Mayor Tina Miceli Councilmen Timothy Baudier Susan Benton Dana Huete Craig Johnston Carrie Wheeler Chief of Police Tim Walker Justice of the Peace Kevin J. Centanni City of Harahan 6437 Jefferson Hwy. Harahan, LA 70123 (504) 737-6383 Harahan Police 6441 Jefferson Hwy. Harahan, LA 70123 (504) 737-9763 MINUTES City of Harahan 6437 Jefferson Highway Mayor and Harahan City Council Special Meeting November 9, 2015 The Mayor and Council met on the above date for a Special Meeting at 5:30 pm. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Following the pledge of allegiance, the Mayor call the meeting to order. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Miceli, Councilmen Baudier, Benton, Huete, Johnston & Wheeler. Police Chief Tim Walker, Judy Johnson representing the City Clerk, Robert Heinz, Finance Director. Absent: Fire Chief Todd St. Cyr MAYORS COMMENTS Mayor Miceli announced that the Jambalaya Cookoff/Car Show has been postponed to Nov. 21 which is also election day. The event is from 12-6 pm. She also announced the St. Rita Pecan Fest this weekend and a luncheon for the Senior Center to be held at the gym on Nov. 22nd for approximately 300 guest. She stated that City Hall will be closed Wednesday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day and that the Fire Dept. will be receiving grant money for fire detectors and asked the citizens to contact the Fire Department about them. She stated that the Oct. 29th meeting with the Legislative Auditors Advisory Board is on the Citys Web page and that all prior meetings of the Council will be on the website also. She congratulated Robert Heinz for a proposed reduction of the deficit by 45.5% and stated that the city spent $64,785 less than expected and collected $34,000 more than expected for this time of the year. She is expecting to recoup at least $200-$250,000 between grants, FEMA & taxes. She extended special thanks to Charlene Maddie for spearheading the campaign with the rest of the city employees to restore some order to City Hall and properly file documents. She announced that the ditches along Hickory are being cleaned by the state and thanked Chief Walker for safeguarding the city during Halloween. ADDRESS THE COUNCIL Dennis Saucier, Franklin Ave. addressed the council about the sewerage backup during the recent rain storms. He asked if the city was going to pay for the damages or would they have to file a class action lawsuit. Mayor Miceli said there is a meeting scheduled on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 4 pm to deal with the problem and asked Mr. Saucier to come. Councilman Wheeler objected to the agenda containing the approval of minutes, communications, resolutions and budget ordinances. She stated this meeting was only supposed to be about the budget. They waived notice about the budget meeting. Councilman Baudier stated that nothing should have been added to the agenda because when he tried to add the insurance ordinance to a special meeting and was not allowed and had to go without insurance. A motion was offered by Councilman Baudier and seconded by Councilman Wheeler to amend the agenda by removing everything except budget discussion. Council Discussion: Councilman Wheeler stated there cannot be anything else on the agenda because they called for a Budget meeting. She wants to be transparent and asked why set the agenda or call for a meeting if the mayor can change the agenda. Councilman Huete said that the Mayor stated that only item can be on the agenda of a special meeting. Mayor Miceli asked that the find the quote because she does not recall saying that state law says that adding to the agenda must be by unanimous vote for a special meeting. She further stated that she is hoping to find common ground but the council keeps scheduling and cancelling special meeting. Councilman Johnston stated that no ordinance could be adopted tonight because they failed at the last meeting for lack of a second. He said they should be up for first reading tonight. Councilman Baudier stated the Mayor is creating toxic politics by talking out of both sides of her mouth. The Mayor called for a vote on the motion, it was as follows: YEAS: Baudier, Benton, Huete, Johnston & Wheeler NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None MOTION PASSES Mayor Miceli asked Robert Heinz, Finance Director to come to the podium to explain the proposed amendment to the budget. Mr. Heinz asked them to follow along with him but Councilman Baudier, Benton and Huete did not have their budgets that he sent them. The clerk made copies and the meeting resumed. Councilman Huete asked why the court fines were so low. She asked Chief Walker to explain. Chief Walker said he was short of deputies because 4 had left. Councilman Huete asked if the majority of tickets were still going to Jefferson Parish Court instead of Harahan. Chief Walker said no, most are coming to Harahan but any state charges were going to Jefferson Parish Court. Councilman Huete suggested that cameras be installed in neighborhoods to catch the speeders. Chief Walker said the citizens were against it because they are the ones doing the speeding. Councilman Johnston objected to the use of the BP monies to pay down the deficit. He says the city needs that money for capital projects. Mr. Heinz said that there is approximately $1 million is the capital projects fund
and the sewer fund has $100,000 plus.
