By T. Scott Boatright
Ruston’s Board of Aldermen took their first steps in revamping the city’s alcohol-sales regulations as an order of key business during Monday’s monthly City Council Meeting at City Hall.
On March 25 city voters approved a local-option referendum opening up new options that had been proposed by Ruston’s Board of Alderman. Monday’s moves begins the process of making it all official in a move toward permitting high-content alcohol sales for both on- and off-premises consumption.
The meeting began with the paperwork-keeping step to review the returns of that March 25 election by examining results from the Lincoln Parish Clerk of Courts office and officially determining the results of all five proposals voted on during the election were successfully passed by voters.
“This just shows that tabulations for all five proposals were done correctly and passed successfully,” City Attorney Bill Carter explained to the Board. “This is the final action by the City Council after calling for last month’s election and certifies the election results.”
During that election voters decisively moved to reapprove existing options for packaged beer sales, beer-only bars and alcohol sales at restaurants.
Two options passed during last month’s election are new and will allow traditional bars as well as grocery stores to sell a full-range of packaged alcohol for consumption.
Wording included in those referendums says that traditional bars within the city will be restricted to operating within a new entertainment district that encompasses most of downtown Ruston while limiting retail alcohol sales to stores at least 15,000 square feet in size.
Ruston’s aldermen then introduced an ordinance that will be voted on during next month’s meeting that will allow permits for those high-content alcohol sales to become official.
“One of the provisions the city agreed to in the CEA (Cooperative Endeavor Agreement) with Buc-ees (to bring one of the travel center’s chain of stores to Ruston) was the creation of this new economic development district,” said Carter.
Shreveport attorney Michael Busada drafted that plan for the new Economic Development District 2 and explained it to the City Council.
“This ordinance does three things primarily,” Busada said. “No. 1, it creates the district itself. It sets up the boundaries where these taxes will be collected. It authorizes the use of any excess revenue to go into a trust fund and it also allows us, after that’s done, to come back and the next meeting with the resolution.
“You will be the Board of the district as state law says that you are. So next meeting we’ll have a resolution just levying the taxes in that district and those taxes will all be used to help fund and finance the Buc-ees as was part of that CEA signed with them.”
The Board also passed a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a professional services agreement with Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., for engineering and consulting services connected with a new frontage road on the north side of Interstate 20 running between the Tarbutton and Grambling overpasses.
In other business, Ruston’s aldermen unanimously approved authorizing the city to enter into a CEA with the Ruston Housing Authority that will convey property – the old Ruston Fairgrounds – to the Ruston Housing Authority for affordable housing to be built on that land that can be leased for five years before if the lessee so desires to go toward actual ownership of a dwelling.
“This all started back three years ago when we started talking about real change in Ruston,” said Mayor Ronny Walker. “We looked into some federal funds, and long story short, we need to be able to transfer ownership of this property to make that happen.”
Ruston’s Board of Aldermen also introduced an ordinance to authorize the city to enter into a professional services agreement with DBUZ Ruston, LLC, as well as authorization for the city to sell property to DBUZ Ruston, LCC, to build an entertainment center on land located northeast of the Ruston High School baseball field at the Ruston Sports Complex.
Also unanimously approved was a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a professional services agreement with New Line Skateparks, Inc. for design development services related to the new Ruston Skatepark to be built on the site of the old city pool in Memorial Drive.
