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Partly cloudy. Low 74F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy. Low 74F. Winds light and variable.
Hammond City Council approved several budget amendments, infrastructure improvement projects and property demolitions at their meeting on Tuesday.
The council unanimously approved an ordinance to amend the 2022 budget to add $2.5 million in sales tax revenue, transfer $365,000 from the sales tax fund to drainage and sidewalk improvements, and transfer $105,000 from the general fund balance to the health insurance fund.
Laura Hammett, the city finance director, said the city pays around $2.6 million for city employee health insurance each year.
The council also approved its annual renewal of a tax on all taxable property within the corporate limits of Hammond. Taxes are measured in mills, one-tenth of a cent.
Voters approved a public works tax of two mills, a general alimony tax of 9.04 mills and a police and fire tax of 10 mills. The general alimony tax expires in 2025. The police and fire tax, which takes a penny from every dollar, expires in 2030.
The council heard an ordinance that changes the day on which the Planning Commission, Zoning Commission and Board of Adjustment meet. Robert Morgan, who introduced the ordinance, said the current meeting date doesn’t allow members of the board and commissions enough time to put together information packets for City Council meetings.
Morgan said the groups’ members unanimously approved the ordinance. Councilwoman Carlee White Gonzales of District 2, Council President Kip Andrews of District 1 and Councilman Sam DiVittorio of District 4 voiced support for the change.
A public hearing to discuss the proposed meeting date will be held June 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Andrews introduced an ordinance to create a special fund, the Hammond Housing Trust Fund, to create homeownership and neighborhood stability.
“It would help with getting some of these properties back up and running again,” Andrews said. “It’ll get home ownership up and rebuild our neighborhoods.”
Gonzales said since the program is modeled after the City of New Orleans’ housing program, she wants to learn more about the program’s success in that city before voting on Andrews’ ordinance.
“I just want to make sure this works for Hammond,” she said.
Andrews said he introduced the ordinance to start discussions about funding the Housing Committee through it.
After Gonzales said she wanted to table the discussion until after the budget approval, which would push the ordinance to the council’s July 12 meeting, the council unanimously decided to table it to give time for more research.
The council passed a resolution that allows Hammond Mayor Pete Panepinto to sign a contract with Peregrine Corporation for utility billing services that cost the city $48,000 each year. The company mails out utility bills, and Jana Soileau, who introduced the resolution, said most of the cost goes toward postage.
A member of the public asked why the city outsources printing, stuffing and mailing the bills when the city generates the bills. Soileau said the city saves money outsourcing it because postage costs more for the city than Peregrine.
The council passed a resolution that allows the Downtown Development District to serve alcohol during Picnic in the Park events for the rest of the year. DDD Executive Director Chelsea Tallo Little, who introduced the resolution, said alcohol sales would help cover the cost of bringing live music to Cate Square Park each month.
She said alcohol would be sold in the parking lot on the 100 block of West Charles Street, not inside the park boundaries.
She also asked the city to waive Hammond’s open container law during the next several Picnic in the Park events. The city said yes, and the resolution passed unanimously.
Little discussed a third resolution, this one to allow the DDD and its approved merchants to serve alcohol during several upcoming events including Hot August Night and Starry November Night. She also asked for open container law waivers for those events, and the council passed both resolutions unanimously.
The council approved a resolution that allows Panepinto to sign a contract for grass mowing and litter pickup for the 2022 fiscal year. The contract is between Hammond and the state’s department of transportation and development and, in part, reimburses the city for mowing grass near state highways.
The resolution sparked a disagreement between Panepinto and Councilman Devon Wells of District 3 when Wells questioned why the city grass in his district is not kept up at the same rate as other places in the city. After he questioned the department’s work in District 3, Panepinto addressed Whitney Statham, director of parks and grass, who introduced the resolution.
“You’re doing a good job, Whit,” Panepinto said.
“Well, she’s not doing a good job in District 3,” Wells said.
The councilman and mayor raised their voices at each other, with Wells defending his district and Panepinto defending his employee.
“You’re not going to talk to my employees like that,” Panepinto said.
“I need the grass cut,” Wells replied.
Andrews clanged the gavel on the table in front of him as he pleaded for order.
“If District 3 doesn’t matter, well, we need to say it for the record,” Wells said.
Ultimately, the resolution passed, but Wells voted against it because he “can’t get the grass cut in District 3,” he said.
After the meeting, Panepinto said summer is the hardest time of year to keep up with grass cutting, and it’s “hard to get help” in the department because the job is so laborious.
Five property demolition resolutions came up to the council, and the council approved them all.
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