MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CADDO PARISH COMMISSION S LONG RANGE PLANNING/SPECIAL PROJECT COMMITTEE HELD ON THE 17 TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2017 The Caddo Parish Long Range Committee met in legal session on the above date, at 9:00 a.m., in the Government Chambers, with Mr. Mario Chavez, Chairman, presiding, and the following members in attendance, constituting a quorum: Commissioners Cawthorne, Chavez, Dominick, Jackson, and Louis Johnson (5). ABSENT: Commissioner Smith (1). Also in attendance were Parish Administrator Dr. Woody Wilson, Assistant Parish Attorney Henry Bernstein, Public Works Director Robert Glass, Finance Director Erica Bryant, Commissioners Atkins, Linn and Middleton. Dominick. Invocation was led by Mr. Cawthorne and the pledge of allegiance was led by Mr. Mr. Chavez stated that this meeting is to discuss the following item: Discuss Poet Laureate Discuss CEA with LADOTD for sign for Cleophus Banks Discuss proposed Ordinance No. 5712 of 2017, amending the budget of estimated revenues and expenditures for the Capital Outlay Fund and the General Fund in the amount of $200,000 to provide for an appropriation to place a fence around the Caddo Parish Courthouse. Motion by Mr. Dominick, seconded by Mr. Chavez, to expand the agenda to discuss selection of a Caddo Parish Historian and add under New Business. The Chairman opened the floor for anyone wishing to speak in favor or against expanding the agenda and adding historian item. No one came forward to speak on this item. At this time, Mr. Dominick s motion carried, as shown by the following roll call vote: Yeas: Commissioners Chavez, Cawthorne, Dominick, Louis Johnson, and Jackson (5). NAYS: None (0). ABSENT Commissioner Smith (1). Pam Atchison, SRAC Executive Director stated that in 2014, the Commission adopted Resolution No. 9 of 2014, providing for the annual appointment of a poet laureate for Caddo Parish. In that resolution, it called for certain duties and qualifications along with the selection process. Mrs. Atchison provided proposed changes to the resolution to better serve the needs of the community and the individual chosen as the Poet Laureate. Some of the changes would include a three-year appointment instead of one year and that poet laureate would receive $1,500 annually instead of the current $1,200. Mrs. Atchison stated that the first Poet Laureate of Caddo Parish was Carlos Colon who passed away some months back. Mrs. Atchison shared that while Mr. Colon was the Poet he was able to share his works on behalf of Caddo Parish with many groups within the State of Louisiana and other states like Mississippi. Caddo Parish was thought-of as a very progressive supporter of the arts just with this one simple appointment and that it has the only parish Poet Laureate in the state. Answering a question from Mr. Jackson regarding where the $1,500 would come from, Mrs. Atchison stated that the Parish would pay $1,500 and SRAC would match with another $1,500. Motion by Mr. Dominick, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to recommend to the full body
adopting changes to the Poet Laureate Resolution proposed by SRAC s Executive Director Pam Atchison. Mr. Dominick stated that he believes this is a great way to share the arts with the community for $1,500 a year. Mr. Jackson suggested putting the extra $1500 in the SRAC portion under NGO s so to insure it is budgeted each year. Answering a question from Mr. Louis Johnson regarding changing the appointment length, Mrs. Atchison stated that this would have a Poet in place for the year 2020 and not a selection year. She believes that 2020 will be a milestone year and having a poet in place will allow him to create works related to that milestone year more easily. Point of clarification by clerk of Commission regarding whether this appointment would be perpetual or end in 2021 where a new resolution would be needed. Mr. Dominick stated that his intent would be that it be a perpetual appointment with a reappointment every three years. Ms. Frazier stated that appointment should be triennial in the resolution. Answering a question from Mr. Jackson regarding whether this should be a resolution or ordinance since money is appropriated annually. Ms. Frazier stated that this could remain a resolution as long as it was part of the budget ordinance each year. At this time, Mr. Dominick s motion carried, as shown by the following roll call vote: YEAS: Commissioners Chavez, Cawthorne, Dominick, Louis Johnson, Jackson (5). NAYS: None (0). ABSENT: Commissioner Smith (1). Motion by Mr. Jackson, seconded by Mr. Chaves to remove discussion of CEA with LADOTD for sign for Cleophus Banks. Mr. Jackson stated that he received a call informing