Staff Reports
The Phoenix Organization, which hosts and puts on the Jefferson Burn Benefit and Outlaw Nationals Car Show every year in Jefferson, paid a $13,900 bill to the City for the repair of damages which happened last October to a city water line during the public comment portion of Tuesday night’s meeting.
During the 2022 Jefferson Burn Benefit, event organizers utilized water barricades along downtown city streets to help with vehicle control. To fill those barricades a volunteer fireman used the fire hydrant in front of the Jefferson Historical Museum to obtain water. During this process, a leak in a city water line supplying the hydrant started about 10-15 feet from the hydrant, creating an approximately 2 inch water spout from under the brick streets on Austin.
The leak ran for approximately 10 days before being repaired, with the City claiming specialty contractors with special equipment were needed because the leak involved a fire hydrant. David Lawler Construction of Shreveport repaired the leak. According to the city, Lawler was the only contractor, out of three contacted, who supplied a bid to make the repair. The names of the other contractors contacted has not been provided. Lawler did the hydrant installation during the City’s recent water and sewer project in downtown. Specific details about what was needed for the repair or the type of repair made were not indicated on the invoice.
As the organization had failed to obtain new permission to use the hydrant for the 2022 event, the City billed the organization for the repair. Permission had been granted in 2021 to use water from a hydrant.
Council did not officially discuss or approve billing the organization for the repair, nor the quote supplied by Lawler, during any council meeting since the event.
The bill was originally sent to volunteer fireman Allen Yokem who operated the hydrant, but the Phoenix Organization had it re-issued to them as they were the sponsor of the event.
Stan Davis, vice president of the organization, offered an apology to the City for not asking permission again, and stated that procedures had been put in place so that it would not happen in the future. He then presented the City with a check for $13,900.
Davis told the Jimplecute the funds for the bill were taken from the net proceeds of the benefit.
Taste of Caddo owner, and 30-year retired firefighter, Paul Keith, spoke next and said that while not asking permission was a problem, the city should be thanking the volunteer fireman for exposing a problem. Keith pointed out the national standards for inspecting and testing hydrants and was curious about the paperwork on the city’s compliance.
“What is really sad for this organization, this town, and us, is we had $14,000 that will now not go to the burn camp children. Who can OK that? Who can pass the buck over to a volunteer fireman? That is not right. This is an organization that brings 1,000s of tax dollars to the city, and the city passed the buck. That’s pretty sad. It’s sickening to me as a fireman,” he said.
Darlene Keith yielded her time to Perry McDaniel, the International President of Brother’s Keeper’s Motorcycle Club who was a co-sponsor of the event. McDaniel, who is also a retired Battalion Chief from Shreveport, said there was a similar issue last year when a local business caught fire and the nearby hydrant was dry.
“The fireman did y’all a favor of finding out there was a problem this way rather than under emergency conditions working a fire,” McDaniel said. “We’ve done events all across the county and have never been treated this way by a city.”
As McDaniel is not a resident or business owner in Jefferson, Darlene Keith had to sing-up and then yield her three minutes of public comment to him so he could speak. The City has the policy of only residents and business owners can address council during public comment portion of a meeting.
Whether or not the Council will address the issue in a future meeting was not discussed or requested as Council cannot respond to public comments.