The Franklinton Board of Alderman and Mayor Greg Route met on September 12, 2023, at the Town Municipal Building. Following the prayer and pledge of allegiance, the minutes for the August 22, 2023, regular meeting were approved.
The board began new business with a proposed vote to approve hiring Gulf South Forestry Mulching to dredge the boat ramp at the Bogue Chitto River. Some local citizens have recently expressed concerns that the boat ramp has become nearly unusable because of the build up of silt. It has been agreed that this is an asset to the citizens of the town and should be addressed. Alderman T J Butler Jr asked if the company was local or not. Mayor Route pointed out the company owners, Jack and Ben Bickham, both born and reared in Franklinton, who were seated in the audience. There being no further comments or questions the motion was approved.
The next item on the agenda was to vote to introduce an ordinance to increase the sewer rates for campers during the week of the Washington Parish Fair to $48.00. Alderman TJ Butler, Jr. has been looking into this matter. All sewage in Franklinton is channeled through a treatment plant and then released into the river. During fair time, when the population swells, more and more local camping spots are offering sewage hookups. This increases the pressure on the treatment facility, and there have been times when there were breaks in service because of this. The town is currently charging $38 per camper. Mr. Butler's research has revealed that in some places the charge is much more. He believes the board must make some decisions about this matter. He proposed an increase to $48. He noted that the State Park is charging $30 per day and $33 per day on weekends. Alderman Sharp asked when the rate was last increased, and Mr. Butler does not recall a time when it was increased. Mr. Butler reminded the board that prices have gone up on everything, and the town needs to bring the cost of the sewage to a more progressive dollar amount. Alderman Sharp made the motion that the town increase the charge to $48 but have an addendum that it does not take place until next year. His reasoning is that everyone who rents out camper spots have already collected the money for the spot and will take a $10 hit per camper this year. A member of the audience laughed at this and claimed that she would take the $10 hit. Mr. Butler countered that some camper spots are charging $450 to $500 for the week of the fair. The mayor asked for clarification of property owners already having collected money for this year's spots. Mr. Sharp explained that most of the spots are paid for in advance. They called on Mrs. Brenda Parker who was in the audience and has a camper area. She clarified that when she first opened her spots, she was charged $30 per spot for sewage and that it has increased to $38 since that time. Alderman Heath Spears seemed to recall this increase taking place after the 2020 election. At that time the town wanted more but settled for $38. The mayor did not agree with this and said it must have taken place in the previous administration. Mrs. Parker has had her campground for five years and the increase from $30 to $38 happened during Mr. Richard Dillon's administration. Mr. Butler also noted that some campers are occupied before the fair and for a few days after with not everyone being hooked up for the same length of time.
The final motion was that the increase of to $48 will not go into effect until 2024. Mr. Spears and Mr. Sharp voted yes but Mr. Descant and Mr. Butler voted no. Since it was a tie, the Mayor had break it. He voted no as he would like to see the increase take effect this year. Motion was denied. This was just an introduction, so the ordinance was not officially introduced. There would have to be another motion to put the increase into effect this year. Mr. Butler made a motion that the new charge would go into effect this year. The motion failed with the lack of a second. The next item was to adopt an ordinance governing the wrecker services in the town of Franklinton. There being no discussion, the ordinance was approved.
The mayor announced that there will be a "Chat and Chew" on Friday, September 29, 2023, at the Town Municipal Hall. All citizens are invited to attend and discuss items concerning the town. The Washington Parish Free Fair Flag Raising will officially kick off the fair season that same day at 10:00 am at the Washington Parish Courthouse. Mayor Route also noted that a police officer performed CPR on a citizen while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. This essentially saved the man's life. The mayor said he has asked the ambulance company to attend a town meeting to discuss slow response times, but the offer was declined. He did note that this is a parish matter. The meeting was then adjourned.
