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Council Proceedings of the City of Shreveport, Louisiana

December 26, 2007

The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Shreveport, State of Louisiana was called to order by Chairman Joe Shyne at 3:05p.m., Wednesday, December 26, 2007, in the Government Chambers in Government Plaza (505 Travis Street).

Invocation was given by Pastor Denny Duron.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Wooley.

On Roll Call, the following members were Present: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long, Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Absent: None.

Motion by Councilman Wooley, seconded by Councilman Bowman to approve the minutes of the Administrative Conference, Monday December 10, 2007, Council Meeting, Tuesday, December 11, 2007. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long, Wooley, Shyne, Webb and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

Amendment No. 1 to Council Proceeding, November 13, 2007.

Amend the Minutes of the November 13, 2007, City Council meeting as published in the Official Journal (The Times) December 3, 2007, on Page 9C, Column 7, as follows:

Delete:

“Read by title and as read, motion by Councilman Wooley, seconded by Councilman Lester to introduce Ordinance No(s). 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, and 198 of 2007 to lay over until November 27, 2007 meeting. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Wooley, Shyne, Webb and Bowman. 6. Nays: None. Absent: Councilman Long. 1.”

And insert:

Read by title and as read, motion by Councilman Wooley, seconded by Councilman Lester to introduce Ordinance No(s). 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, and 198 of 2007 to lay over until November 27, 2007 meeting. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Wooley, Webb and Bowman. 5. Nays: None. Absent: Councilman Long. 1. Out of the Chamber: Councilman Shyne. 1.

And, make the same amendment in the November 13, 2007, Minutes in the official “Council Book, 2007”, and in the City Council Meeting Minutes as published on the City of Shreveport/City Council Web Page.

Amendment No. 1 to Council Proceeding, December 11, 2007.

Amend the Minutes of the December 11, 2007, City Council meeting as published in the Official Journal (The Times) December 18, 2007 on Page 12C, Column 4, as follows:

Delete:

“Motion to adopt Ordinance No. 204 of 2007 fails by the following vote: Councilmen Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 4. Nays: None. Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, and Long. 3.”

And insert:

Motion to adopt Ordinance No. 204 of 2007 fails by the following vote: Nays: Councilmen Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 4. Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, and Long. 3.

And, make the same amendment in the December 11, 2007, Minutes in the official “Council Book, 2007”, and in the City Council Meeting Minutes as published on the City of Shreveport/City Council Web Page.

Motion by Councilman Webb, seconded by Councilman Bowman to Amendment to Council Proceedings of November 13, 2007, and Amendment to Council Proceedings of December 11, 2007. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

Councilman Shyne: At this particular time, I would ask Council Members, we have a special guest, Pastor Denny Duron. And I think we all know the contributions that he and his church have made to this great city, in making this great city one of the great cities of the south. And I invited him to come down because I had the pleasure to go out and visit with him, and talk with - - - I guess it was the Pastor and his executive assistants about a development that they will be undertaking in the next few years. I don’t know when it’s going to be Pastor, 2, 3, or 4 years, but I really like what I saw, and I think it’s great for the city to know what you’re doing out there. And it’s not only an economic development, but I also look at it as a quality of life development. And I think the development that you’re doing is the kind of economic development and the quality of life development that we need more of in our city. I’m not going to try to explain it or say anything about it, but I would ask the Council at this particular point if I could get a motion to suspend the rules.

Motion by Councilman Wooley, seconded by Councilman Bowman to suspend the rules to hear a presentation by Pastor Denny Duron, Shreveport Community Church. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

Councilman Shyne: Pastor would you please come forward and I’m going to ask the Council if it’s alright to keep from breaking in on Pastor Duron, if we would allow him 12 minutes. Would that be enough time?

Pastor Duron: That’ll be plenty. Some of my Parishioners wouldn’t agree with that.

Motion by Councilman Bowman, seconded by Councilman Wooley to allow Pastor Duron 12 minutes for his presentation. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

