(The Center Square) – The Bossier City Council addressed and passed final readings on ordinances amending budgets and renovations this week.
As the council revisited unfinished business, six ordinances received passing votes during their final readings, one including renovations to the city hall chambers and another moving funds for city projects.
The council adopted on Tuesday an ordinance appropriating $400,000 from the Sewer Capital and Contingency Fund for the recently discussed Riverview Sewer Lift Station Generator Project.
The ordinance was initially introduced during the March 11 council meeting. City Engineer Ben Rauschenbach said during this session that the water and sewer project is targeted for Live Casino in Bossier City, where they are concerned about sanitary sewer overflows.
The original discussion was to appropriate the funds from a different area, as the Riverboat Gaming Capital Projects fund is reserved for capital projects. One council member suggested the current Sewer Contingency fund.
The council passed an ordinance to amend ordinance 107 of 2023, which allows the transfer of surplus funding available for the final design and completion of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality funding application for South Bossier Sewer Improvements.
A few ordinances were also passed to allow Mayor Thomas Chandler to execute a few agreements. One is between Bossier City and Lumen Technologies Group to upgrade existing circuits. This agreement will also allow them to increase bandwidth to meet the operational requirements at the public works complex. The second ordinance executed a cooperative agreement with Bossier City and LSU Ag Center.
The council has had ongoing discussions surrounding renovating the city hall chambers since the March 11 meeting. The council discussed the renovations in the previous meeting, as the chambers have not been renovated in nearly 40 years.
During this meeting, one council member was opposed. Renovations would include updating finishes, adding two additional seats, replacing the acoustics and IT projectors, and adding modern amenities to the existing space.
The council passed this ordinance in Tuesday’s meeting, approving the renovations. No dollar amount was specified during approval.
