Due to no quorum present Thursday evening April 4, the regular meeting of the Oakdale City Council was rescheduled and held Friday morning, April 12. In the absence of Mayor Gene Paul, Council member at large and Mayor pro-tem George Ashy led the meeting. Stephanie McKay addressed the council in regards to her interest in purchasing adjudicated city property. Ashy said he would like to hold off on selling the property due until the new administration takes office in several months, as there will likely be a new mayor. Once the seven-acre property is sold within the city limits, the city can’t replace it. “It looks like we will definitely have a new mayor, and I would like to hold off on the sale to see if the new mayor wants to sell it or if they would have plans for the acreage.”
McKay said, “What I was told is that y’all would like to sell the land. I don’t understand why I have to wait until the next administration.” She shared her plans for the property, which is to have a single family housing development located there.
Attorney Ray Rush stated the property needs to be determined to be no longer needed by the city and it would need to be appraised and surveyed. He suggested having something in writing as to McKay’s plans for the property in order for the council to make a good decision.
Council member Jeremy Smith made a motion to table the issue until next month when the mayor and full council could be present to discuss the issue. The council approved the motion and tabled the issue until the next meeting.
Rush introduced an amendment to the Code of Ordinances for the City of Oakdale for the ratification of the sale of adjudicated property within the corporate limits of the City of Oakdale. He stated this ordinance grants the mayor the authority to sign the deeds transferring ownership of the property to the purchaser on behalf of the city. The council approved the introduced amended ordinance.
Brad Rachel with Meyer, Meyer, LaCroix and Hixson gave an update on the ongoing LWI (Louisiana Watershed Initiative) project at Fuller and Oak Parks. He stated only one qualification statement was received for brand administration on the project, the city would need to re-advertise. Rachel said if only one qualification statement is received, it is deemed non-competitive and must be re-advertised. If they still only receive one bid following re-advertisement, then the bid could be accepted.
In other business, the council:
•Approved the minutes of the March 7, regular board meeting.
•Heard the financial report from City Clerk Paul Abrusley.
•Approved a mobile home permit for Misty Rodriguez.
•Heard the police activity report from Police Chief Chad Doyle. He noted there were 313 calls for service, 255 citations, 13 arrests and 34 vehicle unlocks, for a total of 615 activities for the month of March.
•Approved Chief Doyle’s recommendation to hire Matthew DeLeon as a full-time patrolman.
•Heard the monthly fire activity report from Fire Chief Eric Maricle. There were three structure fires, 13 medical calls, one medical jail call, 10 vehicle accidents, one landing zone call, three hazmat calls, seven grass fires and two miscellaneous calls in the city limits, for a total of 42 calls for the month of March. Maricle also shared the department received a donation in the amount of $25,000 from 1PointFive Occidental Patrol Corporation for the purchase of equipment for the department.