him that a private group has agreed to purchase sign and LADOTD will install to their specifications. At this time, Mr. Jackson s motion carried, as shown by the following roll call vote: YEAS: Commissioners Chavez, Cawthorne, Dominick, Louis Johnson, Jackson (5). NAYS: None (0). ABSENT: Commissioner Smith (1). Answering a question from Mr. Dominick regarding the price tag for installing a fence around the Courthouse, Mr. Lucky stated that Mr. Lawrence submitted a revised plan for the fencing and that the price tag is in the area of $200,000. Mr. Lawrence stated that the actual fence will run around $150,000 but there is extra money budgeted for more cameras and mag locks on the gates. Chairman Chavez requested that Mr. Lawrence distribute the rendering of the project to committee members. Mr. Lawrence stated that he has rendering of both a fence and bollards for the committee to consider. Mr. Lawrence pointed out that bollards stop vehicles but they do not stop foot traffic. Mr. Lawrence also pointed out that the bollards are also more expensive running around $250,000. Answering a question from Mr. Dominick regarding other courthouses in the south having
fences, Mr. Lawrence stated that he was not aware of them but he did not research that issue before this meeting. Deputy Jones representative stated that the bollards would be good for stopping vehicles from entering the courthouse grounds but it does not address all the issues currently realized on those grounds. The Sheriff s Office is recommending a fence installed to address the issues related to use of the courthouse grounds. These issues run the gambit from human excrement to guns, so a fence would be helpful in addressing those issues. The biggest concern for the Sheriff s Office is unlawful gatherings at the courthouse, in a few instances during the middle of the workweek, groups have gathered to protest or show a view of force for whatever reason. Some of these groups have come and utilized their right to open carry but with court in session, it poses real safety hazards for the citizens of Caddo Parish along with the court and the Sheriff s Office. Answering a question from Mr. Dominick regarding hours of operation, Mr. Lawrence pointed out that hours of operation would be set as an example Courthouse open 8:00 am 9:00 pm, but that would need to be decided within the proposed ordinance. Deputy Jones stated that an ordinance spelling out hours and an application process to use the grounds would help the Sheriff s Office and possibly avert potential problems in the future. Answering a question related to where money would come from to make that appropriation for a fence, Ms. Frazier stated that it would be a transfer from General Fund to Capital Fund. Answering a question from Mr. Chavez regarding a threat assessment study, Deputy Jones stated an assessment was performed by the U.S. Marshall s Service, but it is 2-5 years old. The assessment was a good one with two points suggested to improve: 1. Cut hedges down around the building to keep hidden areas to a minimum. 2. Create ways to keep vehicles from getting to the courthouse building. The Sheriff s Office is doing their own assessments since the Marshall s Office no longer provides this service. Mr. Settle stated that over the weekend, two different groups utilize the Courthouse for vigils or protests and neither group filed for the proper authorization to hold those events at the Courthouse. Mr. Settle stated that there needs to be more notice of what is required to use Courthouse grounds and the filling of the proper paperwork needs to be handled before we have events that get outof-hand. Answering a question from Mr. Jackson, regarding last year s ordinances that were not adopted related to the Courthouse, Ms. Frazier stated that those various ordinances never received a majority vote for passage. There is a current ordinance that has been on the books and is followed by those that know of the ordinance. Mr. Jackson pointed out that this meeting was scheduled a few weeks ago before the current problems felt around the country. Answering a question from Mr. Jackson regarding signs informing the public of our current ordinances to utilize the Courthouse grounds, Mr. Lawrence stated that they are currently working on those type of signs and will have them posted once we have something that will work. Mr. Lawrence hopes that they will have something suitable by Friday afternoon. Answering a question from Mr. Jackson regarding open carry, Ms. Frazier stated that the Parish may pass ordinances to restrict the ability to carry weapons upon Parish property, for example, it is illegal to carry guns into Parish buildings under our current ordinances but not upon the Courthouse grounds.
