Here is a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils. To see the full agendas, check out the links below:
- Joint Budget Citizen Input (Public Comment Time!!)
- Special Meeting (Funding plant renovations)
Budget Input. The joint council meeting will present an opportunity for comments from the public on the proposed fiscal year 2025/26 budget. The budget, which was proposed by M-P Monique Boulet’s administration in July, is set for a wrap-up meeting next Thursday and a final vote on Sept. 11, during which the public will be able to comment as well. Residents will have three minutes each to comment on a wide range of proposals in the budget, including contested funding for City Hall renovations, which City Council Chairman Kenneth Boudreaux has proposed removing from the budget.
LPPA Meeting
Parish Council
Final Adoption
Northeast Regional Library. A Parish Council vote is one of the final steps in finalizing a location, design, and timeline for the library, a process that has been ongoing since 2018. An affirmative vote would kick off the design and planning phase for the Holy Rosary site. Earlier this year, the library board voted to approve the design. Shortly after, M-P Boulet proposed the Holy Rosary site as the location, a decision that requires approval by the Parish Council but not the library board. During the introduction, multiple Northside representatives, including City Council Chairman Kenneth Boudreaux, testified in support. However, Ella Arsement, a library board member, testified against building the facility at Holy Rosary, asking for the library to be constructed at the Shadow Bluff Drive location already purchased by the library system. Tuesday’s vote marks the last time the issue is set to go before the council.
Introduction
City Council
Final Adoption
Transportation grant. Lafayette is set to receive $3 million in Federal Transit Administration grant funds, which it plans to use for maintenance of its current fleet of buses, to buy new buses and to fund the city’s paratransit service, with a city match of $2 million. The 5307 Urban Formula Grants, used to help transit operations, design and planning, are distributed to urban areas based on population and need.
Bloomberg Mayors Challenge. Lafayette is receiving $50,000 in grant funding from the United Nations Development Programme to put together a final application for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge. M-P Monique Boulet and Lafayette are among 50 finalists for a bigger pot of money to advance a proposed project. As part of that project, Lafayette would create a model for a proposed public-private partnership to prevent stormwater infiltration into the sewer system.
Several traffic calming projects. The council is set to give final approval to spend $189,000 on three traffic calming projects, including the Carriage Drive Street lighting project. The projects will draw down the city-wide traffic calming fund to under $100,000, effectively emptying the fund used for street calming projects across the city. Including the $9,000 investment in lighting on Carriage Drive, the city plans to spend $180,000 total on adding speed bumps in the River Road and Leonie Street areas.
Introduction
$6.2 million Lemoine purchase. Last month, the Lafayette City Council approved $6.5 million in bonds for LFT Fiber to purchase the former Lemoine building, located at 214 Jefferson Street.. The municipal service owned by Lafayette City has been renting two floors of the building since earlier this year for office space. The ordinance creates a cash-sale agreement for just under $6.2 million with Jefferson Street Development LLC, operated by Lemoine and its CEO Leonard “Lenny” Lemoine. The property was listed for $6.2 million back in 2023 when it was considered for the relocation of the Lafayette City Court, which was canceled when M-P Monique Boulet took office…