Pastor Denny Duron: I’d just like to say thank you for the opportunity to come and to share with you. This was not expected. Councilman Shyne came and was gracious enough to allow us to share with him what we have planned over the next few years. Then he invited me to come and to share with you. I really believe that the partnership between Government and Church is a possibility in Shreveport, LA. We are the city of Churches. Who can deny the contribution that the folks at First Methodist made when they built that glorious edifice at the head of Texas Street. Such an identifiable landmark for our city. I know that for years we were all so proud of Sister Margaret and what she was doing downtown in reaching the poor, and you can go on, and on about the contributions that have been made. Summer Grove, doing what they’re doing with the old South Park Mall. And when we begin to cooperate and understand that each of us has a role, amazing things can happen. Years ago, wrote a song, and the words are very simple. “Together we can make the difference, together we can change this land. When we all join our hands, there is a miracle, together we can.” And I have come here just to share our vision. And our vision is to be a part of this community. One of the things that we share with the people that come to our church as visitors, and we stop our service every Sunday morning, and I take 10 minutes, and I go into a side room, and I just share with people that are there for the first time. And the thing I tell them is this. I say, you’ll never hear anybody in this church talk about us being the best or the slickest, or the coolest church in town. We don’t want to be. We just want to be a part of the overall plan of God in this city. We just want to be one more address of the Church of Jesus Christ. And we come to this city and our contribution to this city, we just want to be one more group of people doing our part. We don’t think that what we’re about to do is so great and outstanding and over the top, we just think it’s what we can do in our lifetime. This is our part. And we plan to build a great community center in Shreveport, LA. We have a very good name in this city. My dad pastured here for over 40 years. He started with a church of 47. And now that church has over 4,000 constituents. Now, he invested his life in this city, for one purpose. Because he believed that Jesus Christ could make a difference in people’s hearts. And from that time to this, the one thing that we have determined is to be a part of this community. First Assembly of God had a good name, but we surrendered that. The reason we did is because we felt there was a name that described us better. We chose the name Shreveport, because we believe in Shreveport. We believe in your vision for Shreveport. We believe that Shreveport can be a great place for kids. We believe that it can be a place where kids come back and decide to live their lives after they’ve graduated from university. We feel like it can be a place where the streets are safe for all kids, and all neighborhoods. We believe in Shreveport, and then community because that’s who we are. We want to live our lives in community, we don’t want to just show up to a building on Sunday morning, and spend an hour and half together, but we want to live our lives together. We’re in business together. We want to make each other successful, we want to believe in each other. We want to honor each other. We have a vision of community. And then we believe the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is still an integral part of the success of every American community. We must recognize that the church is not just a spiritual force, it is an economical force in our community. And so we have determined to build a great community center. And we want to start by building a children’s center. And I’ll just show you where that’s going to be in proximity to the church that we already occupy. As you can see, this is the church we already occupy, and this is the approximate size of the early childhood development center, the Emerson Center that we will be building adjacent to the church. This will be a daycare facility, and then along side it, simultaneously, we are doing a remodel, but it’s called “Kid City”. This will be a place for children to come and receive Christian Education. It’s also going to be a great hangout place for kids. So, kids in the community will be able to come and there’s a arcade there, there’s a playground to die for, it’s absolutely McDonald’s on steroids. I mean it’s fabulous, and the kids are going to enjoy this thing tremendously. Now, here’s the second phase, Phase II is a gymnasium, and that gymnasium has (and you can’t see anything that indicates that), but along the north side of that gymnasium, as you can see 70^th Street is there to the north, the north side of that gymnasium is a state that is the same size as the Strand Theatre. It’s the exact dimensions. Last year, our school Evangel Christian Academy was voted the No. 1 Drama School in Louisiana, and we made the Top 10 in USA Today. In drama, we put on the major Broadway productions that’s been something we’ve done for years, and years. The only thing you hear about is our football team as if there is not a drama page in the newspaper every morning. There’s a sports page, and that’s what people write about. But if you were able to field of competition to put our drama team against our football team, our drama team would win 8 out of 10 I promise you. And we are developing something where we can have kids theatre and it would be for the community, it won’t be just for our church, it won’t just be for our school. But we believe that the theatre is something that kids love to be involved in, and the Arts, and so this will eventually become a school of the arts as well. The gymnasium will be state of the court. I mean it will be a great place for kids to compete and also be a conference center as well. And I’ll share with you how we will actually move from our sanctuary to multiple services in that facility while we develop Evangel Christian Academy Development in the place where we are now in our present sanctuary. Phase III is - - - we don’t really have a health club on our side of town, this will be a health club and people in the whole community will have an opportunity to be a part of it, it will be a fantastic place. It’s a very large place, and it will accommodate a lot of people, but people in the neighborhood and all over West Shreveport will be able to actually have a membership to that, and to be a part of it. Now people that are members of the church, of course they’ll be able to enjoy those facilities without payment, and membership does have it’s privileges. And so that’s Phase III. Again, this is the whole community center concept, that we are developing here. Now Phase IV is that we will do a remodel on our existing structure. We have 97,000 square feet where we are right now in our sanctuary. We are developing an indoor (inaudible) in the sanctuary where we are right. There’ll actually be two stories, and you’ll walk in and it’ll look like a fantasy land, but it’ll be a beautiful school for Evangel Christian Academy Grade School, and we will be able to accommodate at that time over 1,000 kids on the property, for both our daycare and our grade school. And then Phase V is the new sanctuary that will just mark a new beginning, we feel, in our outreach, and probably also mark the end of my tenure in this city as a pastor. Because on our time table, when we get to that place, it’ll be about time for me to retire, and hand the baton off to the next guy. So, I have about probably 12-15 years if they don’t run me off before then, I’ll have about 12 or 15 years left gentlemen, and then we’ve got a generational vision, where we’re going to hand it off to the next guy. And allow the young people to take this facility and hopefully take it to the next level. Now, all of this will happen in 2-3 year increments. We have been able to raise the money for the first phase, and that’s the reason we’ve limited it to the daycare and the remodel. Because we plan to build what we have money to build, and what we are able to raise and stay within our means. But as you can see, this will not simply be something that is about Shreveport Community Church, it will certainly be about the Shreveport Community. Now I’ll show you just a brief, just for a brief moment, I’ll let you see the plan for Evangel Christian Academy. And let me talk in stead of seeing the facilities. The facilities are self explanatory. You all had a copy of this, I’m sure that you’ve been over, and this is pretty much a standard school plan. You have athletic fields, you have academic buildings, you have buildings to accommodate the Arts, and you have some dormitories for foreign exchange. We have always had a foreign exchange vision. We feel that God has given us the opportunity to bring the nations here, and we eventually plan to have 100 to 150 foreign exchange students every year at Evangel Christian Academy. What this does is encourage economic development because these kids are the sons and the daughters of the leaders of nations literally. The Vice-President of Slovakia’s son graduated from Evangel, and we didn’t know he was there until graduation. These kids come and they pay a lot of money to be able to come to a boarding school, and they bring their influence with them. Right now my daughter is in an import/export business with a young lady that she met that was actually a classmate of hers at Evangel Christian Academy. And these kinds of relationships develop in a global environment when you have international students come in. And so that’s one of the things that’s very, very important to us, is making sure that Evangel reflects the community, No. 1. I think it would be interesting for you to come on our campus on Broadacres Road, and to see that we are racially blended. That on our campus on Broshrevepoadacres Road, we are 50/50. We are African-American, we are Anglo, we are Hispanic, we are Shreveport, and we want to be Shreveport. That is intentional, and that’s the way it will always be. We feel that God has called us, also to the nation. So, now when you walk on our campus, you will see kids from Korea, you’ll see kids from Korea, you’ll see kids from Brazil, you will see kids from South and Central America. You’ll see kids from Europe. They will be from all over the world, so when a child comes to our school, they will be educated in the environment that will hopefully will be their work environment in the next generation. As you know our work environment is national, our kids work environment will be international. And I just want to say this about Evangel, because this is the central vision of our school. One of these days, we hope to have a free private school. That is what we’re working toward. We feel that one day, we will have an endowment that will be large enough so it won’t matter who your daddy is, you will simply get in line, and you will have an opportunity to come to Evangel Christian Academy no matter what neighborhood you live in. That is our goal. I don’t know if we’ll reach it in my life time, but I don’t believe God would have put that in my heart if he didn’t plan to do it. And I would just like to say thank you for all your support, thank you for the times that you as the City Council has recognized the achievements of our school and our church. And I can promise you this, the thing that we desire more than anything else is not to be out front, we’re not interested in being No. 1, we’re just interested in being a part. And thank you for inviting me Councilman Shyne to come here and just express my thanks and my gratitude to all of you for the hard work that you in representing us. You represent people, and I’m one of those people. And I just want to express my gratitude. God bless you.

Councilman Shyne: Pastor before you take your seat, I’d just like to give each Council Member an opportunity, and then we’ll give the Mayor an opportunity to express any concerns that they might have.

Councilwoman Bowman: I don’t have any concerns. I’ve attended your services, as a matter of fact, I came to the opening or the ground breaking really.

Pastor Duron: I appreciate it so much.

Councilwoman Bowman: And I thought it was a wonderful thing that you all were doing not just in that particular area, but it will impact so many others throughout the western part of Shreveport Mr. Mayor, where I represent. But that’s certainly something that I appreciate. Now are you all still doing the milk jugs? I thought that was an excellent idea. Even the small kids were - - - had pennies, and nickels and they were filling these milk jugs.

Pastor Duron: What actually happened was that when we started these projects, my concern was this, we’d always had a priority of giving to the poor. And I said well, what are going to do. Well sitting at breakfast and there was a milk jug right in front of me, and I just felt a strong impression in my heart, there’s your answer. So, what we have done over the past year, is that we’ve taken milk jugs, and according to the old testament principle, they Jewish people, when they harvested their fields, they weren’t allowed to pick up any of the grain that dropped. That belonged to the poor. And the poor would come, and they would do what was called gleaning the corners of the field, and what we discovered was that God has given us an opportunity to give the gleanings to the poor to, and we’ve taught our people that the change that falls from your dollars belongs to the poor. And so our kids now fill up milk jugs. Not our kids, our families. And this year, we were able to give $42,000 to the poor from those milk jugs.

Councilman Wooley: I just wanted to say Pastor Duron, thank you very much for coming down and taking your time out to give us this presentation, and I’m very encouraged by your vision, especially having such a large vision. One that will really reach the entire city. I really commend you for that. I used to be a Youth Pastor, so I understand the compassions of a Pastor over his flock, and not just the ones you have in the house, but the ones you want to bring in the house, so thank you.

Councilman Walford: You put the “E” on the map. I mean, they’re not going to say that, I think we should because you put the “E” on the map. It’s not just known at the Superdome, (inaudible) you put the “E” on the map. Okay? That’s great. I love what you’re doing, but I also know that football is important, and you have made sure that everybody knows about Shreveport. Thank you very much. I mean they know it on the West Coast, and they know it in the NFL now, so congratulations on everything, and congratulations on that.

Pastor Duron: Thank you so much sir. Thank you.

Councilman Shyne: I almost said Pastor Webb, but - - -

Councilman Webb: Pastor Duron, one thing I admire about you and your church is that y’all do stay so involved in the community. And a lot of churches think you should keep church and state separated, and I’ve always disagreed with that and that’s one of the things I like (inaudible) to see you as a leader in the community, not separating the two.

Pastor Duron: Thank you so much sir. Thank you.

Councilman Shyne: Okay, Deacon Lester?

