The regular meeting of the Franklinton Mayor and Board of Aldermen was held on Tuesday, September 24 at the Franklinton Municipal Building. Following the invocation by Rev Tellis Williams, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The board then voted to approve the minutes from the September 10 regular meeting.
First on the agenda was the 2022-2023 audit and SAUPs presented by auditor Michelle Treschwig from Kushner LaGraize LLC. The audit was uploaded to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s website on August 26, 2024. Ms. Treschwig noted that on the financial side, the town increased assets by $449,000 and government activities by $661,000. However, business activities were a negative $212,000, revenue was a negative $341,000 and expenses were a negative $140,000.
The Government Fund was a negative $1.4 million and was a positive in amount in 2022. This can be accounted for with capital outlay in streets and drainage 2023. Also, the town received bond money in 2022 and spent it in 2023.
Overall, the General Fund had a positive balance of $343,000, with revenue of $328,000 and expenses of $99,000.
In the Internal Control and Compliance section, there were eleven findings with eight a repeat from the previous year. These included six material weaknesses and five compliance items that included but were not limited to bid law and sexual harassment. Ms. Treschwig added that these do have corrective actions in place.
Next, the Board voted to advertise for bids to paint the interior and exterior and make repairs to the exterior pipes of the Chess Jones water tank. They also voted to advertise for the sale of two parcels of adjudicated property and determined it will be by appraised value. Town attorney James Knight explained that the property was adjudicated to the town after nonpayment of property taxes. An interested party will conduct the processes and then apply this to the final amount if he/she is the ultimate purchaser of the property. Mr. Knight also noted that this is only for the interest the town has in the property and the buyer must then complete title search and other legal documents.
The Board then voted to approve the hiring of Bryan Warner, Myles LeCompte, Dustin Ard, and Dustin Wascom as a part-time firefighters for the Fire Department.
In departmental reports, Public Works Superintendent Reginald McMasters noted that among other duties, his department flushed lines 129 times (many of these were fire hydrants), cleaned ten ditches, edged sidewalks, mowed at the airport for a total of 10 hours, cut grass daily, picked up 154 piles of limbs, picked up 52 bags of trash and sprayed for mosquitoes for 9 days.
Mr. McMasters offered a "hats off" to all departments during and after Francine and especially noted his appreciation to WST for the town never losing power during the weather event. He added that there will be a "Round 2" on limb pickups beginning Monday September 30.
Steve McCune asked if there has been any progress on a contingency plan for the Lynwood and Martin Luther King Drive areas and fire hydrants. Mr. McMasters responded that there is, in fact, a hydrant close to the Lynwood Subdivision, but it was not accessed the night of a recent fire. He is currently working with Fire Chief Brandon LaSalle on where hydrants are located, and he is working with the Mayor to get something together that is closer to such areas. The Mayor added that he needs a plan drawn out so that he can forward to a grant writer.
Fire Chief Brandon LaSalle gave the next departmental report. He prefaced it by stating that he is aware of the location of all fire hydrants in town. When there is a fire such as the recent structure fire in Lynwood Subdivision, respondents from out of town departments are not always aware of hydrant locations.
He then listed that in the last month the department responded to 68 medical calls, 10 accidents with one fatality, one water rescue, six gas leaks, and four structure fires among other calls for assistance. The department also received four vicious dog complaints with one dog being caught and the other two still on the loose. Currently there are 8 dogs in the animal shelter. The parish shelter has donated funding to build dog runs so that those housed there will not have to be chained.
Chief LaSalle also informed the Board that another truck is experiencing mechanical difficulties that will need to be repaired. He does not have a specific amount it will cost yet.
Police Chief Justin Brown reported that in the period of July 9 to September 24, 1,820 total calls were answered by the police department. Some of these included 36 disturbances, two fights, one armed robbery, and 25 thefts by shoplifting. Ultimately, 23 people were arrested for 47 offenses. The Mayor then questioned Chief Brown about cold cases, and he responded that all are still under investigation. Mayor Route had questions about one in particular, and Chief Brown said he prefers to not disclose information pertaining to an on-going investigation in an open meeting.
Town Clerk Ellen Waskom gave the financial report for August. The General Fund had income of $392,239.00 and expenses of $334,038.00 which resulted in an income for the month of $39,572.00. She also gave reports for Enterprise Fund, Economic Development and Recreation, Ad Valorem Streets and Drainage, Ad Valorem Police, Sales Tax Industrial Development, Rural Development, and Streets and Drainage Sinking Fund.
In public participation, the CFO of Riverside Medical Center, Daryl Lavender, expressed the hospital's appreciation for the upcoming water project for the medical district but noted that he and the Board of Commissioner's Building and Grounds Subcommittee are stilled concerned about the potential water outages that will likely take place and plans of action to make sure the hospital is still able to function. The committee feels more assistance is still needed and has reached out to the Louisiana Department of Health. He feels there needs to be "hand holding" to ensure the hospital has support during this project.
Superintendent McMasters responded by expressing to Mr. Lavender that he thought they had an understanding that he and his crews will do all they can to make sure the water outages do not extend past a four-hour mark. McMasters reiterated that the pipes are from the late 1960's and the hospital area is a priority to both him and the mayor.
In Council discussion, Alderman Sharp thanked everyone for their storm readiness during Hurricane Francine and urged to stay vigilant. Alderman Descant offered to sit down with Mr. Lavender to help alleviate his concerns during the water project. He also expressed his extreme dissatisfaction with the audit presentation. He felt Ms. Treschwig did a disservice by not explaining the "monstrosity of an audit" that was conducted which he claims is "the worst I've read on the Legislative Auditor's site." Mr. Descant feels that the Town apparently had an awful audit which cost $44,700 and all that was shared with the public was five minutes with no questions or conversation.
Mr. Descant noted repeat issues and how it is the fiscal responsibility of the Board to make sure that findings are addressed. He listed specifically the outdated charter, credit card usage and online bill payment that "no one ever sees," and penalties amounting to $138,423 because payroll taxes aren't paid in a timely manner.
The Mayor noted that there are corrective policies in place, and most are partially resolved. Mr. Descant also referenced a check for $820,000 from an account without enough money to cover it. He said that on the Legislative Auditor's website it states, "During our audit procedures, we noted one instance in which the Town paid a vendor in the amount of $820,260 and did not have the cash on hand to cover this expenditure in their capital project and general fund's cash accounts. As such, the Town internally borrowed the funds from a special revenue fund's cash account to cover the expenditure. The funds were returned to the special revenue fund within two weeks. However, this could have been a reporting and a budget compliance violation."
Town Clerk Ellen Waskom emphatically stated she did not write or sign the check but had to "borrow" from another account to cover it since the bank allowed the check to go through. This topic was not discussed further, but Mr. Descant stated, "It is mind-boggling that we didn't discuss it (audit). I do not think we need to use Kushner LaGraize next year.
Alderman TJ Butler shared that for many years there were no audits and things were simply stamped "yes." He referred to those as "kinfolk deals." He reminded everyone that the mayor is working, seeing people, and taking phone calls and is only a part-time mayor. He disagreed that this was the worst audit ever. Instead, the mayor and his staff are keeping the money flowing, the bills paid, and there is progress in Franklinton, he said. The auditor met with the entire council and went over the findings. He added, "Nobody's gone to prison; nobody's stolen any money."
Mayor Route reiterated that the auditor did go over the audit and this meeting was not intended to be a question-and-answer session. He ended the night by inviting everyone to the Mayor's annual breakfast on Friday, September 27 and also to the Franklinton High School homecoming activities.
