By T. Scott Boatright
The Ruston City Council started the process of bringing a privately-owned pickleball facility to the Sports Complex while also introducing ordinances that could increase the salaries of Mayor Ronny Walker as well as each Board of Aldermen member.
Introduced were an ordinance that if passed would see a significant increase to city water rates if passed as well as an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Lincoln Parish School Board to sell city property to the school board to build a softball field at the Ruston Sports Complex.
Those measures will be discussed and potentially voted on during the City Council’s meeting next month.
The salary increase proposal would give a $20,000 raise to Walker and a $2,200 raise to aldermen. If the plan is approved during that December meeting, Walker’s base pay would increase from $100,000 annually to $120,000 while aldermen would move to $14,400 annually.
During Monday’s meeting Ruston’s City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with Long, L.L.C. and to lease or sell property to Long, L.L.C. for a six-court pickleball facility at the Sports Complex.
“Primarily to the demand and growth of pickleball as a recreational sport, a local citizen has approached the city with a proposal to either lease or purchase property at the Sports Complex and allow a pickleball facility.
“This would be a private facility which would be completely subject to charging some sort of fee structure,” said city attorney Bill Carter. “This is an area near the tennis courts and we’re still in the process of looking at surveys and such.”
The City Council also passed a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a professional services agreement with PIV Engineering for services related to the West Kentucky Substation Improvement Project.
“We’ve been working on upgrading all of our substations and this one will be our focus for the 2025 fiscal year,” said Public Works Manager Andrew Halbrook. “This is a budgeted expense, and we will definitely get it done before the end of the fiscal year.”
The City Council also passed resolutions authorizing the city to enter into a CEA with the state of Louisiana through the Department of Transportation and Development relating to modification of the Tarbutton Road at Interstate-20 interchange.
“This is the Buc-ees interchange that we’ll be doing work on,” Walker said. “And it’s just another step in the process.
“We hope the road construction will start in February or March.”
Halbrook said Buc-ee’s permit design and contract plans should be ready by the end of the current month.
Also passed were resolutions authorizing the city to enter into contracts relating to the East Kentucky Avenue, Goodwin Road to LA-33 Improvement Project for $10.3 million, which Halbrook said was $1 million lower than the initially-projected cost, as well as a contract relating to the I-20 North Service Road Water Line Project with J-Bar Corporation being awarded the low bid of $730,705.40/
The City Council also passed resolutions authorizing the sale of scrap materials as surplus movable property, authorizing the sale of damaged transformers as surplus movable property, and authorizing the city to enter into a professional services contract with Riley Company of Louisiana, Inc., for engineering services related to the Airport Drainage Improvement Project.
In their final motion of the night, the City Council authorized the city to enter into a CEA with the Louisiana Department of Veteran Affairs.
“This is an annual agreement we have with the Louisiana Department of Veteran Affairs that outlines our funding to have a local office here in the parish,” said city Chief Financial Officer Julie Keen. “The total contribution for the city is 45% of the total cost for the parish, $6,540 a year or $545 a month as it was last year, so this is just extending an annual agreement we have with them.”