Councilman Lester: Thank you Elder Shyne. In all seriousness Pastor Duron, I really do appreciate what you’ve done, both for the children of the community, both reaching out to everyone. One of the things that I have noticed about a number of ministers is, it’s easy to talk a certain talk, but when it comes down to walking, sometimes it’s left lacking. And one thing I can appreciate about you is and your church is that you always walk it the way you talk it. You aren’t afraid to embrace other people across political party, that’s not a consideration, across racial lines, across church lines, across denominational lines. Councilwoman Bowman, Rev. Duron lives in District A for those who (inaudible), but even more than that, on more than one occasion he has been to our church Mt. Canaan and has preached there, and has been a great friend with our Pastor (inaudible)

Pastor Duron: I love your pastor.

Councilman Lester: I just want to say I’m appreciative for what you’ve done. I appreciate your friendship to our pastor, and we appreciate your friendship that you have show everybody in Shreveport. You are an example of the leader who really cares about the community. Whose walk and talk line up squarely, and that’s something that regardless of where you live or what your race, or what your denomination, we need more men and women, but more men like that, and I appreciate you for that. And congratulations on what you’re going to be doing at the church. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Councilman Shyne: Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Glover: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Council, Brother Denny, it’s great to see you. I go back to 1994, when we were over at the old City Hall, and I believe it probably was early Spring or late Winter, and you all had just won first state championship. A young many by the name of Josh Booty was the quarterback.

Pastor Dunn: That’s right.

Mayor Glover: Eric Jefferson was a tremendous contributor to that team, and just a great, great spirit of enthusiasm that just filled the City of Shreveport. Because it was the first time in several decades, we’ve managed to have the opportunity to own a state championship in football in this area and so, I became a fan and supporter of yours and Evangel then, but I became a member of the family when my nephew Quincy answered the call from over in East Texas, said to his mother that there was something that was going on over on Broadacres Road, and he wanted to be a part of it. And sure enough she made it possible for him to get there, and you all welcomed him and the rest of the family with open arms. And I had a chance to see not only was there a commitment to athletics, but also a commitment to academics excellence as well. And so to you and to Mrs. Bass and to all the other folks there who take care of the complete students, both in terms of athletics, but also in the classroom, I want to commend you for your contributions to Shreveport and to Louisiana, and to our country, and look forward to years and years, and years to come. I know that there is a lesson that you shared with me once that I have carried from this day to this one. It’s one that I have to think about unfortunately sometimes, even now as Mayor. And that is that people will forgive everything except success. I sat and I used to listen and hear the detractors of Evangel pick, and poke, and prod, and scratch, and I never could understand that. And you one day made it just that plain to me. You said, “Brother, we forgive cheating, and we’ll forgive stealing, and we’ll forgive backbiting, and we’ll forgive every kind of offense, except success. And that brightened my heart, lifted my spirit, and I’ve remembered that everyday that I move forward from that day forward. So, thank you to you, thank you to your lovely wife, all of your children, to your great father, who is a source of so much wisdom and insight. I can remember many a day, him stopping by just to start a conversation, and we’d be standing there waiting for a game to start, or for (inaudible) to commence, although he is a great source of wisdom and I love you, and appreciate everything you have done and everything that’s yet to come forth. And I know in a decade and a half or so, there is yet another member of the family I’m sure, cause as I understand it, there’ve been several of your offspring that have been called to the ministry as well, who may be accepting that baton of leadership, the same way that you accepted it from your father. And I pray that that’s the case and look forward to hopefully being around to see the great things that they will bring forth to Shreveport and Northwest Louisiana as well. So God bless you, and we’ll look forward to a great 2008 with you.

Pastor Duron: Thank you sir, I’d like to say from the people of Shreveport Community Church, that we pray for you continually, and we are all so proud of our Mayor, all of us. Thank you so much.

Mayor Glover: Thank you, thank you. God bless you. Thank you Mr. Chairman, thank you Members of the Council.

Councilman Shyne: Pastor, I appreciate you coming down and not only the Council and the Mayor, but the whole City of Shreveport and Northwest Louisiana.

Pastor Duron: I can go for 10 years on this encouragement you know. Thank you so much.

Councilman Shyne: We just appreciate the contributions that you all have made to the quality of life in the City of Shreveport, and I guess you and I probably have a few things in common. You are a minister’s son, and I’m a minister’s son. Of course, I might kinda strayed a little bit and went into politics and you did the right thing by continuing in the footsteps of your dad. And I think you’re a former coach, and I’m a former coach, and I coached for a while in the Caddo Parish School system, and I started to say I’m an old retired school teacher, but if I’d said that, then the Mayor and Councilman Lester would want to laugh at it a little bit, so.

Councilman Lester: No, not at Christmas Joe.

Councilman Shyne: Okay then. But I just wanted to let you know that we appreciate what you’re doing and if it’s anything that we can do in order to facilitate you all’s growth, feel free. God bless you, I love you and I know you will extend an invitation to the members of the Council and to the Administration to come out and worship with you sometimes. And come out and look. I mean, I was really impressed when I came out just looking around, and you explaining to me the vision that God had put upon your heart. You know this in the final days are the things that will, that God wants to see. What are you doing in relation to trying to improve the quality of life for people. Not so much of how much money you have in the bank, or how many big cars you have and this kind of stuff, but what have you done to lift the burdens of those that are disadvantaged, and that’s what you’re doing so, I just want to let you know that we love you, and just keep up the good work. God bless you. Did you want to introduce or I have a couple of your executive people to stand?

Pastor Duron: Yes, our Administrative Pastor, Steve Beyer, and our Executive Pastor, Rick Berlin.

Mayor Glover: Mr. Chairman, I didn’t see those other two gentlemen sitting there as I walked in, I think it would be remiss on my part if I did not make sure that everyone had a complete understanding and appreciation for the great work that these two individuals in particular did back in the Fall and the early part of Fall of 2005, or rather Fall of 2006. Brother Beyer and Brother Berlin were the two lead Administrators out at the Hirsch Coliseum during the Katrina evacuation. And I sat there on a day in and day out basis and saw these men be responsible for thousands of God’s children who had just simply been displaced through no particular fault of their own, and they did it with compassion, they did it with efficiency and they did it with love, and so Steve and Rick, I consider you guys great friends, great to see you again, and just want again to let you know how much on behalf of the city, and the region and the sate, how much we appreciate the great work that you guys did during that time. And we also shedding knowledge that the gentleman there on the left, Brother Berlin, in addition to having been the defensive line coach at Evangel back during my nephew’s tenure there, also happen to be the father of one of the more recent starting quarterbacks in the NFL, one Brock Berlin of the St. Louis Rams. I don’t know if I had a chance to share this with you, but I was invited back in July of this year to be one of the speakers at the National Urban League Conference that was being held in St. Louis. And as my wife and I arrived in Dallas, we were waiting to take our direct flight from Dallas on into St. Louis, and discovered that one of the folks who would be flying with us would be Brock Berlin, who was headed to his first day of training camp for the St. Louis Rams. So, want you to know that we’re proud of you, we’re very proud of Brock and appreciate everything you guys have done for Shreveport. Thank you.

Councilman Shyne: And tell Brock, we’re pulling for him. Alright tell ‘em we’re pulling for him.

Pastor Berlin: Well he just resigned (inaudible).

Councilman Shyne: Pastor Duron, if he just signed, I know you’ll get all that done.

Councilman Shyne: Okay, let’s move back into our regular agenda.

Awards, Recognition of Distinguished Guests, and Communications of the Mayor which are required by law.

Councilman Shyne: Mr. Mayor?

Mayor Glover: Thank you Mr. Chairman, Members of the Council. As every meeting, we have distinguished individuals who are here, but I want to take a particular moment to recognize the Gimes Family, in particular a young Cameron Gimes who is out there in the audience. Would you please stand for the folks Cameron. Cameron is a 12 year old who is my special guest here today. He’s going to sit on this Council Meeting as long as he can, and then he’s going to conduct an interview with the Mayor.

Councilman Shyne: Mr. Mayor, would you like for him to come around and maybe say hello to us? He’s a good looking young man.

