On 9/30/08, crews picked up debris in Crystal Place that was missed on the first pass through that neighborhood. Crews continued picking up debris on Frenchtown Rd, Denham Rd, Hubbs Rd, and Morgan Rd.
Today, crews will finish Morgan Rd and portions of the Frenchtown Rd. area. Areas remaining on the first pass include Magnolia Bend, Bellingrath Lakes, Willowcreek, Magnolia Blossom, Hampton Village, and Cimmaron subdivisions.
All debris for the second and final pass must be placed by the street by today. After the second pass is concluded on a street, any trash placed out by the roadside will become the responsibility of the property owner to remove.

Please do not stack debris within 3 feet of the edge of the roadway. Stacking debris directly against the roadside is a traffic hazard. Also, large stumps and trees must be cut into manageable pieces in order to be picked up. No stumps or logs larger than 24 inches in diameter or 10 feet in length will be picked up.

Please exercise caution and drive slowly past the debris removal crews. Temporary road or lane closures can occur in the work zones. Please be patient while the crews finish cleaning up our city.

Tonight at the CHS Gym the Central Community Alliance held the Candidates’ Forum originally scheduled for September 16th.  The event was postponed due to the hurricanes.  The full video from the candidates in each district are presented below.  Each candidate for the School Board and for the Metro Council was given a time for opening comments, answered two questions and gave closing comments.  On behalf of CentralSpeaks.com and the CCA we hope that the opportunity to view these videos helps the voters of Central to make a more informed decision this coming Saturday at the polls.  Don’t forget to vote.

Introductory comments By Tony LoBue – Moderator

School Board District 1 – Morris Anderson & Russell Starns

School Board District 2 – Marty Guilbeau is running unopposed and was in the audience but chose not to speak.

School Board District 3 – Darren Pizzolato & David Walker

School Board District 4 – Will Easley & Wade Richard

School Board District 5 – Jim Gardner & Charles Hinton

School Board District 6 – Wyndi Bonvillian & Ruby Foil

School Board Distrist 7 – Sharon Browning & Jeff Martin (When the forum had to be rescheduled Mr. Martin encountered a scheduling conflict and was unable to attend.

Metro Council – Part 1 – Wayne Messina & Scott Wilson

Metro Council – Part 2 – Wayne Messina & Scott Wilson

The first round of storm debris cleanup in the City of Central is nearing an end.  There are only a few areas remaining in the first round of pickups.  For daily updates of areas being cleared, please check out the city’s website at www.centralgov.com.   Debris along state roads will be picked up by DOTD’s contractor, and debris on Parish Rds (Sullivan, Joor Rd north of Hooper, Comite, and Dyer) will be picked up by the City-Parish.
 
A second round of each street will begin later this week.  Areas that were picked up first in the initial pickup will be picked up first in the second round.  If you have storm debris to be picked up, please place it near the street by Sept. 30.  It is anticipated that the second round of pickup can be completed within 14 days.
 
Any debris placed out by the street after the second pass is picked up on a street will become the responsibility of the property owner to remove.
 
Please do not stack debris directly adjacent to the street or in the street.  Please leave at least 3 feet distance between the edge of the street and your debris.   Please do not stack debris near water meters, hydrants, power lines, or driveways.
 
Logs must be no longer than 10 ft in length and no wider than 24 inches.  Stumps must be cut into similar sized pieces.
 
Thank you for patience during the cleanup.   Please feel free to forward this to all of your Central neighbors.

The City Council met this evening and disposed of routine business in short order. The topic of great interest was the progress of storm debris pickup. Here are several key points:
The pickup process has been slowed by rains which made the disposal site unavailable for several days due to road damage.
If you do not have debris curbside by October 5th, removal will be your responsibility.
If you have leaves and debris in plastic bags, dump them out streetside, yes, that’s right, dump the leaves back on the ground. The problem is that bagged debris can not be picked up due to safety concerns in the automated process of collection and burning.
The debris pickup contract has been extended to run through 10/15/08 with a limit of 150,000 cubic yards. The original contract was through 10/9/08.

The Council deferred action on the issue of reviewing permit fees.

The following is a notice from Fire Chief Bill Porche, Cental Fire Department on the Burn Ban.

The Burn Ban will be lifted in Central on Friday September 19th.  Remember it is still illegal to burn in East Baton Rouge Parish unless the following requirements are followed. Exceptions to prohibition against outdoor burning. Outdoor burning of waste material or other combustible material may be conducted in the situations enumerated below if no public nuisance is or will be created and if the burning is not prohibited by and is conducted in compliance with other applicable laws and with regulations and orders of governmental entities having jurisdiction, including air control regulations and orders.
 
The location of burning must be 1000 feet from any dwelling other than a dwelling or structure located on the property which the burning is conducted. Conducted only between 8am. and 5pm. Only plant growth may be burned Smoke must not cause a traffic hazard Outdoor burning does not exempt the person responsible form the consequences of, or the damages, or injuries resulting from the burning.  
 
Whoever violates the provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00). 
 

The complete ordnance can be found on the City Parish website at www.brgov.com click on code of ordnances Sec. 5:35.  Control of air pollution from outdoor burning (open burning).

Central residents are reminded to use the “Central, LA” and their current zip code as their address when buying items such as roofing supplies, building materials, appliances, or other household items that need to be delivered to their homes.   This is important so that the City of Central and the Central Community School System can receive the sales taxes on those delivered items from merchants.  If you use Baton Rouge, Baker, or Zachary as your address, and you actually live in the city limits of Central, then the sales taxes will probably be mistakenly remitted to one of those municipalities by the merchant.  If you use Greenwell Springs or Pride, the sales tax dollars will probably go to the Parish instead of to Central.  So, please use “Central” as your address for all delivery purchases so that the merchants can properly remit the sales taxes on your delivered items.

The Central City Council met tonight at Kristenwood at 6 PM.  All Council members were present and disposed of its routine business efficiently.  The Council was visited by an attorney from a State Commission which sets the standards for installation of manufactured housing.  At issue is whether the City of Central has the legal right to mandate that mobile homes be located on a four inch thick slab of concrete.  The City ordinance currently attempts to require this standard while the State Commission argues that Central must allow other installations including sand, gravel and clay.  The council voted to send the issue to the State Attorney General for an opinion.

After the last few months, taxes, millages, assesessed values, and our tax rates have been in the minds of many Central residents. We will try to give the facts and hopefully help answer a few questions. Stay tuned for more information on these issues. Feel free to contact us with suggestions of issues that you feel need clarification and we will try to help you if we can.

Millage is the percentage of value that is used in calculating taxes. A mill is defined as 1/10 of 1 percent and is multiplied by the assessed value after any exemptions have been subtracted to calculate the taxes. (FOR EXAMPLE: If the tax rate is 100 mills and the total assessed value is $10,000 with no exemptions, the taxes would be calculated as $10,000 x .100 = $1,000.00.)

Be sure to check back for more information. An informed community is an involved community.

The City of Central Municipal Service Center will move this weekend from their current location on Sullivan Rd. to their new location at the corner of Greenwell Springs Rd. and Hooper Rd., next to the Post Office. The Service Center number is 262-5000.

For information on the Service Center and what requests are handled, visit http://www.centralgov.com/Depts/PW/index.html