Police Jury plans July garbage pickup

The Morehouse Parish Police Jury discussed various matters related to the parish-run waste disposal program that is slated to begin July 1.  According to Solid Waste Committee member Mark Sistrunk, District 3, the pickup is expected to follow the same schedule as Waste Management, so residents should experience little to no change in trash removal.

Sistrunk and fellow committee member Harry Reese Sr., District 2, brought tipping fee proposals before the jury. Floyd Tomboli, the committee chair, was absent due to health reasons.

The jury voted to accept a tipping fee of $17.50 per ton from Waste Management, the company that previously held the contract for parish waste disposal.

Another company, White Oaks, offered $17.50 per ton if the jury dumped 40 or more tons per day; less than 40 tons would yield a tipping fee of $21 per ton. Estimates of the jury’s use would make White Oaks the more expensive choice.

Buford Clark, a Waste Management representative, said Waste Management did not agree to the $17.50 but would provide the service at that cost to keep the jury’s business. The original offer, said Clark, was for $19.95, which Waste Management reduced to $19 after discussions with the jury.

“I don’t think you’re being as fair with us as maybe you could be,” Clark said.

The committee members said they understood Waste Management would match the lowest price.

“If that’s what you understanding was, we’re going to honor that,” Clark said after pointing out that White Oaks’ blended rate was not comparable to the flat rate Waste Management offered.

The jury also hired Jimmy Turner as the new manager of the solid waste department. The previously hired manager, Dan Hindmon, took another position in Monroe. Turner has 26 years of experience in waste management.

Turner’s promotion caused a lack of drivers as the previously appointed swing driver was moved into a full-time position. The jury voted to allow Turner hiring and firing abilities over his department; he is expected to hire another swing driver.

“Those trucks, when it’s time for them to leave in the morning, they’ve got to have a driver, and it’s got to be going out the gate,” Sistrunk said.

David Wolf of the Bond Commission talked to the jury about the $200,000 loan from the state to get the solid waste unit up and running. Wolf said the loan is more like a line of credit from a local bank that will allow the jury to borrow up to $200,000 at up to six percent interest that must be paid back in a year with the jury’s sales tax income. The Bond Commission may approve the funds as early as next Thursday or in mid-July. Sistrunk said the jury’s current need for the funds should be imparted to the commission.

“We’re going to have some bumps and bruises the first year, but we’re going to do this. It’s going to be profitable,” Sistrunk said.

The board approved the lowest bid for the Morehouse Activity Center, Ken McManus of McManus Engineering said the jury received six bids, five of which were in the allotted funding. The lowest bid of approximately $3.5 million, from Ray Anding Construction Inc. of West Monroe, might allow the leftover funds to be used for upgrades and/or previously cut design features.

“The committee that was here was really tickled to death,” McManus said. “It’s a real positive step for Morehouse Parish to have a big project like that going.”

McManus advised the jury that funding repairs or replacement to the tax assessor’s roof would be advisable. The jury had applied for state funding, but the process has been slow and the jury feels the roof needs more immediate attention.

“We just don’t see the money coming in the next few months,”  McManus said.
“It’s the type of project- we can’t wait,” Jack Cockrell, District 4, said.

Robbie Waxman of Waxman III spoke to the jury about the 2010-2011 LCDBG Block Grant and discussed available options; he said he will talk to the jury again after attending a workshop that will delineate the application requirements for the year.

One option may help the Bonne Idee Water System; Waxman will meet with members of the system’s board to explore the option.

Kay King, CEO of Morehouse Economic Development Corporation, gave her monthly economic report. King said the liquid packaging building owned by International Paper Company is on the market and has been shown at least once.

“Customers are looking for existing buildings at buildings at bargains,” King said, noting two other commercial properties that have generated interest.

“Our current economic condition is holding up here very well,” King said. “I look for the overall general economy to hold up.”

Jason Crockett, District 5, told the jury about suggested changes to the Bastrop Mental Health Building lease, including raising the rent from $600 to $900. The change, he said, would more closely reflect the rent of similar properties in the area.

Brumfield briefed the jury about the process required to create a sales tax district; the jury has not decided whether or not the district will be created or ever be put on the ballot to collect a tax.

The jury voted to remove the business exemption from the parish noise ordinance. Sistrunk noted three trailers on Yam Road that play loud music both day and night. The owners have obtained a business permit for a recording studio, but the noise bothers neighbors. Revoking the business exemption that was created for IP will eliminate the issue.

An additional complaint from the public is that Morehouse Challenge, a diversion program, is housing multiple sex offenders from out-of-state. Sistrunk said one woman reported finding a member of the program on her carport after dark, and multiple people have said the group member cut through fields and residential areas to go to local businesses.

Sistrunk suggested the jury research creating a parish ordinance that would prevent a “halfway house for child molesters” from existing within a certain number of feet from a residential area to prevent similar circumstances in the future.

“If this jury cannot protect the children of Morehouse Parish, we need to find something else to do,” Sistrunk said.

The jury will look at options to donate the Bonita Health Unit Building to the town of Bonita. Mayor Floyd Baker came to the jury to ask for the donation. Assistant District Attorney Charles Brumfield said the donation would depend on who owns the land the building is sitting on and its intended use.

The jury voted to re-appoint both Jerry White and Pete Blakeney for another two-year term on the Bayou Bonne Idee Gravity Drainage Board. The jury also agreed to advertise for a five-month supply of gravel, pitrun, hot mix, cold mix, asphalt, fuel, oil and bridge timbers.

In jury correspondence, the jury voted to donate $5,000 to Teen Court and provide a large trash bin for a mission group that will work with First United Methodist Church and the Morehouse Council on Aging to build new handicap ramps and porches for elderly people in the parish.