By T. Scott Boatright
Ruston’s Board of Aldermen moved to amend sections of the city’s Code of Ordinances to allow for increased alcohol sales while also authorizing the city to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor of Agreement (CEA) to bring an entertainment center to the Ruston Sports Complex as main orders of business during Monday night’s City Council meeting.
The Code of Ordinances amendments will open the door allowing the sale of high-content alcoholic beverages for both on- and off-premises consumption and come following a March election in which voters approved the sales of high-content alcohol within city limits,
While Super 1 and Walmart were both known to be behind the push to bring high-content alcohol sales to Ruston, city attorney Bill Carter said after Monday’s meeting that the USA Travel Plaza at the intersection of Interstate 20 and Highway 33 and Ruston Grocers have indicated they will apply for permits while Desi Bourgeois, owner of the Bourgeois Restaurant Group LLC that operates Grown and Grazed, has also expressed interest in bringing a bar to historic downtown Ruston.
“This will create permits and set fees for licensees to apply to sell alcohol for either on- or off-premises consumption as long as regulations the city has set or met,” Carter said.
Ruston’s City Council also approved the city to enter into a CEA with DBUZ Ruston, LCC, to bring an entertainment center to the Ruston Sports Complex.
During its meeting in February, Ruston’s City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with DBUZ, owned by Derek Busby, to build both a hotel development and an entertainment center on 3.1 acres of land located northeast of the Ruston High School baseball field on the Sports Complex’s property.
But Monday’s vote by the City Council granted approval for the city to enter into a CEA with DBUZ to create an entertainment center on a smaller piece of property still on Ruston Sports Complex Grounds.
“There is a space that is sitting there that was in the original plans that Mr. Busby would try to build an entertainment center,” Carter said. “It’s a smaller property, about 2.45 acres in size, that sits right up beside the north end of the indoor facility at the Sports Complex.”
Carter said the newer CEA also gives the option for the city and DBUZ to enter into agreement to either lease or purchase the property depending on the agreement reached.
“The original introduced version of this ordinance contemplated sale only, but there are some Fire Marshal issues as well as other tax issues that could come into play, so we think we’d like to have the flexibility to sell this property or to lease it to DBUZ, LLC,” Carter said.
Ruston’s Board of Aldermen also authorized the city to enter into a contract related to a Central Fire Station Training Facility Project that Ruston Fire Chief Chris Womack said will bring to that station a 38-foot tall training tower that will be used to prepare firefighters for multiple-story emergency incidents at a cost of a little more than $143,000.
In other business, Ruston’s City Council also approved accepting a low bid of $394,000 to enter into a contract to build splashpad/play space improvements to Cook, Duncan and Mayfield Parks.
“The city received a grant from the Love Louisiana Outdoors Program in the amount of $400,000 and the lowest of the three bids came from Francise Horticulture Services, Inc. of Baton Rouge,” said city Public Works Director John Freeman.
Freeman said that the company will have 274 days to complete the project with work beginning as soon as possible after paperwork is signed and completed and supplies are ordered and purchased..
Also approved by Ruston’s Council were a pair of CEAs with Zion Traveler Community Development.
The first will return a third annual Juneteenth celebration to Railroad Park on June 17 while the second agreement is for the city and Zion Traveler Community Development.to team on a Faith and Finance program that Sen. Bill Cassidy has helped bring in $515,000 in appropriations funding to the program.
“I want to thank the city and Sen. Cassidy for seeing the need in our community to deal with the problem of chronic poverty,” said Maurcie White, pastor of Zion Traveler Baptist Church. “Through this program we’ll be able to bring financial literacy, job training and placement, and also deal with some areas involving health and that sort of thing.”
In other business, Ruston’s City Council approved a request from the Louisiana Department of Transportation concerning the Monroe Street project from downtown Ruston to Interstate 20 rolling four previous agreements with the LDOT on the project into one superseding agreement, authorized the city to enter into a contract related to the Jonesboro Street Cross Drain Replacement Project to handle a failed pump for the pond at Mayfield Park, and authorized the city to enter into a lease agreement with Cadence Equipment to lease two “arm” garbage trucks along with one claw “debris removal” truck.
