By T. Scott Boatright

 

The facts of life.

Sometimes they’re hard.

There are hard decisions the Ruston Board of Aldermen will be making next month after introducing an ordinance during Monday night’s monthly meeting — a meeting that took approximately 10 minutes at City Hall.

At stake is utility prices for city of Ruston consumers, who could see rate increases in the near future.

During the meeting in the Ruston City Hall Courtroom, Ruston’s City Council introduced a motion that will likely lead to utility price increases.

Ruston Council member Bruce Siegmund, jokingly, and reluctantly, introduced the measure by saying, “I’d love to,” but later admitted what Ruston’s Board of Aldermen are really having to face.

“I think about all the parish roads and state roads I drive, that are all torn up and nobody wants to see them updated and maintained,” Siegmund said. “I don’t want it to happen to our city, where it’s just breaking down.

“And then we have some big crisis years from now, where everything’s going to have to be replaced will cost twice as much. I don’t work it. But the people who do work it say it needs to be done. And I think they have a good track record since I’ve been here.”

The anticipated rate increase is expected to be around $26 monthly ($312 annually) for the average Ruston household.

That ordinance will be discussed and open for public discussion during November’s City Council meeting.

In other business during Monday’s quick meeting, Ruston’s City Council postponed a potential authorization to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Lincoln Parish School Board to negotiate length and price parameters, passed an ordinance authorizing the lease of property at the Ruston Regional A(irport for Origin Bank to build a company hangar, and approved an ordinance authorizing the sale of surplus light poles as movable property.

City Julie Sphier reported that total sales tax collected for the month of August was $1,799.000, an increase of $9,000 (.005%) from August of 2021.