Documenter name: Natalie McLendon

Agency holding meeting: Sulphur City Council

Date: Monday, August 14, 2023, at 5:30 p.m.

Summary: The Council discussed and approved multiple rezoning requests, addressed concerns about tree removal and safety, amended ordinances related to property and budgeting, and heard community perspectives on city management and proposed changes.

Notes:

The Scene | There were approximately 25 people in attendance in the main council chambers at 1551 East Napoleon Street in Sulphur and 20 or more in the overflow room across the hall. Four members of the Council were present: Melinda Hardy, Joy Abshire, Nick Nezat and Mandy Thomas. Councilmember Dru Ellender was absent.

Policies |

The council approved the minutes from the previous meeting. 

Added item 21B, Introduction of ordinance for Mayor Mike Danahay to sign a ten-foot wide drainage at Belle Savanne. 

Added item 21A, accepting substantial completion of the Maplewood Drive rehabilitation project.

Proclamations

Mayor Mike Danahay issued proclamations to the Sulphur High School Golden Tornado Band — the item was postponed until next month.

Dane Bergeron, South Central Planning & Development Commission, spoke regarding the Restore Small Business Loan Program. 

Bergeron informed the council and audience about Restore. This program is federally funded through HUD and the Office of Community Development. Monthly rent, lost wages, utilities, and movable equipment are all qualifying expenses. Loans come with 0% interest, and no mandatory payment for the first six months. The program also offers 40% loan forgiveness. If 60% of the loan is paid back, the remaining 40% is forgiven, and there are no closing or application fees. The program has been operating for three months. 

Public Hearing

An ordinance granting a rezone to Stephanie Gill, owner of 203 West Thomas Street, from business to residential, to allow for the continuance of residential use. Ms. Gill plans to sell the property and a residence that’s on it but said she had been unable to because the property is zoned for business use. City architect Austin Abraham says the entire block area is business but all residential living. Resident Bill Leblanc asked if they were only rezoning this property, and Abraham confirmed they were. The board passed the rezoning request.

Granting a rezone to Tulco II LLC, 1825 East Napoleon, from business to commercial, to allow for warehousing. This area is also zoned for business — stipulating that the site should only be accessed from Highway 90. The rezone request passed with a unanimou vote.

An ordinance granting a rezone to BAB Rentals, LLC, on the southwest corner of East Burton and Palmetto Drive, from residential to business, to allow for an office with a warehouse for the business, Ordinance 96-23. The rezone request passed unanimously.

RV Extensions

• 851 McArthur Street — The city completed an inspection, and work on the home is still underway. The owner was not present. There was no public comment. The council approved a motion to give an extension.
• 1906 Diane Drive – The owner was not present. Abshire recommended suspending this item for a month to see the owner’s progress and produce an inspection report. The item was postponed.

Additional Hearings

The City Council heard an ordinance amending Chapter 17, Article I, to provide for the removal of dead or diseased trees on private property and the cost be assessed against the owner. 

Concerned about a specific tree, Sulphur resident Bill Leblanc said, “A child will die by the time they’re done fooling around.” Leblanc thinks something needs to be done about the tree immediately. The amended ordinance passed unanimously.

Next, they heard an ordinance accepting a donation from Sealy Ratcliff Swisco Road for the lift station on Calcasieu Industrial Drive. The property was donated to give the city the right of way access. The ordinance passed.

Ordinance No. 1851, M-C Series, was amended to increase tie-in inspection fees for water and sewer. The cost was originally $15 and had not been addressed in years, Danahey said. The fee will be increased to $50.

Joshua Baden, a Sulphur resident, said before the local taxpayers “get hit” with the fee increase, the city should consider the flat rate for water paid by those outside city limits. 

Mayor Danahay said they’ve repeatedly discussed the issue and assured Baden they would consider his concerns. City Attorney Cade Cole said those outside city limits pay double the city rate for water and sewer. Nezat voted no on the ordinance. All other council members present voted yes, and the motion passed.

The council approved an ordinance amending and re-adopting the General Fund budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. Danahey said they made expenditures due to hurricanes and were reimbursed by FEMA. The reimbursements were made between two fiscal years, so a similar agenda item is listed twice.

They then approved an additional ordinance amending and re-adopting the General Fund budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. The ordinance passed.

Introduction of Ordinances

Danahay signed Amendment Number One to a cooperative endeavor agreement with the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury to extend Carlyss Boulevard between Wright Road and Beglis Parkway. This area was not within the city limits when the original agreement was signed. Now it is, so the city nis required to [contribute?] $1.25 million to the $5 million project. 

