By T. Scott Boatright
It’s official — within specific stipulations mandated by revised Lincoln Parish Library (LPL) regulations, alcohol will be allowed to be consumed during functions being conducted by groups renting out space at LPL Events Center.
That can now be allowed after the Lincoln Parish Police Jury approved amending Sections 4-7 of the Lincoln Parish Code of Ordinances during Tuesday’s LPPJ meeting for the month of October held inside the Lincoln Parish Courthouse.
Those amendments change the wording of regulations stating that alcohol cannot be served on parish-owned property by adding “except for the Lincoln Parish Library Events Center” wording to those ordinances.
The LPL Board of Control made the request for the ordinance change because LPL Trustees feel the library is losing significant potential Events Center revenue because the serving of alcoholic beverages by groups renting out space there is currently not allowed.
Speaking to LPPJ members last month, Library Board of Control Events Center Committee Chair Bill Jones, who put together the request, made his pitch to the LPPJ, saying the he had fellow attorney James Buckley, who serves as counsel for the Police Jury, review the proposed new policies and that Buckley said he had no problem with the way the policy changes were worded.
“It’s about substantial revenue,” Jones said. “We researched it. We checked with the city (of Ruston), and we have the benefit of the city’s experience. They’ve been doing it for years at the (Ruston) Civic Center and the Old Historic Library. So, we essentially copied their rules.
“The two essential elements that we have are, No. 1, if you serve alcoholic beverages at the Events Center, you must have licensed security personnel, which would be off-duty Sheriff’s Office personnel or if they’re not available, off-duty city of Ruston officers, and we have rules about the number of those personnel per event attendees. The other really important element is that if you’re going to serve alcoholic beverages at the Events Center, they have to be served by a licensed caterer. Not the 30-minute online course.”
There are also new regulations, including not allowing alcohol cups to be carried outside of the Events Center into the parking lot, the LPJ Board of Control added to its rules of use.
While the LPPJ voted in favor of the Code of Ordinances changes during Tuesday’s meeting, the decision was anything but unanimous.
Jury member Joe Henderson missed the meeting due to illness and Juror Annette Slaughter was out dealing with a family emergency.
The move to amend the Code of Ordinances was passed 6-4, with jurors Dan Lord, TJ Cranford, Logan Hunt, Matt Pullen, Chris Garriga and Milton Melton voting in favor to do so and LPPJ members Greg “Big Coach” Williams, Karen Ludley, Glenn Scriber and Diane Richards voting against it.
In another interesting order of business, the LPPJ adopted a resolution authorizing submission of a funding application through the state Revolving Fund Load Program for a potential Courthouse Public Park/Greenspace Project.
During the Public Property and Buildings Committee held before the main meeting, that committee also approved authorizing the engagement of Shuler Consulting Company for that Courthouse Public Park/Greenspace Project.
It all involves what is known as the Police Jury Annex II, which lies across the street to the south from the courthouse in a building that once housed Country Market and in recent years has housed a Dollar General and a Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles Office in recent years.
But Dollar General has already left that facility to move to a new location on West California Avenue, and the DMV office is set to move to the old Health Hub building that is being renovated.
“The goal is to empty the (Police Jury Annex Building),” Parish Administrator Courtney Hall told the Jury. “We’ve still got a ways to go. There are certain departments that have accumulated stuff over the years that is sitting in there.
“But, it’s low-hanging fruit — the goal is to get everything out of that building and tear it down. The question then becomes, what are you going to do with (that property)? Are you going to build a parking lot? What exactly are you going to do?”
Hall said as discussions about the future of that property have been held, the potential of turning it into a park/greenspace area had come up.
“We’ve been working with an architect at Louisiana Tech — Mr. Robert Brooks — and he’s done these conceptual (renderings), and that’s all they are,” Hall said before showing jurors PowerPoint slides of those renderings. “Basically, why put up a parking lot when you can do something that’s a little more aesthetic that could be used by the public?
“And as we studied, we found out there is funding available from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) through DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) stormwater runoff mitigation. DEQ doesn’t like big parking lots because you’re going to have a lot of water runoff that’s going to cause some problems.”
Hall said that permeable concrete could be used to create such a park/greenspace to help control water runoff while becoming something functional for the community as a whole.
Permeable concrete is a type of paving material that allows stormwater to pass through its interconnected voids to recharge groundwater and reduce runoff.
“You’d have a catch basin underneath it, maybe three feet of gravel, that lets water slowly, in a controlled way, leave the property,” Hall said.
Hall admitted that another building — potentially even a new Lincoln Parish Courthouse — might have to be built on the property, but such an action is likely a decade or more away.
“It’s a cool concept and could kind of join — connect — downtown a little bit,” Hall said. “Consider it as a placeholder, because we don’t have the funding for it (currently), but eventually we might have to put a building there of some kind, whether it be a new courthouse or whatever. I think you’re talking 10, 15 or 20 years before that happens, and this could be a really nice placeholder.”
The action taken by the LPPJ during Thursday’s meeting simply gave the OK to send an application to apply for EPA/DEW storm water runoff funding. If such funding would be approved, then the project would likely move forward.
“Right now, this is very conceptual, but there is funding available through DEQ to get this done, and there have been projects that we’ve learned, I think it’s the riverfront in Natchitoches, got one of these grants to do something similar — a permeable surface to catch all of this water and control its discharge.
“They’re always looking for unique-type projects, and that’s what we’re thinking about this.”