Mayor Glover: Well we’d love for him to say hello, if he’s inclined to. And I’ve been told that Velda Hunter and Crissy Coile can be tough interviewers, but Cameron’s reputation proceeds him. I’ve been told to get ready for something along the lines of Mike Wallace proportion. So, Cameron, this is Chairman Shyne and Shreveport City Council, and Members of the Shreveport City Council. Would you like to start by introducing your family.

Mr. Cameron Gimes: Well in the green shirt is my Dad, next to him is my little brother Josh, and that’s my mom.

Mayor Glover: Anything else you’d like to say Cameron?

Mr. Gimes: I go to Betsy Coleman Middle School in Cedar Hills, TX.

Councilman Lester: Congratulations

Mayor Glover: His mother is a former teacher.

Councilman Shyne: Mr. Mayor, get ready for a rough interview hear?

Councilman Webb: Be hard on him.

Councilman Shyne: Don’t pull no punches on him. Hear?

Mayor Glover: His mother is a former teacher at the Linwood Middle School, taught with my sister Rosalind there.

Councilman Shyne: Mr. Lester, I believe you have a fine young man here.

Councilman Lester: I do have a distinguished guest Mr. Chairman, and Members, I’d like to recognize Mr. Rickey Curnutt, and ask that he would come to the microphone, and give his name and address. And he has a very interesting report that he would like to read and give to the Council about an issue that I think is of great importance to us all around the country, and particularly to us at this time of the year. So, without further a due, Rickey, give us your name and address and introduce your mother, and the floor is yours.

Mr. Rickey Cornutt: Good afternoon Council Members. My name is Reicky Cornutt. I am a 4^th grade student at Eden Gardens. This is my 1^st year to take part in the Science Fair. This past year I learned that several of my toys as well as my cub scout badge had very high levels of lead paint. This is why my science project this year is asking the question “Have I been affected by the lead paint in these toys?” Today I am here to ask you all to consider offering toy screening for a lead surface paint in toys. This is being done by many surrounding cities and you may have even seen it on the news. It is a machine that looks like a gun, and uses X-Ray fluorescence to detect high levels of lead on the sureface of a toy. We have spoken to Mr. Creightton at the Department of Health and Hospitals and he is unaware of any such programs planned for our area. I am giving each of you a folder I have made which discusses the XRF machine. This machine is used in crime labs, colleges, and hospitals. We may even have a machine available locally, on a voluntary basis. I appreciate you all considering this information and ask you to help us children help ourselves by offering this service to Shreveport kids and parents. Thank you.

Councilman Lester: Wait, wait a minute. Don’t leave, don’t leave. Ricky, I was blown away by your idea and your presentation. To think that we have young people that are so concerned about their own well being and safety as well as the safety of others, is a positive thing. Obviously as you can Council Members, he is a Cub Scout, I’m sorry, Weeblo.

Mr. Cornutt: I was, but I’m not anymore.

Councilman Lester: What are you now, Boy Scout?

Mr. Cornutt: No, I’m not in scouting anymore.

Councilman Lester: You’re an ex-Boy Scout, last year. Okay. And he’s a 4^th grade student at Eden Gardens. So, what I was going to ask, Mike Strong is not here, but I think we have Mr. Norwood. I want to give him a copy of your report, and find out if we have any machinery available at the city. We have a myriad of technology that we use for other purposes. But I want to give a copy of your report to Mr. Norwood to forward to Mr. Strong to find out in fact if we do have something that we can use to look at these issues of lead based paint. As many of us know, Ms. Moore is back there in the back of the room with Community Development. That’s something that when we do rehabilitation of a lot of the older homes in a lot of our neighborhoods, that’s one of the things that we look for, because we know that lead based paint has a very negative effect on people particularly our young folks and our seniors. So, I am very impressed with your report and I’m going to get some contact information from you guys, but we’re going to give this to Mr. Strong, get him to look and see if we in fact have some machinery that we can do that with the City, if not, maybe partner with some of our local folks in the health care industry and see if we can work this out. But I really want to commend you for putting the time and the effort together of this excellent report, and also to your mother for bringing you down here. And Mr. Chairman and Members, he came at the last Council Meeting, but had we let him speak, it would have been well past his bed time. So, he came back this week. So, thank you very much. I don’t know if any of the other Council Members might have anything to say. Thank you very much.

Councilman Shyne: I think Councilman Walford - - -

Councilman Walford: I do, I do. I have a guest and a brand new resident of Shreveport and I’m really proud to have her here. And that’s our daughter Arlette Gonzales whose hiding behind the post from me over there. Arlette moved here yesterday from Mexico City to teach in the Caddo School System. And since she’s sitting there, I would be very remiss since we all know our families make a big sacrifice if I didn’t recognize my wife Lynn sitting there with her.

Ms. Gonzales: Hello, I didn’t expect this at all. I’m very happy to be here. It is a huge opportunity to me to be able to become part of the Shreveport community. As Monty Walford said, I will be working for Magnet School. I will be doing something that I love to do, and that is teach. I’m looking forward to this, and become a great teacher and give a lot to Shreveport.

Councilman Shyne: Just before you go, I want to let you know I’m glad that you’re following in the footsteps of your mother, and not your dad hear? And Mr. Mayor, I’m going to have to recognize his wife too, because I’ve got two boys out at LSU, and I think one will probably be taking a course from her pretty soon.

Councilman Walford: I see her nod over there, so I think she knows.

Councilman Shyne: You know I kinda want to get on her good side.

Mayor Glover: As I’ve heard about Dr. Walford, she ask no (inaudible), and she gives none. You get what you earn Mr. Shyne.

Councilman Shyne: Okay. Well you know all teachers have a little compassion, you know I was a teacher myself, and I don’t want people to think that teachers don’t have compassion, because we do don’t we? Okay. Thank you. Mr. Mayor is pretty tough.

Mayor Glover: As I heard you say Mr. Shyne, she has high expectations. If her expectations are here and the students are there, then they’re going to have to come up to here. She’s not coming down there.

Councilman Lester: Mr. Mayor, the word is when he was taking people out to the woodshed, he wasn’t calling it compassion back then. Now the statute of limitations have run, so we can talk about it.

Councilman Shyne: No, no, no. Anybody else have any special guests? Okay, if not Mr. Holt, Property Standards.

Reports: Property Standards Report

Councilman Long: Mr. Chairman, I guess I’ll go first since nobody else wants to go. Mr. Holt, I have a letter here from a John K. Butcher, have you seen this letter? Can I give this to you to handle sir? Thank you.

Mr. Holt: I’ll call Mr. Butcher, and we’ll figure it out and get him a response.

Councilman Long: If you can help him figure out what’s going on, I’d appreciate it. Thank you.

Councilman Webb: I was just going to ask you about this inop report that we got for our districts.

Mr. Holt? Yes sir.

Councilman Webb: There’s not anything in here on District E, I don’t know if that means we have no inop vehicles in District E or they just left us out.

Mr. Holt: Frankly, I didn’t know y’all were still reading that report.

Councilman Webb: I read it every time, and I keep (inaudible), believe it or not.

Mr. Holt: Well quite frankly, it’s inaccurate. The new report is just about ready, we got tied up in some other stuff, and I’m trying to get a final review together with Councilman Lester, I think and hopefully, you’re going to have a much more meaningful report within a very short timeframe.

Councilman Webb: Thank you, that’s good news. That’s all. I just wondered about that.

Councilman Wooley: Thank you Mr. Chairman. I didn’t know if we had an update on the (inaudible)? I know you said you had to go back out and inspect that.

Mr. Holt: Well, he did a tremendous amount of work, if you’ve been by there.

Councilman Wooley: I’ve seen it.

Mr. Holt: He still got problems. What I’m trying to get clarified now is to whether or not his statement concerning his residence being grandfathered since the shrubbery we’re talking about existed before he was ever annexed into the city is correct. He is supposed to be producing a court document to me that states that, and I don’t have it yet. That was just late last week that we talked to him. As soon as I find out something, I’ll let you know.

