By T. Scott Boatright
Ruston’s City Council approved an ordinance during Monday’s meeting for the month of February that will see the city no longer having to spend $50,000 monthly for a building’s lease and instead receive $53,000 by leasing that empty facility to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH).
Since 2019, the city has had to lease the abandoned Monster Moto building owned by ExcellenceStarted, LLC, which was built under a public/private partnership agreement. That agreement included terms that stated that the city would pick up the rent should Monster Moto default.
Monster Moto used the 100,000-square-foot facility and its headquarters/assembly location from 2016 until August of 2018, when the company moved production of go-carts and mini-bike assembly operations back to China with the sales team returning to Dallas.
The LDH will use the building — site of the old Ruston Airport on South Farmerville Street — as an evacuation center in the event of a state- or federally-declared emergency such as a major hurricane. LDJ has such evacuation shelters scattered across the state.
This new lease agreement approved by the City Council has the LDH paying the city of Ruston approximately $53,000 per month for five years with a renewable five-year option — roughly $1,700 per day if the shelter’s not in use and $2,200 ($68,000 monthly) whenever the shelter is activated.
“I think the best part of this agreement is that the state will provide shower trailers, restroom trailers, catering and security (when needed),” said Mayor Ronny Walker. “The only thing the city will be responsible for if there are actually people there is the trash in dumpsters that we haul off.”
The Board of Aldermen also authorized the city to enter enter into a contract with Amethyst Construction of West Monroe, which was the lowest of two bidders at $2,951,446, involving the Tarbutton Road at Interstate 20 Phase 1-B project, or the Buc-ee’s project.
This involves adjusting the westbound off ramp leading into the back of Ruston Junior High School and increasing the lead distance to meet state and federal requirements as well construction of a parallel road to access private properties and RJHS for parents dropping off or picking up students there.
That project is slated to begin in approximately 60 days and will take seven months to complete.
Also approved was authorizing the renewal of permission to level and collect a special ad valorem of a city property tax beginning in the year 2026 and ending in 2035 after that tax was approved by voters in a special election held on Nov. 15 of 2025.
Ruston’s Board of Alderman also approved authorization for the city to enter into an annual Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Louisiana Department of Veteran Affairs with the city paying around 16 percent of Lincoln Parish’s cost for the CEA.
“This is an annual agreement that we sign every year with the Veterans Administration to provide funding for veteran services here in Lincoln Parish,” said City Treasurer Julie Keen.
Also approved were resolutions approving final plats for Country Club Estates Unit 2 and Lot 1 of the Ruston Building Park that will be the site of a state-of-the-art secure microchip facility Radiance Technologies will build to bolster national security and fuel innovation while also providing local economic growth.
In other business, the city approved a resolution to change the paying agent of Series 2021 and Series 2024 Tax Revenue ‘Increment Bonds to locally-owned Argent Institutional Trust Company as well granting permission to being the condemnation process for structures located at 705 Second Ave. and 1312 South Trenton St./198 Cotton St. with owners being given 30 days to repair or demolish those structures before the city does so.
The Board of Alderman also passed a resolution appointing John Free as Director and Andy Colvin as Alternate Director of Louisiana Energy and Power Authority (LEPA) for the city on the LEPA Board of Directors.
LEPA was created by the state Legislature in 1979 and consists of 20 Louisiana cities and towns, each maintaining its own independent municipal power system.