The council passed an ordinance declaring a contingent of scrap metal movable property of the city of Sulphur and providing for disposal. 

The council authorized Danahay to sign an emergency shelter and staging agreement with the Beauregard Parish School Board for temporary shelter and an emergency equipment staging area to be provided at Singer High School during the 2023 hurricane season on behalf of the city of Sulphur. 

Resolutions

The council granted a variance to Lawrence Domangue, 821 East Burton Street, to allow for a mobile home older than ten years on the property. The mobile home proposed to be placed on the property is from 1998. There were no comments from the public.

Next, the city discussed granting a variance to Ronnie Hossain, 1507 Weekly Road, to allow for a 480 sq. ft. manufactured home rather than the required 600 sq. ft. Mr. Hossain said he is living in a FEMA trailer on the property while work is being done on his house. He said he has contractors ready, but funds that Restore Louisiana has allocated have yet to be given to him. Abshire recommended an immediate inspection. The owner has been building the home since before Hurricane Rita. Sulphur resident Cindy Robertson offered to help.  Nezat urged 60 days to reassess this situation and his motion passed unanimously.

They discussed granting a variance to Regina Primeaux, 417 Virginia Street, to allow a mobile home older than ten years to be placed on the property. The mobile home in question is 17 years old. Steven Primeaux said they have yet to purchase it because they are waiting to hear if the city will allow the mobile home first. Nezat motioned to grant the variance, but there was no second, so the motion failed. 

Abshire said the council is trying to raise the city’s standards. Hardy asked city secretary Arlene Blanchard what recourse the Primeauxs have. Blanchard suggested they could take the matter to court. 

Bader claimed that one city council member didn’t pull a permit on her own main office building. “Y’all have shown me that y’all are the most evasive city council group. It doesn’t matter what the public says,” Bader said.

The council appointed Thomas Bourgois and Mary Ceasar to the Sulphur Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.

The council awarded the low bid for the 2022-2023 Overlay Project. R.C. Paving at $923,036.

The council accepted substantial completion of the Maplewood Drive rehab Phase II. 

An ordinance was passed that would allow a ten-foot-wide drainage servitude. Abrahams said this was looked over during the construction phase.  

The council went into executive session to discuss a claim regarding Justin Foster. Upon the council’s return, they voted unanimously to approve the proposed settlement for an undisclosed amount.

Community Perspective | 

Bill Leblanc thanked the inspection department and code enforcement for the removal of junk cars are in north Sulphur. But, there are a lot of things to improve upon still, Leblanc said. “We’ve got junk all over the city.”

Baden is against council members giving themselves a pay raise, referring to the raise mentioned in the revised City of Sulphur Home Rule Charter. 

“If you wouldn’t do it to your business, don’t do it to ours,” Baden told the council. “There are things all around Sulphur that a blind eye is turned to. Please do us the courtesy of being transparent.”

 Council members cannot give themselves a raise, Home Rule Charter Chairman Danny Depetta said. “That’s a misconception. The opposition is obscuring the facts. Take the time to read the charter or talk to the charter commission,” he noted. Depetta also stated that he has been abused on Facebook for having a different opinion.

Sulphur resident Cindy Robertson said small neighborhood businesses bring communities together. Neighborhood commercial can be in mixed residential zoning in middle- to lower-income neighborhoods. She told the council that at the next land use meeting on August 21, a resolution would be proposed to remove neighborhood commercial use from the mixed neighborhood zoning definition. 

Robertson’s business, Micah 6:8, serves unhoused people and would be affected, she said. The problem with the definition change, she added, is that once a property is zoned for business, the lot between them can be purchased as a business property.

“Those of us who live in mixed-use residential areas, we may have less income, but we value our connections to each other,” Roberson said. “I’m asking the council and administration to rethink the resolution and remove it from the agenda.”

Sheila Broussard, said verbally abusing anybody is wrong — in response to Dipetta’s comments. “People need to read the charter and…make up their own minds,” Broussard said.

Sulphur resident James Ledou said that there does need to be transparency with the city administration. Ledou took issue with the council’s decision regarding the Primeaux’s trailer, arguing that it wasn’t fair.

Regina Primeaux said she was confused that the council approved an older mobile home but not hers from 2005. an inspection, for which they paid a $120 fee, found no issues, Primeaux said. 

Councilmember Melinda Hardy mentioned the loss of KPLC meteorologist  Ben Terry and asked everyone to keep his family in their prayers.

Outcomes | 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, September 11, at 5:30 p.m. at 1551 East Napoleon Street.

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