During the Oakdale City Council regular meeting held Thursday, February 2, Meredith Guillory once again addressed the council on the issue of Yum Yum’s Frozen Daiquiris being allowed to open and sell alcohol on Sundays. Guillory said Oberlin and Kinder’s ordinances for the sale of alcohol on Sundays don’t distinguish between types of alcohol or content by volume requirements. She asked, “Why not update the ordinance to be in-line with the rest of the parish?” Council member Jeremy Smith said, “If our citizens are against something, we are not gonna do something just because Oberlin and Kinder do it. We need to please as many people as possible and represent Oakdale.”
A resolution was passed allowing Attorney Ray Rush to prepare an updated ordinance. Rush asked the council to “tell me how you want to change or amend the current ordinance. If we amend the ordinance to sell beer on Sunday but exclude bars, it needs to be in the ordinance.” He suggested the ordinance state beer, regardless of alcohol content, could be sold as to avoid any confusion regarding, alcohol by volume, noting it would remove the ambiguity and confusion of the current ordinance. Rush did say the updated ordinance needs to be clear enough to be enforced. Council member Cassandra Allison added the council is trying to bring the ordinance up to code so businesses are all in compliance. Rush stated the new ordinance would be presented at the next meeting in March and a public hearing on the issue would be held prior to the meeting. Rush said the ordinance will then be advertised three times and either amended or passed.
Following this discussion, the council approved the opening of Oakdale bars and lounges on Super Bowl Sunday, February 12, beginning at 2 p.m., with all premises to be vacated within one hour after the game ends.
Casey Ardoin with Kolder, Slaven and Company presented the financial report for the year ending June 30, 2022. Two issues were found, one being inadequate segregation of duties, which Ardoin said is found in probably 90 percent of the municipalities. The reason, he said, is it doesn’t make sense to hire enough employees to properly segregate the duties. Another issue, Ardoin noted, was the late payment of invoices that were paid but not in full by the year ending date. Ardoin stated the city’s total assets came to $3,771,894, while the city’s liabilities were $1,177,000, for a surplus of $2,594,432. Total revenue for the year ending June 30, 2023, came to $4,830,000 and total expenses totaled $3,759,000, for a surplus of $954,156. Ardoin stated overall the City of Oakdale had a good audit report.
Luke Miller with Meyer, Meyer, LaCroix and Hixson, Inc. presented a brief update on the ongoing park improvement project to improve drainage at Oak and Fuller parks. He noted he is working with Clerk Paul Abrusley on getting the grant funding finalized. Miller also noted the grip boiler for the waste water treatment plant will be replaced.
Wesley Miller with the Pan American Engineers presented two resolutions for the LCDBG (Louisiana Community Development Block Grant) grant. The first grant for $400,000 for work in the parks has been awarded. He also said bids for the removal of sludge at the wastewater treatment plant began advertising Thursday, February 2, and will be opened on February 28, and awarded during the March meeting.
In other business, the council:
•Approved the minutes of the January 5, regular board meeting.
•Heard the monthly financial report from Interim City Clerk Paul Abrusley.
•Heard the monthly report from Fire Chief Eric Maricle. There were three structure fires, 16 medical calls, one jail medical call, five moving vehicle accidents, one landing call, no hazmat calls, one public assist call and two miscellaneous calls in the city limits, as well as one structure fire inside the district six area, one assist in Elizabeth and one public assist in the district area for a total of 32 city calls.
•Approved administrative personnel days off for President’s Day (February 20) and Mardi Gras (February 21) for employee Samantha Giles.
•Heard the police activity report from Deputy Police Chief Grant Willis. He noted there were 380 calls for service, 228 citations, 22 arrests and 45 vehicle unlocks, for a total of 675 activities for the month.
•Approved administrative personnel days off for President’s Day (February 20) and Mardi Gras (February 21) for employees Grant Willis, Lorrie Johnson, Sadie Chatman and Jesica Thompson.
•Approved the hiring of Meagan Maricle as part-time dispatcher with the police department.