Councilman Wooley: Right. I appreciate it, thank you Mr. Chairman.

Public Hearing: None.

Confirmations and/or Appointments, Adding Legislation to the Agenda, and Public Comments.

Confirmations and/or Appointments:

Metropolitan Planning Commission Mr. Dale Colvin

Assistant City Attorney Ms. Evelyn Collins Kelly

Community Development, Mr. Fred Thomas

Bureau Chief of Administration

Motion by Councilman Lester, seconded by Councilman Bowman to confirm the executive appointments of Mr. Dale Colvin, Ms. Evelyn Collins Kelly, and Mr. Fred Thomas.

Councilman Shyne: Is Mr. Thomas here?

Mr. Dark: He is, back row.

Councilman Shyne: Fred, let me put my - - - sure is. Fred, you’re looking younger these days. Mr. Mayor, I don’t know whether it’s because of this appointment you’re giving him that’s making him look younger, or whether it’s something he ate or had over the Christmas holidays. But Fred, thanks here. You’re a hard worker, and you made a lot of contributions to the City of Shreveport over Calvin, many, many years. Is that right Mr. Mayor?

Mayor Glover: Absolutely Mr. Chairman. We’re honored to have him accept this duty and responsibility. I’m not sure for some of the new Council Members, if they are familiar with Fred and the work that he’s done. I’m assuming you have his resume there in front of you, if not, then you might want to have him or Bonnie come up and just offer a word or two, but certainly, he’s a veteran leader whose going to help us do some great things over there.

Councilman Shyne: I’d like for Fred to come up, because I think you found Fred here when you came in on the Council. What was it, about 16 or 17 or 18 years ago?

Mayor Glover: I guess going on 18 now.

Councilman Shyne: Yeah, about 18 years ago. Fred was one of the guys that you could count on. Fred?

Mr. Thomas: How you doing Mr. Shyne? Mr. Mayor? I certainly appreciate the appointment by the Mayor and confirmation by the City Council and of course I appreciate the selection by Mrs. Bonnie Moore. Certainly I’ve worked with the City for 25 ½ years. I did take a brief departure, and I went to work for the Shreveport Job Corps Center for about 8 years, but most of my training and work experience has been in training, and now I’m glad to be entering into another field, which is the housing area. Certainly, I’ve enjoyed it thus far working in this position since August 1^st as the interim Bureau Chief. And certainly we’re going to do some great things.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 6. Nays: None. Out of the Chamber: Councilman Walford. 1.

Adding Legislation to the Agenda

The Clerk read the following:

1. Resolution No. 198 of 2007: A resolution to thank the Kroger Company for twenty years of service to north Shreveport, to re-iterate the city’s offer to help find a suitable Kroger location in north Shreveport, to request that the North Market property be made available for any suitable business including a grocery store, and to otherwise provide with respect thereto. (A/Lester)

Motion by Councilman Lester, seconded by Councilman Bowman to add Resolution No. 198 of 2007 to the agenda. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

Councilman Shyne: We want the people in TV Land to know that Councilman Walford is now back in the Chamber, we are happy to have your presence. You bring a lot of wisdom. Many, many, many, many years of experience. He says old age Mike, is what he brings in, so we’re going to agree with that.

Public Comments (Agenda Items to be Adopted)

Councilman Shyne: We have one. Mr. Quinn Echols. Mr. Long, what is your pleasure?

Councilman Long: Well if he want’s to speak, he’s certainly welcomed to, but he’s probably going to speak on a Zoning Case, and we’re going to ask for your vote to postpone again today. We’re still working out the details of that. I think he’s left. He’s not sitting where I left him.

Councilman Shyne: Okay, well lets move on.

CONSENT AGENDA LEGISLATION

TO INTRODUCE RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES

RESOLUTIONS: None.

ORDINANCES: None.

TO ADOPT RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES

RESOLUTIONS: None

ORDINANCES: None.

REGULAR AGENDA LEGISLATION

RESOLUTIONS ON SECOND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE OR WHICH REQUIRE ONLY ONE READING

The Clerk read the following:

RESOLUTION NO. 194 OF 2007

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH CHASE EQUIPMENT LEASING INC. AND OTHER NECESSARY PARTIES FOR THE FINANCING OF VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT AND OTHERWISE PROVIDING WITH RESPECT THERETO.

WHEREAS, the City of Shreveport, sometimes referred to herein as “Lessee” is a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana (the "State") and is duly organized and existing pursuant to the constitution and laws of the State.

WHEREAS, pursuant to applicable law, the governing body of the Lessee ("Governing Body") is authorized to acquire, dispose of and encumber real and personal property, including, without limitation, rights and interests in property, leases and easements necessary to the functions or operations of the Lessee.

WHEREAS, the Governing Body hereby finds and determines that the execution of one or more lease-purchase agreements ("Equipment Leases") in the principal amount not exceeding $4,300,000 for the purpose of acquiring the property generally described below ("Property") and to be described more specifically in the Equipment Leases is appropriate and necessary to the functions and operations of the Lessee:

Brief Description of Property:

Garbage packers, trucks, tractors, passenger vehicles, motorcycles, buses, fire trucks and equipment, traffic engineering vehicles, public works vehicles and equipment

WHEREAS, Chase Equipment Leasing Inc. ("Lessor") is expected to act as the lessor under the Equipment Leases.

WHEREAS, in accordance with U.S. Treasury Department regulations, Section 1.150-2, the City of Shreveport adopted Resolution No. 16 of 2007, declaring its intent to reimburse itself for certain capital expenditures in connection with the Property prior to its receipt of proceeds of the Equipment Leases ("Lease Purchase Proceeds").

WHEREAS, in accordance with said resolution of intent, the Lessee has paid or will pay certain capital expenditures in connection with the Property prior to its receipt of proceeds of the Equipment Leases ("Lease Purchase Proceeds") for such expenditures and such expenditures have not exceeded or are not expected to exceed the Principal Amount.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Shreveport in due, legal and regular session convened that:

Section 1. Cedric B. Glover, Mayor is hereby authorized to execute and deliver one or more Equipment Leases in substantially the form filed and available for public inspection in the office of the Clerk of Council on December 26, 2007. The Mayor is further authorized to execute and deliver such other documents relating to the Equipment Lease (including, but not limited to, escrow agreements) as he deems necessary and appropriate. All other related contracts and agreements necessary and incidental to the Equipment Leases are hereby authorized.

Section 2. By a written instrument signed by the Mayor, the Mayor may designate specifically identified officers or employees of the City to execute and deliver agreements and documents relating to the Equipment Leases on behalf of the City.

Section 3. The aggregate original principal amount of the Equipment Leases shall not exceed the Principal Amount and shall bear interest as set forth in the Equipment Leases and the Equipment Leases shall contain such options to purchase by the Lessee as set forth therein.

Section 4. The Lessee's obligations under the Equipment Leases shall be subject to annual appropriation or renewal by the Governing Body as set forth in each Equipment Lease and the Lessee's obligations under the Equipment Leases shall not constitute a general obligation of the Lessee or indebtedness under the Constitution or laws of the State.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if any provision of this resolution or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, items or applications of this resolution which can be given effect without the invalid provisions, items or applications and to this end the provisions of this resolution are hereby declared severable.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all resolutions or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Read by title and as read, motion by Councilman Walford, seconded by Councilman Long to adopt. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

RESOLUTION NO. 196 2007

A RESOLUTION TO REQUEST UTILITY COMPANIES AND OTHER OWNERS OF UTILITY LINES TO REMOVE FOREIGN OBJECTS FROM THE LINES WHEN REQUESTED TO DO SO BY THE CITY OF SHREVEPORT, AND TO OTHERWISE PROVIDE WITH RESPECT THERETO.