Councilman Wheeler would like a complete, separate account for the BP money so they could see what its being spent upon. Mr. Heinz said that had the previous administration used the capital project fund money to transfer to the general fund the deficit would have been less. He feels Councilman Wheeler said that the BP money should go into capital now and wait until the end of the year to transfer it to the deficit. Mr. Heinz said that the BP money has its own line item. Councilman Wheeler accepted Mr. Heinzs explanation, but still wants a separate account. Mayor Miceli said that because of using good governmental accounting practices the city had spent $65,000 less than expected and brought in approximately $34,000 more revenues than expected. She explained that if the council is set on following the same path as the previous administration, nothing will change and nothing will get better. Councilman Baudier stated that if Mr. Mosca had moved the Capital Project Fund to the General Fund there would be no deficit its really a ghost deficit. Mr. Heinz said thats not true he stated that the $1 million surplus left by Mayor Johnston had been spent during the following 4 years and along with another $1.2 million causing the $2.2 million deficit. Recording it correctly would have been better but there would still be a deficit. Mayor Miceli agreed that the city needs to reassess each past year in order to upgrade to a better way, to be prudent and to reduce the deficit and prepare for emergencies. Working together we can do both. Councilman Baudier said that he takes that as a slap that the deficit is a result of poor accounting, it wasnt because we really had a deficit. We had emergencies such as sink holes and hurricanes which caused them to spend more. He thinks this is just political games being played. Mr. Heinz Mayor Miceli said to look at the numbers in the budget and learn from them, work together and pay attention to the way things are done. Councilman Baudier said he agrees but this was only a public way to use the past against them. Mayor Miceli said this is the publics money and it should be dealt with publicly. Councilman Johnston said that we should move on. Mayor Miceli asked if anyone would like to receive the legislative auditors email to ask them any question. Councilman Huete said she was surprised that emails about the budget sent to the council were also sent to the Legislative Auditor. Mayor Miceli said the Legislative Auditor requested to be kept in the loop to know whats happening in the city. They warned the city to solve our ongoing problems. They asked for CDs of the meetings. Councilman Huete said that she wont be alarmed again if she sees that the Auditors have been copied. Mayor Miceli said she asked for additional input from the council in regards to the budget, but nothing was forthcoming. She said they need to work together to solve the problems of the city. Mayor Miceli brought up the apartment problem there are 4 apartments with multiple problems. During the tape change, an audience member questioned the deficit vs. debt. Mr. Heinz went on to explain the difference and the realities of governmental accounting. Cash is a separate item. Councilman Baudier said that the Mayor explained it best - deficit is not debt. Councilman Heute asked about the grants. Mr. Heinz said we dont budget the grant money because the grantors dont want us to budget for it because they dont want that money being used to supplant other monies in the budget. A grant is basically a wash the money is dedicated to a certain purpose. Mr. Heinz explained the expenses. The bank service charges were questioned. He explained that there were several fees included in that line item including a fee for direct deposit of employees checks and credit card fees, and the number of transactions affect the rate too. The insurance line item was questioned. Mr. Heinz explained that this was the liability policies on the buildings and city vehicles. Mayor Miceli asked about the surety bond items which we are mandated by law to have. Mr. Heinz said that will be in next years budget. Councilman Huete said this is only for liability not health. Mr. Heinz said yes. Councilman Huete asked about the Incode module for tax collections. Mr. Heinz said that without the Incode maintenance agreement they charge $250 an hour. Mayor Miceli said the tax coding cost $8,000, she said the city could save money by using alternate ways to collect taxes. Councilman Huete said they need to know what Newell Normand would charge us. Mr. Heinz said he quoted us $2 a parcel with $1,300 