Staff Reports
The Krewe of Hebe may find it harder to “Laissez les bons temps rouler” this Mardi Gras season as Council has yet to issue final approval to their annual event permit.
Council gave tentative approval to the Krewe’s event application Tuesday evening but are now requiring Lyle Spellings, who owns a retail beer and wine shop near the main stage of Mardi Gras, to provide information to the City on his liquor liability insurance.
Ward 3 Alderman Robin Moore, raised the issue back in November, after reading where the Krewe serves alcohol at the event on the application.
Krewe president Robin Johnson attempted to explain to Moore at the time that the Krewe does not serve or supply alcohol, but had been required in the past to mark the box due to Spellings shop being in the event area.
Moore has insisted the Krewe either supply liquor liability insurance or for Spellings to provide the City with his insurance.
“We’re more interested in solving this than they are,” said Moore.
Other items up for discussion on the application was the request to close the Courthouse parking lot, as well as the parking lots around the Transportation Center, the Tuesday before Mardi Gras and reopening them once the event is over on Sunday.
In the past the Krewe has requested closing those lots on Thursday, but the carnival, and other vendors have been arriving as early as Tuesday, partially closing those areas early.
Ward 1 Alderman Bubba Haggard indicated the courthouse was closed for part of that time anyway, and they usually adjusted any court schedules around the event.
Johnson indicated in a text to the Jimplecute that the Krewe always works with the Courthouse on their schedules.
Council also required the Krewe to be responsible for collecting and turning in the vendor permit fees instead of relying on the Jefferson Police Department to collect them during the event.
Other organizations which have vendors have been doing this the last few years to make it easier on JPD and to ensure all vendors have paid the fees.
Johnson also texted she was not aware of the application being back on the agenda or she would have been present and altered the application to clarify the insurance issue.
Contracts for the Marion County Community Center and the Jefferson Carnegie Library were also on the agenda.
The Library’s was in the Consent portion of the agenda and consisted of an interlocal agreement with the County which also supplies funding.
The Community Center’s contract was tabled during the December meeting at the request of the Center due to medical issues of those tasked with discussing the contract with the City.
In the past, the City has allocated funds to the Center, then required the Center to supply bills to the City to pay. The 2023-24 contract allowed for a conversion to the Center being paid quarterly and then manage their own bills after six months of reporting to the City on how funds were being used. However, that clause was not activated as the City’s fiscal year ended at the 6-month mark.
The new contract has the City providing the Center with quarterly funding and the Center managing their own bill payment. The use of the funds are still restricted to maintenance and operations expenses. As the City’s fiscal year has already started, the remaining funds unused to date will be divided by the remaining quarters of the year and distributed to the Center.
The City also renewed their shared services contract with the County. The agreement covers jail usage, dispatch, fire services among other items.
Lastly, the City hopes to be live with their new accounting software in April or May as they transition from OpenGove to FundView systems. The new system will provided added functionality as well as lower maintenance costs for the City.
New water rates went into effect January 1 and will appear on the March 1 utility bills.
Council also approved the employment contract for City Administrator/City Secretary Melissa Boyd following an executive session.