BY COUNCILWOMAN BOWMAN:

WHEREAS, athletic and tennis shoes and other foreign objects draped across utility lines in neighborhoods create a negative image of the neighborhood, and these items on utility lines may facilitate criminal and gang activity in a neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, it is therefore desirable for athletic and tennis shoes and other foreign objects to be removed from utility lines by the owners of the lines as soon as possible.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Shreveport in due, regular and legal session convened, that utility companies and other owners of utility lines are requested to remove athletic shoes, tennis shoes and other foreign objects and materials from utility lines located in the City of Shreveport when requested to do so by the Mayor of the City of Shreveport or his designees.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if any provision or item of this resolution or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, items or applications of this resolution which can be given effect without the invalid provisions, items or applications and to this end the provisions of this resolution are hereby declared severable.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all resolution or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Read by title and as read, motion by Councilman Bowman, seconded by Councilman Wooley to adopt.

Councilwoman Bowman: I would certainly like for the Chief to come for just one minute, if you don’t mind.

Councilman Shyne: Is that the Fire Chief, or the Police Chief?

Councilman Bowman: That’s Chief Whitehorn.

Councilman Shyne: Oh, Chief Whitehorn. Okay, cause I remember one day Chief, you and Chief Cochran got up at the same time.

Councilwoman Bowman: And I just for the benefit of my fellow Council Members, I’d like for you to know what this is all about. Because some of you probably don’t experience this in the communities that you represent. But I certainly have it, and Councilman Shyne, I’ve seen them in your district as well. Chief?

Chief Whitehorn: Good afternoon Mr. Chairman, and Members of Council, and Mr. Mayor. We’ve had a serious problem with the tennis shoes and things hanging on the lines. It’s been a nuisance problem throughout the city. We had worked at one point, and we thought we had an agreement where the utility company, in particular SWEPCO, would come out and work with us to remove those objects from the power lines. And that had ceased for various reasons. We had a meeting with all utility companies, SWEPCO, AT&T, COMCAST, and also our Traffic Engineers. Based on that meeting, some resolutions came about through those discussions and we all agreed that we would try to work together. It was recommended that there be a resolution and an ordinance in place that would require the utility companies to remove those items from their particular lines. They would also do an education piece to this to teach the officers what lines belong to who, so that when we call, we can call COMCAST or AT&T, or SWEPCO, whichever we recognize those tennis shoes or items to be on their lines. And they were all in agreement. I called Councilwoman Bowman after that meeting, and talked to her about it. She agreed, and I think Mr. Thompson, worked up the language, and here we are. But I think it’s going to be meaningful for the citizens. We know that there is a certain meaning for these tennis shoes to be on the lines. That means that there is an open air drug sale area, and so we want to clean up the city, we want to clean up the drug traffic, and this is going to be a way to help us do that.

Councilman Shyne: Chief, I really appreciate what you’re doing. I’ve been able to see some differences, and I appreciate Mr. Mayor how fast he is responding. I don’t know whether if that’s because you put a little hot water in the bottle or not, but Chief, whatever it is, whatever it is Chief, I just want to let you know that we appreciate it. And in relation to that, I wish Mr. Mayor, we could let all the City Workers, if we could get that information out to them, that whenever they would see something like that, then they would contact the Chief, or whoever needs to be contacted so those agencies, could come out there, because like Ms. Bowman says, I have seen it, and Councilwoman Bowman being Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, I do want to commend you, and this is why I’ve always thought that we needed a Public Safety Committee. I want to commend you for initiating that kind of legislation.

Councilwoman Bowman: Thank you sir.

Councilman Shyne: And that’s what happens, you see when you live in the hood.

Councilwoman Bowman: Okay.

Councilman Walford: Mr. Chairman, this happened back at the end of the ‘60s, when I was on active duty in the Army, and it was combat boots, but it had a totally different meaning. It usually meant that they were going to be wearing tennis shoes the next day, because they were free of the Army.

Councilman Shyne: Mr. Mayor, I see you smiling over there, you seem like that might have been long before your time.

Mayor Glover: I’ve heard of that as one of those urban rumors, urban myths. I didn’t know that actually had a basis in fact. So you learn a little something everyday.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

The Clerk read the following:

RESOLUTION NO. 198 2007

A RESOLUTION TO THANK THE KROGER COMPANY FOR TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE TO NORTH SHREVEPORT; TO RE-ITERATE THE CITY’S OFFER TO HELP FIND A SUITABLE KROGER LOCATION IN NORTH SHREVEPORT; TO REQUEST THAT THE NORTH MARKET PROPERTY BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR ANY SUITABLE BUSINESS INCLUDING A GROCERY STORE, AND TO OTHERWISE PROVIDE WITH RESPECT THERETO.

BY: COUNCILMAN LESTER

WHEREAS, the Kroger Company operated a Grocery Store in North Shreveport, located at North Market and Nelson St. (1867 Nelson, St., 71107) for some twenty years; and

WHEREAS, said store provided convenient service and quality merchandise at competitive prices for citizens who live in North Shreveport; and

WHEREAS, said store closed in February 2007, and deprived citizens of the ease of access, completive prices and quality merchandise that Kroger provides; and

WHEREAS, the City of Shreveport has offered, and continues to offer, it’s assistance to the Kroger Company, to find a suitable location in North Shreveport to locate an updated grocery store that contains a pharmacy, a deli, gasoline pumps and other amenities found at full service grocery stores; and

WHEREAS, because additional grocery services are needed immediately in North Shreveport, we request that the 1867 Nelson Street property be made available for another grocery store.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Shreveport in due, regular and legal session convened, that the City Council of the City of Shreveport thanks the Kroger Company for twenty years of service to North Shreveport.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Shreveport continues its offer to help find a suitable Kroger location in North Shreveport.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Shreveport requests that the North Market property be made available for any suitable business including a Grocery Store.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if any provision or item of this resolution or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, items or applications of this resolution which can be given effect without the invalid provisions, items or applications and to this end the provisions of this resolution are hereby declared severable.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all resolution or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Read by title and as read, motion by Councilman Lester, seconded by Councilman Long to adopt.

Councilman Lester: Just a brief discussion if I could Mr. Chairman. Thank you Mr. Chairman, as you may recall in February of this year, the Kroger Corporation made a decision to close their location on North Market and Nelson in North Shreveport. We were fortunate enough to have a meeting with two of their corporate folks, myself, Mr. Sibley from the Mayor’s office and subsequently had some conversations with the Mayor’s office relative to them finding another location in North Shreveport, with which to operate. One of the things that was discussed was at the time, they did not own the place. There were some leasing scenarios. They have since purchased that facility, and there has been some dialogue with a local grocer who desire to operate a grocery store from that location. For one reason or another, they and the Kroger folks have been apart. I don’t know if it’s an issue of price, don’t know if it’s an issue of competition, but what we’re doing with this resolution is two things. 1) We’re reinforcing our commitment to the Kroger’s Corporation to assist them wherever and in whatever way we can for them to find a new location in North Shreveport. But we’re also imploring them not to put any artificial limits or deed restrictions on the place on North Market and Nelson that would prevent it from being operated as a grocery store. There are a number of citizens that live in and around that area that have a desperate and dire need for a grocery and nothing against the one operator that is there in North Shreveport, but anybody knows you don’t have to subscribe to the Keynesian Theory of economics to know that the more competition you have the better off it for the consumer. So, we’re just asking the Kroger’s Corporation to not put any limitations on that facility, and allow it to be a grocer. My intention is, once this measure is passed with the Council’s support, to write a letter on my official Council letterhead, speaking to them and making this request known. I’m going to ask the Mayor and his administration to send some correspondence and hopefully we can put all of this together, and send official copies of this resolution to the corporate office in, I believe Cincinnati, Ohio as well as copies to the branch office in Texas, the folks who we’ve been talking to, to let them know that we are in fact serious about helping them, but at the same time, we want to make sure that our constituents in that North Shreveport corridor continue to be inconvenienced by not having a grocery store there so, we would certainly appreciate your support on this resolution. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTIONS: (Not to be adopted prior to January 22, 2008)

1. Resolution No. 197 of 2007: A resolution authorizing the use of certain equipment by Loyola College Prep, and to otherwise provide with respect thereto.