for uploading the tax rolls. Councilman Huete said we should just piggyback on Jefferson Parish because they are selling our property its already happening. The Parish is getting their part, what do we have to do to get our part of the taxes. Mayor Miceli said that was the basis for the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Sheriffs Office to collect our taxes. We could decrease costs, increase revenue and have more accuracy. Councilman Baudier asked if the council could hire an attorney with the $8,000 line item so he could hire an attorney to handle some of our legal problems like the ABO permit that is being held up. Councilman Johnston also asked about the City Attorney line item. Mr. Heinz addressed the question and explained several more line items, he said that he looks at the budget as a whole and makes adjustments at the end. He explained that his job has changed since he was hired because he is doing the job of 3 other people who left the city. Councilman Huete questioned that his salary is on two line items. Councilman Wheeler said that his salary was raised without council approval. If you can do that what good is a line item budget. Mr. Heinz said they are allowed to move money between line items provided they dont overspend. Councilman Wheeler said the original budget gave him a salary and now that it is changed, you want us to fix it now. Councilman Johnston stated that the council does not have to approve his proposed amended budget. Mayor Miceli said it is a common practice to have fluctuations between line items. Councilman Baudier said they were called out because they wanted to increase their salaries with insurance. Councilman Huete said that Mr. Heinz could have a $20,000 increase but the council was begrudged to get insurance. Councilman Johnston said they can put anything on the proposed amendment but the council doesnt have to adopt it. Mr. Heinz stated that election costs was now a separate line item and he will check for next years costs. Councilman Huete questioned the health insurance costs. She said we were supposed to save a ton of money. Mr. Heinz said that not all the information was in at the time the budget was adopted and that was the cause of the increase. The cost depended on which plan the employee selects. Councilman Wheeler questioned the travel expense line item in General
Government which was overspent.
Mayor Miceli said that when she took office, they discovered that the software the city uses, Incode had multiple problems. Options were: trainers could come to us but they could not come to the city for months or they could go to them for training. A delay would have caused us to lose needed money. Councilman Baudier asked for a run on what the expenses for this trip were. Mayor Miceli said she went to Washington, DC to meet with Senators Vitter & Cassidy and Representative Scalise. Councilman Johnston said the trip could have waited the two weeks that was left until recess. Mayor Miceli said that the congress was in appropriation meetings and that helped get us monies for Pump to the River. Councilman Johnston stated that office supplies and printing should be combined. Mr. Heinz agreed. Mr. Heinz explained that the electric costs were being split between City Hall and Police since they are on the same meter. The Mayor declared a recess for a tape change. The Mayor called the meeting back to order. Mr. Heinz continued on with his explanations of line items. He thanked the Police and Fire Dept. along with all departments for staying on budget. Councilman Huete questioned the figures of the health insurance. Mr. Heinz said that in June when the city changed plans he had no previous numbers to go by and an estimate was made but people leaving and being hired and also the type of plans they selected were all variables. He said he met with Chief Walker and Chief St. Cyr to discuss the numbers for their departments and they were satisfied with his figures. He worked with Chief St. Cyr and the organization holding the note on the fire truck and they worked out their differences and the last payment will be paid by the end of the year. Mr. Heinz said that several line items were broken out from old line items in order to get a better handle on spending. Councilman Johnston said he spoke to Chief St. Cyr and he was okay with these figures and the cuts but he wanted to make sure that next year some of the cuts will be restored. Mr. Heinz continued on with his explanations of line items. He thanked the Police and Fire Dept. along with all departments for staying on budget. For the Maintenance