Mr. Atkins stated that he may be old fashion but he believes that the parish courthouse is intended to be a gathering place of the citizens and to now fence it off sends the wrong message to the citizens of this parish. To him, it send the message that the citizens are not welcomed and that it s a dangerous place, stay away. As far as the homeless, fencing the courthouse just moves the problem to another place in the downtown but does not address the real problem of homelessness. Mr. Atkins does not support a fence but would be more open to bollards at this time. Answering a question from Mr. Louis Johnson regarding the fence and firearms, Deputy stated that the property is the Parish of Caddo s, so the Commission may restrict carry of weapons to state no weapons at all but that would be up to the Commission for those restrictions. Answering a question from Mr. Chavez regarding based on the previous assessments; what is the likelihood of an incident on the Courthouse grounds? Deputy stated that it not a matter of if but a matter of when it will happen, there will be an incident in the future and it is our desire to be prepared in every way possible to prevent or at least mitigate the incident prior to event and its effects on the public. Motion by Mr. Dominick, seconded by Mr. Cawthorne, to recommend sending Ordinance No. 5712 of 2017 to the full body for approval. Mr. Dominick stated that this is a difficult issue to balance safety and access but in today s time, it appears security is important to the citizens and it is time to make that safety measure a priority. Mr. Dominick stated that although it is not part of Ordinance No. 5712 he does have concerns related to hours of operation of the courthouse. Mr. Cawthorne stated that he agrees with Deputy Jones that this fence is a necessary item to protect the citizens that use the Courthouse along with the employees that work in that facility. Substitute motion by Mr. Jackson, seconded by Mr. Chavez, to amend wording within Ordinance No. 5712 to reflect fence or bollards with portable fence and to recommend sending to full body for adoption. Mr. Middleton stated that an agreement to designate Sheriff Steve Prator as the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness was ratified a few years back. One of the strengths of the Sheriff is to look and prepare for future events and this fence is an issue he has talked about for years, it is now time to make a decision and fund this request. Mr. Middleton pointed out that there are many layers of information that is used by his office that this legislative body will never know about but we need to trust his call on this issue. Mr. Middleton believes having tighter controls on what can be done on Parish property should be looked at, we are responsible for the welfare and safety of the citizens using this courthouse for business. Mr. Jackson stated that it is this body s job to make this decision and we need to make it and be willing to live with and defend our position on this issue. Mr. Chavez stated that when he served in Iraq they had portable fencing they used between concrete barricades but it allowed them flexibility to move the perimeter they were trying to protect. What he envisions for the Courthouse is to have the bollards with the open space that can have fencing added as needed. At this time, Mr. Jackson s substitute motion carried, as shown by the following roll call vote: YEAS: Commissioners Chavez, Louis Johnson, Jackson (3). NAYS: Commissioners Cawthorne and Dominick (2). ABSENT: Commissioner Smith (1). At this time, Mr. Dominick s original motion as amended carried,, as shown by the following roll call vote: YEAS: Commissioners Chavez, Cawthorne, Dominick, Louis Johnson, Jackson (5). NAYS: None (0). ABSENT: Commissioner Smith (1).
Ms. Frazier pointed out that authorizations for use by groups is a first come-first serve basis and not based on what is going on in the community at the time. Mr. Jackson requests that the Chairman of Long Range Planning and Special Projects schedule another meeting to take up the issue of Courthouse ground types of use and hours of operation and accessibility. Meeting set for Tuesday, September 5 th at 2:00 p.m. Mr. Middleton stated that the position of Caddo Parish Historian is already set-up we just need to choose who that person will be. Mr. Middleton suggests utilizing Mr. Gary Joiner for that position or if the committee wants to take applications then that process can move forward. Mr. Atkins points out that there are many brilliant capable individuals in this community and taking applications and the body choosing may be the best method to use. It was determined that applications to be sent to the clerk of the Commission and then those name be presented to the Commission for selection. Motion by Mr. Chavez, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to request resume s for the position of Caddo Parish Historian be submitted to the clerk of the Commission by October 2, 2017. Motion carried, as shown by the following roll call vote: YEAS: Commissioners Chavez, Cawthorne, Dominick, Louis Johnson, Jackson (5). NAYS: None (0). ABSENT: Commissioner Smith (1). Chief Long stated that as the law is written today, a person has a right to open carry and it is legal to stroll up to the Courthouse door, however, once he enters the Courthouse the Parish Ordinance kicks in and it is now illegal for him to have that gun on his person. There is concern by law enforcement when you mix individuals with guns on grounds with lawyers, judges, prosecutors and others and have no restrictions. Law enforcement is charged with protecting citizens but in this situation, it is difficult but with tighter restrictions, many problems can be averted. Mr. Atkins hopes that whatever we do on this issue, it is his hope that we do a quality installation becoming of the grandness of the Courthouse. Motion by Mr. Dominick, seconded by Mr. Johnson, to expand the agenda to add the item of receiving Advisory Monument Committee s recommendation. There being no one to speak for or against addition. At this time, Mr. Dominick s motion carried,, as shown by the following roll call vote: YEAS: Commissioners Chavez, Cawthorne, Dominick, Louis Johnson, Jackson (5). NAYS: None (0). ABSENT: Commissioner Smith (1). Advisory Chairman R.J. Johnson turned over the Advisory Monument Committee s recommendation to the Long Range Planning Committee. Chairman Chavez thanked the Mr. R.J. Johnson for their hard work on this issue. Mr. Chavez thanked everyone for attending the meeting. There being no other business, meeting was adjourned. /s/todd Hopkins Todd A. Hopkins Commission Clerk