Read by title and as read, motion by Councilman Walford, seconded by Councilman Long to introduce Resolution No. 197 2007 to lay over until January 22, 2008 meeting. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES: ((Not to be adopted prior to January 22, 2008)

1. Ordinance No. 210 of 2007: An ordinance creating and establishing the intersection of Jessica Drive and Oakridge Drive as a yield intersection, and to otherwise provide with respect thereto. (D/Wooley)

2. Ordinance No. 211 of 2007: ZONING – C-94-07: An ordinance amending Chapter 106 of the Code of Ordinances, the City of Shreveport Zoning Ordinance, by rezoning property located on the southeast corner of Dalton and Sentell Streets, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, from R-1D, Urban, One-Family Residence District, to B-2-E Neighborhood Business/Extended Use District, LIMITED TO “A DOG KENNEL WITH APPROVAL FOR A RESIDENCE”, only, and to otherwise provide with respect thereto. (D/Wooley)

Read by title and as read, motion by Councilman Walford, seconded by Councilman Long to introduce Ordinance No(s). 210 and 211 of 2007 to lay over until January 22, 2008 meeting. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND FINAL PASSAGE (Numbers are assigned Ordinance Number)

1. Ordinance No. 191 of 2007: An ordinance authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $9,000,000 of the City of Shreveport, State of Louisiana Taxable Special Facilities Revenue Bonds on behalf of the Shreveport Airport Authority, authorizing the pledge of certain revenues to secure the Bonds, awarding the Bonds to the Purchaser thereof, AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE DOCUMENTS RELATED TO AN INTEREST RATE SWAP AGREEMENT; and providing otherwise with respect thereto. (Postponed December 11, 2007 until December 26, 2007)

Having passed first reading on October 23, 2007 was read by title, and on motion, ordered passed to third reading. Read the third time in full and as read motion by Councilman Bowman, seconded by Councilmen Walford and Webb to postpone. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

2. Ordinance No. 198 of 2007: An ordinance to amend and reenact Section 10-44 of the Code of Ordinances relative to qualifications of applicants for alcoholic beverage permits and to otherwise provide with respect thereto. (Postponed December 11, 2007 until December 26, 2007)

Having passed first reading on November 13, 2007 was read by title, and on motion, ordered passed to third reading. Read the third time in full and as read motion by Councilman Walford, seconded by Councilman Long to postpone.

Councilman Walford: I had discussions with Chief Whitehorn, and with Cpl Collins on this, and came up with an amendment that’ll be put on this, to make it - - - the spouse does not have to be a U.S. citizen, but they have to have resided in Louisiana for 36 months continuously, so that they can do the background check. So, Julie will do that amendment, and we can vote on it the next time.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

3. Ordinance No. 207 of 2007: An ordinance declaring certain adjudicated properties needed for a valid public purpose, and otherwise providing with respect thereto.

Having passed first reading on December 11, 2007 was read by title, and on motion, ordered passed to third reading. Read the third time in full and as read motion by Councilman Webb, seconded by Councilman Lester to adopt. Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

4. Ordinance No. 208 of 2007: An ordinance to amend certain sections of section 62-78 of the Code of Ordinances relative to the Department of Public Assembly and Recreation fee schedule and to otherwise provide with respect thereto.

Having passed first reading on December 11, 2007 was read by title, and on motion, ordered passed to third reading. Read the third time in full and as read motion by Councilman Long, seconded by Councilman Bowman to adopt.

Councilwoman Bowman: Well, you’re so kind Mr. Chairman, but I do have a question. Mr. Dark, you did say that this was basically a cleanup kinda - - -?

Mr. Dark: This is correcting a couple of mistakes that we made when we gave you the Golf Fee ordinance that you passed, this is just apparently we put the wrong numbers in for a couple of cart fees, and when Shelly found them, we went back and gave you a new ordinance.

Councilwoman Bowman: Alright thank you. I’m fine, thank you. I just wanted to make sure that’s the way it was.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

5. Ordinance No. 155 of 2007: ZONING – C-64-07: An ordinance amending Chapter 106 of the Code of Ordinances, the City of Shreveport Zoning Ordinance, by rezoning property located on the south side of Lakeshore Drive, 140 feet west of Mertis Street, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, from R-1D, Urban, One-Family Residence District, to B-1, Buffer Business District, with MPC Approval for a Day Care, and to otherwise provide with respect thereto. (G/Bowman) (Postponed December 11, 2007 until December 26, 2007)

Having passed first reading on September 25, 2007 was read by title, and on motion, ordered passed to third reading. Read the third time in full and as read motion by Councilman Bowman, seconded by Councilman Wooley to adopt.

Ms. Johnson: Mr. Webb, please vote.

Councilman Webb: You saying that and I hadn’t even voted yet.

Councilman Shyne: Yeah, you’re about to make me say something wrong up here.

Councilman Webb: I just wanted to make sure you weren’t on automatic over here.

Councilman Shyne: Okay, okay. Charles, you see that huh? You try to do what they want you to do, and then you know they want to throw a stumbling block in your way.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

Councilman Shyne: Okay then. Mr. Mayor, I might have to ask you to sit in a conference with us. Mr. Thompson, move on.

6. Ordinance No. 209 of 2007: ZONING - C-99-07: An Ordinance amending Chapter 106 of the Code of Ordinances, the City of Shreveport zoning ordinance, by rezoning property located on the SE corner of East Kings Highway and Beverly Place, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, from SPI-3 (B-2) Commercial Corridor Overlay (Neighborhood Business) District, to SPI-3-E (B-2),Commercial Corridor Overlay/Extended Use (Neighborhood Business) District, Limited to “a Veterinary Clinic (spaying/neutering)” only, and to otherwise provide with respect thereto.

Councilman Long: So moved.

Councilwoman Bowman: 209.

Councilman Long: Oh yeah, and this is on 209.

Councilman Shyne: Okay, Mr. Thompson said 208, but I was not about to correct him. Cause - - -

Councilwoman Bowman: It’s the day after Christmas.

Ms. Johnson: Mr. Chairman, seconded by who?

Councilman Shyne: Seconded by Councilwoman Bowman.

Having passed first reading on December 11, 2007 was read by title, and on motion, ordered passed to third reading. Read the third time in full and as read motion by Councilman Long, seconded by Councilman Bowman to adopt.

Councilman Long: And this is for the Robinson rescue facility, so I appreciate your support.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

Councilman Shyne: If I’m correct, it’s with a 7-0 vote. I’m correct this time? Alright, it feels so good to be right.

Councilman Walford: Well, Mr. Webb is not going to test you every time. Just so often.

Councilman Webb: Thought I’d catch him off guard.

Councilman Walford: He doesn’t want you on automatic pilot.

Councilman Shyne: Ron, thank you. It keeps me on my toes. Charles, I need that from time to time. Ron, you know how it is, working with Mike, you know how you have to stay on your toes.

