist in formulating policy for the running of this city.  Every ordinance and resolution passed by Central’s City Council is done so in open meetings and then only after the input of the public.  Every administrative policy decision is made by Central’s duly elected Mayor.  The contractor hired to provide the manpower to carry out the policies and decisions of Central’s government is nowhere to be found in this process.  Central’s government is run by Central’s citizens and their elected representatives.

    The press release claims that “Problems came to a head last spring, when the city sponsored a campaign ad for the mayor.” – FALSE

Fact: First, the City of Central simply did not sponsor a campaign ad for the Mayor.  Second, if the press release refers to the ad run in the Advocate by CH2M Hill, it was not a campaign ad for the Mayor.  The advertisement makes no mention of Central’s Mayor, the content of the ad promoted CH2M Hill as a company, and on page four explained permit fees, which are not set by the Mayor.  Further, a judge has ruled that the ad “was placed by CH2M Hill to promote their company and the services that it provides.”

    The press release claims “The newspaper sued, but a district judge sided with the city.” – FALSE

Fact: The “City” was not even a party to the lawsuit.  The judge sided with CH2M Hill and against the Central City News.

    The press release states “…the mayor and his allies have started a competing newspaper…” – FALSE

Fact: CentralSpeaks.com is owned and managed SOLELY by members of the Freneaux family, residents of Central.  Every policy and editorial decision is made by Dave Freneaux, the Editor, or by the publisher, his daughter, Beth Fussell.  The Mayor of Central has never had any ownership in, nor given any financial support to, CentralSpeaks.com, nor in fact has anyone else other than this family.  When reached for comment, I stated: “I challenge anyone to offer any evidence that anyone other than this family supports or controls any aspect of CentralSpeaks.com.”

By Dave Freneaux

    In a meeting Tuesday night it was explained that legislation is in the works to enable the State of Louisiana to force Central's property owners along the Comite River to sell their property against their will.  The informational meeting about the Comite River Diversion Canal was sponsored by area elected officials including Representatives Clif Richardson and Bodi White and Senator Dale Erdy.

    The building of the canal to reduce flooding in our area will affect almost 500 acres of wetlands, requiring "mitigation".  Mitigation is the process of creating or improving designated wetland acreage or preserving larger amounts of natural habitat.  It seems that some 20 years ago the Corps of Engineers did a study and chose to designate a narrow corridor of property along the banks of the Comite River as the ONLY place such mitigation would be allowed to be done in conjunction with this project.  Since that time, wetlands mitigation as a concept has expanded to include land banks of willing property owners who will gladly sell their property to the government, but the rules for this project did not allow for that.

    Our legislators passed a bill last year which prevents the State from taking property against the landowner's will for this project, but there is new legislation pending which could reverse that.  The legislators from the Central area are fighting the new bill.  The entire problem could be solved by a simple action on the part of the Corps of Engineers to redefine the area for wetlands mitigation.  You are encouraged to view the video of this meeting on CentralSpeaks.com by clicking the CentralSpeaksTV icon at the top of any page.

By Dave Freneaux

    Four companies submitted bids Wednesday for Central’s City Services Contract.  While the actual dollar amount of the bids were revealed, the evaluation process includes many criteria, with the dollar amount making up 22% of the final scoring.  The low bid was placed by Institute for Building Technology & Safety at an average yearly amount of $3,237,680.  The average annual bids of the other three companies were CSRS dba Central Municipal Services at $3,600,000, Severn Trent at $3,740,714 and CH2M Hill at $3,779,655.  Based on the preliminary figures discussed at Tuesday’s City Council budget workshop, it appears that Central’s budget will, in any case be sufficient to cover the cost of City Services and operate with a surplus for the coming year.

    The “Option 2” bid structure provided for one administering contractor and smaller contracts for roadway maintenance, grass cutting and drainage maintenance.  Since there were no bids for drainage and roadway maintenance, Option 2 could not be considered.  Central’s City Services Contract will be provided by a single contractor.  While the preliminary bid information is known, several factors remain to be resolved.  One bidder, Central Municipal Services, has disclosed several potential conflicts of interest which will be discussed by the committee in a meeting tonight, Thursday, at 8:30 PM at City Hall.  Additionally, all bids must be evaluated to determine whether they are responsive to the bid request.  Barring irregularities, the evaluation process will proceed with all four bidders.

    Next Wednesday and Thursday at 5 PM at City Hall the nine member Selection Committee will meet to do its ranking of the bidders, considering all factors to be addressed in the Request for Qualifications and Proposals.  Financial stability, insurability, experience, resources and equipment, and other identified areas make up 78% of the evaluation.  Each of the bidders submitted a binder of information in support of their ability to effectively meet the demands of the contract.  On May 16th & 17th at 5 PM at City Hall the Selection Committee will interview selected bidders and a final recommendation will be made to the Mayor.  On May 19th, at the City Council meeting moved from May 24th, the Mayor is expected to inform the City Council as to which company he intends to award the contract, and request that the City Council budget sufficient monies to pay for the provision of Central’s City Services for 2010/2011.

Above: City Services Selection Committee Members, City Attorney Sherri Morris, and David Barrow at the bid opening

A public meeting to discuss the proposed Twin Lakes subdivision to be located on the north side of Denham Rd between White Oak Run Drive and Hidden Creek Drive will be held on Thursday, May 12 at 6pm at Indian Mound Baptist Church, 16755 Liberty Rd.  This proposed development will consist of low-density single family residential homes in accordance with the city of Central Master Plan.  The owner of the property and his engineer will be available to answer any questions from the public.

