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Ferriday Council rejects pay raise, 3-2
The Ferriday Town Council voted against raising the salaries for aldermen during its regular meeting Tuesday night.
A resolution from alderman Elijah "Stepper" Banks to raise the salaries of board members from $200 to $600 effective January 1, 2009., was rejected on a 3-2 vote.
Mayor Glen McGlothin asked for a vote on the resolution. He then advised town council members to bring ear plugs at the next meeting if the measure passed.
But aldermen Somer Lance, Gloria Lloyd and Jerome Harris voted against the resolution, while Banks and Johnnie Brown vote for the raise.
The council also discussed changing the name of Morningstar Alley to Rev. Johnny Hollis Alley.
The resolution was offered by Banks.
Alderman Jerome Harris said he was upset that he was not contacted about the resolution since it street is in his district.
"I was in the hospital so I was left out and no one asked my opinion," he said. "Mr. Banks, you did not have the respect to tell me or even call me to see how I was doing in the hospital. This concerns my district and I should have been given some consideration and respect and you should have come to me."
Brown suggested the board not make a decision at that time.
"This is not the place or the time to discuss this," Brown said.
Banks then offered a motion to introduce to have a public hearing to introduce an ordinance concerning changing the name of the alley.
Following a role call vote, the ordinance was passed with Harris voting no and Somer Lance abstaining.
Banks, Brown and Lloyd voted yes.
In other business, McGlothin said the town has reached an agreement through a cooperative endeavor to operate Red Gum Waterworks.
McGlothin, in answering a question from Lloyd, said he did not know how much Red Gum owed the town but said waterworks "did not have a lot of money." He said he would find out the exact amount owed by the next Council meeting.
"We'll try and figure out a way to get our money back," McGlothin said.
In other action, McGlothin discussed tap-in fees. At its last meeting, the council voted to raise fees for new residents and businesses hooking up to the town's sewer line and main line to $1,500.
McGlothin said that price was too high and the board agreed to reduce the fee to $750.
"We split the difference," McGlothin said. "We won't lose as much money this way. We had to find a happy medium."
McGlothin also advised the board that there will be a surplus auction of various town items not longer used.
"We've found a lot of stuff that we have to get rid of because we asked everyone else to clean up and we need to do the same," McGlothin said
The council will advertise the items in the Concordia Sentinel and receive sealed bids on the items which will be sold in an auction to be held behind the police department.
Former Ferriday alderman Dorothy Johnson talked to the board about obtaining a building for a Safe Haven Inc. program, .
"We'll help them clean the place up and that will be a good and safe place for them to meet," McGlothin said. "And we'll be getting some use out of the gym."
McGlothin told the board that the old funeral home on Delaware Street will be torn down, as well as a house nearby.
He said other houses needed to be condemned.
The board voted to contract with William McKeel for the sewer department, paying the former sewer supervisor $12,960 for the year.
"He doesn't want to work full time and he is certified," McGlothin said. "This saves us a lot of money."
The board will also ask the Police Jury to help with grading some alleys, fixing potholes and pouring asphalt in certain parts of the town.
McGlothin told the board the town needed to re-bid for an aerator for the oxidation pond and for repair work on a levee slide at the pond.
McGlothin also said the town will begin using a work order system.
Sandra Redmon with Workforce Investment of Louisiana Works addressed the board about what her organization does.
She said there is a Workforce office on E.E. Wallace Blvd. Redmon is a board member for the office which covers Concordia.
The mission of the Louisiana Workforce Investment Council, she said, is to lead the state's workforce development enterprise by supporting and guiding agency partners in building a well-educated, highly skilled and productive Louisiana workforce.
"Anybody who walks in our door looking for a job is going to be seen," Redmon said. "We offer a lot of services. One complaint we have from businesses is that they will hire someone and they won't see them again after they get their first check or that person is a challenge. We have a work training program where we prepare them for what they will face."
The board also discussed making an inventory of everything it owns and listing its assets.
McGlothin also mentioned cleaning up Montgomery Park after a tractor was damaged while being used there. The mayor said the damage totaled $17,000.
"Supervisors will have those cutting tractors going through the fields to make sure there is nothing there that can tear up the tractors before they cut," McGlothin said.
The board also discussed having badges for town employees and uniforms so people will know when town employees are working in their yard.
Banks asked about an office for the alderman and McGlothin suggested using one in town hall.
"We can't afford electricity and telephone for another building," McGlothin said.
McGlothin also discussed Jimmy Robbins, who was asked two years ago to remove his equipment from two town buildings, one in the old Pasternack's complex and the other off La. 568.
"He's taking up two buildings we could be using to store things such as welding equipment," McGlothin said. "I will take the stuff in there and set it around his house if he doesn't remove it."
The board also agreed to ask She'Davis Fletcher to draw plans for the former Sevier Hotel on Louisiana Avenue which the town received as a donation of property by George Comer and Victor Sevier.
"We can present drawings to restore that hotel to the Delta Regional Authority which issues grants to help jump-start communities trying to restore their heritage," McGlothin said
Fletcher is the niece of Lloyd, who abstained from voting on that measure.
"Ms. Fletcher is very talented and we need to use her talents to help us in this cause," McGlothin said.
The mayor said the town is also seeking funds from Preserve America to help fix up downtown Ferriday.
"They give grants as high as $500,000," McGlothin said. "We may not get anywhere near that, but we can put in for it every year as long as we are doing historic preservation."
Brown advised the board he is going to assist town recreation director McKinley Bates plan year-round events for the town.
Lloyd suggested a board to assist.
McGlothin also advised the board that the lounge Top Cats is putting in a soundproof wall to alleviate the noise problem in the neighborhood.
"They said they are going to do a better job on other stuff and I want to give them the chance to do that," McGlothin said. "If they don't. I will shut them down, which I don't want to do. But I appreciate them talking to me about those problems."
The town also agreed to let Safe Haven Inc. use part of the old gym for an office. |
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