ORDINANCE NO. 207 OF 2007

AN ORDINANCE DECLARING CERTAIN ADJUDICATED PROPERTIES NEEDED FOR A VALID PUBLIC PURPOSE AND OTHERWISE PROVIDING WITH RESPECT THERETO

WHEREAS, the City of Shreveport has a tax interest in certain properties adjudicated for more than five years for the nonpayment of property taxes, said properties being more fully described below along with the names of the last known owner of record of each property and the names of the other interested parties of record for each property; and

WHEREAS, under La. R.S. 33:2891.1 et. seq. property adjudicated to a city more than five (5) years for nonpayment of taxes or paving and other local improvement assessments, may be declared by the city as needed for a valid public purpose, defined in La. R.S. 33:2891.2 as “the revitalization of economically depressed areas by placing abandoned properties back into the economic stream of commerce”; and

WHEREAS, each of said properties has been abandoned by its owner and the lack of use has contributed to the decline of this economically depressed area; and

WHEREAS, the City of Shreveport intends to use this property for lease or other grants of use to persons or businesses, whether public or private, which will use the property for purposes which help to revitalize this area, or for any other valid public purpose.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Shreveport in due, regular and legal session convened, that it does hereby declare the following described adjudicated properties needed for a valid public purpose:

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that in accordance with La. R.S. 33:2891.1 et. seq. the City of Shreveport shall acquire the subject properties in full ownership upon expiration of sixty (60) days from the date of recordation of this adopted ordinance in the conveyance records of Caddo Parish, provided no owner or interested party (as defined in La. R.S. 33: 2891.2) files suit in Caddo Parish District Court contesting the acquisition within said sixty (60) days.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that the Office of Property Management of the City of Shreveport shall give notice of this acquisition to the owners and interested parties described herein in accordance with La. R.S. 33:2891.2 and 33:2891.3.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that if any provision or item of this Ordinance or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, items or applications of this Ordinance which can be given affect without the invalid provisions, items or applications and to this end the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby declared severable.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that all Ordinances or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

ORDINANCE NO. 208 OF 2007

AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF SECTION 62-78 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATIVE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ASSEMBLY AND RECREATION FEE SCHEDULE AND TO OTHERWISE PROVIDE WITH RESPECT THERETO.

By:

BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Shreveport, in due, legal and regular session convened that certain sections of Section 62-78 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Shreveport is hereby amended to now read as follows:

Sec. 62-78. Fee schedule.

A fee schedule for activities, rentals and uses in the department of public assembly and recreation is hereby established as follows:

***

Golf Course Fees

All fees listed below do not include applicable tax. When applicable, taxes will be applied to any charges listed below.

Greens Fees/Cart Rentals Huntington Jerry Tim Brooks Querbes

***

Cart Rental

***

18 Holes $21.00 – $21.00

Memberships

***

Private Cart

***

Annual Semi-Annual

Senior $244.02 $122.01

***

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that if any provision or item of this ordinance or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, items or applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provisions, items, or application and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared severable.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that all ordinances or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

ORDINANCE NO. 209 OF 2007

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 106 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, THE CITY OF SHREVEPORT ZONING ORDINANCE, BY REZONING PROPERTY LOCATED ON THE SE CORNER OF EAST KINGS HIGHWAY AND BEVERLY PLACE, SHREVEPORT, CADDO PARISH, LOUISIANA, FROM SPI-3 (B-2) COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR OVERLAY (NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS) DISTRICT, TO SPI-3-E (B-2),COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR OVERLAY/EXTENDED USE (NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS) DISTRICT, LIMITED TO “A VETERINARY CLINIC (SPAYING/NEUTERING)” ONLY, AND TO OTHERWISE PROVIDE WITH RESPECT THERETO

SECTION I: BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, in due, legal and regular session convened, that the zoning classification of Lots 354 and 355, LESS a strip of uniform width of 5.8 feet off the side of Lot 355, lying next to and adjoining Lot 356, and extending the entire depth of said Lot 355, of the Broadmoor Subdivisions, Unit No. 2, located on the southeast corner of East Kings Highway and Beverly Place, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, be and the same is hereby changed from SPI-3 (B-2) Commercial Corridor Overlay (Neighborhood Business) District to SPI-3-E (B-2) Commercial Corridor Overlay/Extended Use (Neighborhood Business) District, limited to “a veterinary clinic (spaying/neutering)” only,

SECTION II: THAT the rezoning of the property described herein is subject to compliance with the following stipulations:

1. Development of the property shall be in substantial accord with the site plan submitted at the December 5, 2007 Public Hearing. Any significant changes or additions shall require further review and approval by the Planning Commission.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that if any provision or item of this ordinance or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, items, or applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provisions, items, or applications and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared severable.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that all ordinances or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Councilman Shyne: Okay, Unfinished Business Mr. Thompson.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Mr. Thompson: Mr. Chairman, I believe that the only thing that we have today to be voted on is the Zoning Board of Appeals, BAC-108-07 by Mr. Long. In Mr. Long’s district.

1. Ordinance No. 204 of 2006: An ordinance amending the 2006 Budget for the Riverfront Development Special Revenue fund and otherwise providing with respect thereto. (Disparity Study) (A/Lester) (Introduced November 14, 2006 – Tabled December 12, 2006)

2. Ordinance No. 205 of 2006: An ordinance amending the 2006 Capital Improvements Budget and otherwise providing with respect thereto. (Introduced November 14, 2006 – Tabled December 12, 2006)

3. Resolution No. 51 of 2007: A resolution supporting the Employee Free Choice Act, and to otherwise provide with respect thereto. (Tabled May 8,, 2007)

4. Ordinance No. 122 of 2006: Amending portions of Chapter 90 of the Code of Ordinances relative to traffic and vehicles and to otherwise provide with respect thereto. (A/Lester) (Tabled September 11, 2007)

5. PROPERTY STANDARDS APPEALS:

HBO0700145 – 426 Woodrow, Shreveport, LA (F/Shyne) Mr. Adrian Gerard Gallion, 124 Carroll Street, Shreveport, LA 71105 (C/Long) (Postponed August 27, 2007 until February 25, 2008)

HBO0700081 – 1062 Dalzell Street, Shreveport, LA (B/Walford) Mr. Stanley W. Burke, III, 8848 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA 71115 (D/Wooley) Postponed December 21, 2007 until January 7, 2008)

HBO0700076: - 1601 Martin Luther King Dr., Shreveport, LA (A/Lester) Mr. Freddie Thomas, 1525 Martin Luther King Dr., Shreveport, LA (A/Lester) (Postponed December 10, 2007 until January 17, 2008)

HBO0700137 – 1919 Walnut Street, Shreveport, LA (A/Lester); Ms. Ethel J. Reed, 4745 McDaniel Drive, Shreveport, LA 71109 (F/Shyne) (Postponed December 21, 2007 until January 18, 2008)

PSD0700065 - 2513 Dupont Street, Shreveport, LA (B/Walford); Mr. David Bates, 2509 Dupont Street, Shreveport, La 71103 (B/Walford) (Postponed December 21, 2007 until February 11, 2008)

PSD0700058 - 557 Egan Street, Shreveport , LA (B/Walford) David Szwak, 509 Market Street, Shreveport, LA 71101 (Postponed December 10, 2007 until January 7, 2008)

PSD0700243: 129 Stoner Ave, Shreveport, LA (B/Walford); Mr. Raul Perez, Jr. 226 Cattail Trail, Benton, LA 71006 (Postponed December 10, 2007 until February 11, 2008)

PSD0700241: - 1512 Easy Street, Shreveport, LA (B/Walford) Mr. Marcus Grant, 524 Lomax Street, Shreveport, LA 71104 (B/Walford) (Postponed December 10, 2007 until February 11, 2008)

6. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS:

BAC-108-07: Property located within Springlake Mall (C/Long) (Postponed December 10, 2007 until December 26, 2007)

Councilman Long: Move to postpone until our next meeting.

Councilman Webb: Second.

Motion by Councilman Long, seconded by Councilman Webb to postpone until January 8, 2008.

Councilman Long: And just for your information, we’re going to try to work out some details in that situation. More on that later.

Councilman Shyne: We appreciate that Councilman, cause I know you always like to dot the “I”s and cross the “T”s, and erase the question marks.

Motion approved by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmen Lester, Walford, Long Wooley, Webb, Shyne, and Bowman. 7. Nays: None.

NEW BUSINESS: None

REPORTS FROM OFFICERS, BOARDS, AND COMMITTEES:

Councilman Long: We will have an SRA meeting immediately following this meeting.

CLERK’S REPORT: None.

THE COMMITTEE RISES AND REPORTS: (Reconvenes Regular Council Meeting)

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at approximately 5:00 p.m.

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//s// Joe Shyne, Chairman

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//s// Arthur G. Thompson, Clerk of Council