Submitted by Rep. Richardson's Office

Northbound and Southbound LA 37 in Baton Rouge from Sullivan Rd. to S.JCT. LA 64. One lane may be closed from Monday night, May 2 to Friday night, May 6.  These closures will be allowed from 7:00 pm to 5:30 am the following day while crews work on box culvert extensions and related work. One lane will remain open to traffic at all times. 
 
One lane may also be closed on Saturday May 7th from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm while crews work on box culvert extensions and related work.  One lane will remain open to traffic at all times. 
 
This lane closure has no vehicle restrictions and no detour is necessary.
 
This lane closure is subject to change depending on adverse weather conditions.
 
DOTD appreciates your patience and reminds you to please drive with caution through the construction site and be on the lookout for work crews and their equipment.

From the City of Central

    The City of Central would like to remind all citizens to please check with the Permit Office prior to starting any construction on any building, accessory structure, fence, pool or mobile home relocation in order to obtain the proper permits or to see if a permit is needed.  There have been several cases lately where residents started construction without obtaining the proper permits, and neighbors have complained and reported it to the building officials to take action. 

    In one recent case, a resident added on to his house without obtaining a permit and built over the building line setback.  A neighbor reported it to the building official, who then had to inform the homeowner that the structure would have to be torn down because it was built over the building line too close to the adjoining neighbor’s property.  This could have been avoided if the homeowner had submitted a proper set of plans to the permit office for review prior to starting work.

    In a standard residential neighborhood, the side yard building setbacks are 8 feet from the property line, unless noted otherwise on a duly recorded final plat.  The rear yard building setback is 25 feet, and the front yard setback is 15 feet.   Mobile homes have setbacks of 100 feet from the street and 25 feet from side property lines.  

    Anyone needing a waiver of these setbacks may go before the Board of Adjustments for a public hearing.  The Permit Office can be reached at 262-5000.

From Rep. White's Office & Toni Guitrau

    Area legislators including Rep. Clif Richardson, Rep. Bodi White, Sen. Sharron Broome and Sen. Dale Erdey will hold a Community Meeting about the Comite River Diversion Canal Project this Tuesday, May 3rd at 7 PM at The Rock Church, 20810 Plank Road, Zachary, Louisiana.  Another meeting is being held the next day on May 4th in Central.  The press release for that meeting is as follows:

    The Amite River Basin Drainage and Water Conservation District (ARBC) will hold a public meeting in Central with the purpose to inform the public on the status and future plan of action towards the implementation of this project, especially land acquisitions for mitigation purposes.

    The ARBC and Louisiana DOTD have taken over the acquisition of all property for the project from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Rietschier, the Executive Director for the project, said, “We believe this change will result in substantial progress in the acquisition of the right of way for the project.”  ARBC is holding this meeting to answer any questions of citizens in the project area.

    The Central meeting will be held on May 4th at the DEMCO Training Facility (16262 Wax Road) at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday April 28, 2011 at 5 PM
City Hall
13421 Hooper Rd Suite 8
Central, LA 70818
AGENDA

    I.      Call to Order

   II.      Prayer and Pledge

  III.     Roll Call

  IV.     New Business

      A.   Approve Minutes

      B.   Discusson of problem with bonding for Contractors wishing to bid on grass cutting and Road and Drainage Maintenance

  V.      Public Comments – (3 minutes each)

 VI.      Closing Remarks – Chairman

VII.      Adjourn

By Dave Freneaux

    The City Services Selection Committee will meet today, Thursday, at 5 PM at City Hall to consider an issue regarding the bonding of potential bidders for Central’s City Services contract.  This issue has caused the bid opening, originally scheduled for this Friday, to be moved to next Wednesday, May 4th, at 2:30 PM at the Fire Station on Sullivan near Hooper.  The delayed bid opening is not expected to affect the target dates for the rest of the interview, evaluation and award process.  The information received in these bids will be the basis for the selection committee to interview bidders and make a recommendation to the Mayor.  Included in these bids will be the dollar amount of the bids as well as information about the bidders detailing their qualifications.  While the dollar amount bid is important, the lowest bidder may not be the best candidate to provide the services.  It is the task of the Selection Committee, and ultimately the decision of the Mayor, to select the best contractor or contractors for the job.

     At Central’s City Council meeting Tuesday evening Council Member LoBue made inquiries of the City Attorney as to what role the Council Members play in the selection process.  It was explained that the Council’s role is to provide funding for City Services in Central’s budget, and that the Mayor will select the companies to provide the services so long as the Council approves sufficient monies to fund city services.  City Attorney Sheri Morris also brought to the Council a technical conflict of interest which may arise in the bid process.  Shaw Industries is a possible bidder for this contract and they are represented in a lobbying matter in Lafayette by an attorney who has recently began working with the law firm that employs Sheri Morris.  Both the law firm and Shaw have signed off waiving any concerns over a conflict since the relationship is distant and has no bearing on Ms. Morris’ role in the bid process.

     Council Member DeJohn had, as a courtesy to the Council, introduced a resolution in support of waiving any conflict of interest in the matter.  Council Member Messina pointed out that waiving conflict on behalf of the City of Central is an authority given to the Mayor.  Council Member DeJohn pointed out that to change legal Council unnecessarily would likely delay the City Services Contract selection process.  After it became apparent that only Council Members DeJohn and Moak were interested in bringing the resolution to a vote, DeJohn withdrew the resolution, leaving the decision to the Mayor.  After the meeting Mayor Watts commented that the waiver would be signed and that the City Services Contract process would proceed uninterrupted.