Dept., Mr. Heinz met with Mr. Lauricella and adjusted the budget accordingly. Mayor Miceli praised Mr. Heinzs expertise in dealing with the departments to accomplish budget amendments that will make the line items more pertinent to show the departments spending. Mr. Heinz continued with the Recreation Dept. budget and explained what amendments he made. He next explained the Sr. Center budget amendments. Councilman Johnston asked about the regulatory department. Mr. Heinz stated that since the number of employees has decreased, there are a number of decreases in their line items for salaries, insurance, gas, etc. Councilman Wheeler asked if the latest new employees salary was in this amendment because the line item is still being reduced by $22,000. Mr. Heinz replied yes and that the reduction of approximately $36,000 was due to the reduction in manpower and lower gasoline bills. He next explained the court line items. Councilman Johnston asked about the added line items and Mr. Heinz said it was important not to hide expenses by grouping them together. Mr. Heinz explained all the sinking funds line items nothing has changed. He explained the line items for the sewerage dept. Councilman Johnston asked about the $4 million that was borrowed. Mr. Heinz said that the budget has nothing to do with the $4 million- it will be a liability because we have to pay that loan back. The infrastructure that will be improved will be an added asset and will be capitalized in the future. Councilman Johnston said that this will give them enough information to get some ideas together for the amended budget they need to adopt. Mr. Heinz said that he feels really good about the citys financials. A motion was made by Councilman Johnston and seconded by Councilman Wheeler to have a special meeting on Monday, Nov. 16th at 5:30 pm to meet with the department heads and discuss the 2016 budget. The Mayor called for the vote, it was as follows: YEAS: Baudier, Benton, Huete, Johnston, Wheeler NAYS: None ABSENT: None MOTION PASSES Mayor Miceli asked Mr. Lauricella to post the meeting on the marquee outside City Hall and asked the Councilman to think about annual pay raises for the employees and possibly for the Councilman by tying their raises to a fixed index. Special Meeting 2015 budget ordinances up for first reading. Regular Meeting 2015 Budget ordinances for adoption with the 2016 budget for first reading. Resolutions also on the regular meeting. Mayor Miceli asked the council about options for the tax sale asked them to email her. ADDRESS THE COUNCIL Michael Amedeo, Cressione St. asked about the process of picking streets to be fixed. Mayor Miceli said there are assessments that come into play and that some streets will be fixed by the state or the contractor due to damage from Pump to the River. She said that if you have a street to report then you can report it on the citys website. She said that visits to the website have increased by 1,000 and they are still improving it. Mr. Amedeo said he would like to see more people get involved. Mayor Miceli said she is hopeful that will happen and that people are watching the meeting on tv. Mae Jean Cazenave, Oak Ave. said she has been recognized in Winn Dixie and Elmwood Fitness Center and at Breaux Mart as the person who spoke at the Council meeting. These people were not aware of the condition of the city. She said most people want a change from the past. She said the people are watching. Robert Johnson, Riverside Dr. reported that the agenda for the October meeting and for this meeting was not advertised in The Advocate. He said that the advertisements were wrong. ADJOURN A motion to adjourn was offered by Councilman Baudier and seconded by Councilman Wheeler to adjourn at 8:41 p.m. YEAS: Baudier, Benton, Huete, Johnston, Wheeler NAYS: None ABSENT: None A. The following matter involving pending litigation may be considered (Court, Case, Number, Parties): 1. Phillip Canella vs. Arch Ins. Co., City of Harahan, Todd A. St. Cyr, and Allstate Ins. Co.; 24th JDC, Case 744-961, Div. I. 2. Suzanne K. Scalise vs. City of Harahan LA, Anne Gordon, Louise Slayden, Ronald Gordon, Gail Gordon; 24th JDC, Case 744-986, Div. O. 3. City of Harahan, et al, v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., et al. U.S.D.C., Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 2:13-cv-01397 B. The following matter involving prospective litigation for which formal written demand has been made may be considered. C. The following matters involving discussion of the character, professional competance, or physical or mental health of: Name