The monthly meeting of Oakdale’s city council was kicked off with a hearing to approve the water bonds for the project to move forward. This bond will cover the cost of new meters, pumps and well cleaning/refurbishing. There was no one from the public to speak. The bond ordinance was approved. This bond is for $3.8 million. A sewer bond ordinance was also adopted. The ordinance is $3.14 million. Oakdale will be getting a much needed infrastructure overhaul over the next few years.
Oakdale Councilman for District Four Jeremy Smith brought the issue of stray dogs in the city to the councils attention. He said there is a pack around the Pelican Highway/Walking park area that are a nuisance to the residents of that area. Some are even aggressive according to members of the public present at the meeting. Judge Luke Abrusley spoke up commenting he and his wife used to walk pretty often down their road until his wife was chased back to her house one day a few weeks ago.
The question was raised by Councilwoman Shon Allison to the Chief of Police Chad Doyle, if shooting the dog was within the residents rights. He said most definitely. Every citizen has a right to defend him/herself. The mayor brought it to the public’s attention that the chief and officers have been writing tickets for unrestrained dogs, “which is something that no chief has done in my time,” said Paul. Doyle said they have received 37 dog complaints in 35 days. They issued 20 citations.
Councilman at Large George Ashy said there is a shelter in town that does “a heck of a job,” at collecting strays and getting them adopted. There is no money or resources to employ a dog catcher for the city according to mayor and council. They collected 15 dogs last month and adopted 14. One was returned to it’s owner.
City Clerk Lisa Schaefer read the monthly report card for the month of January. The revenue was budgeted for $2,700, 512 and actual revenue collected was $3,000,100. They attributed this increase to the approximate $288,000 of sales tax collections. The tax collections continue to impress the council. This shows the commitment to shopping locally even as the country continues to face the COVID pandemic. The expenses for general government was budgeted for $494,807 and actual expenses were $456,111. The OPD was budgeted for $599,807 and actual expenses were $511,499. The OFD was budgeted for $170,101 and actual expenses were $141,543. Health and Recreation was budgeted for $75,350 and actual expenses were $72,191. The meter reader department was budgeted for $25,364 and actual expenses were $23,926. The public works department was budgeted for $999,706 and actual expenses were $809,669. Overall expenses came in approximately $35,000 under budget.
Judge Luke Abrusley addressed the council about approving a Judicial Building Fund that allows the court to appropriate small portions of court costs to this fund, and it will be used to either purchase a new building or maintain the current one. Abrusley hopes to purchase a new building to use for a courthouse. He has looked at the old Capital One building. He says it will provide the room needed for juvenile court, social distancing protocols and allow him to bring the Ward 5 Marshal’s office with him. The council approved for him to advertise for the ordinance and hold a public hearing at the next city council meeting in March. He said he is also looking into getting a bond to help pay for the purchase of a new courthouse.
Oakdale Fire Chief Kevin Fontenot addressed the council about the purchase of radios for the fire department. His intention is to purchase 16 portable radios, and 10 mobile radios for $36,799. This will be a five year loan with quarterly payments of $2,084.04. His request was approved by a motion from Councilman Smith and a second by Councilman Ashy. Chief Fontenot read the monthly report there were three structure fires in city, two district structure fire assists, 30 medical calls, one jail, five motor vehicle accidents, one landing zone, four miscellaneous and four trash calls for a total of 50 calls for the month of January.
Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle requested to hire Marilyn McCullough as a part-time patrol officer and Samantha Fontenot as a part-time dispatcher. Both of his recommendations were approved. Doyle requested to move officers Stuard Brady, Grant Willis and Ryan Savoy from part-time to full-time status since they have passed their civil service exams.
The council approved for non-essential employees to have paid days off for Presidents Day and Mardi Gras, February 15-16.
Also at the meeting, the council approved the bars to open doors on Super Bowl Sunday at 2 p.m. and remain open until one hour after normal business hours.
