Between a special hearing this evening on next year’s city-parish budget and a regular meeting Tuesday, the Metro Council has a lot on its plate during this holiday week. A number of issues that have been deferred from previous meetings, including a measure to assemble a committee to vet applicants for parish attorney, are slated to be taken up Tuesday.
Mayor Pro Tem Chandler Loupe placed the item on the agenda at the first meeting following the dismissal of former Parish Attorney Mary Roper in September, but council members have put the issue off at a number of meetings.
The item has only been briefly discussed in public. Loupe has said he is trying to gather the right team of lawyers to sit on the committee. Other council members have said they haven’t been informed as to why the issue hasn’t been taken up. Councilman Buddy Amoroso has said he’ll push for the issue to be discussed openly at Tuesday’s meeting.
Also Tuesday, CATS CEO Bob Mirabito will try again to get council approval for three new bus routes. The council delayed that decision when concerns were raised the routes could add to the already-congested downtown hub at the Old State Capitol. The council asked CATS to meet with other city planning officials to find a new location for the hub. Three options are being discussed.
Mirabito has said that if the routes are approved Tuesday, they won’t be implemented until next year. Downtown routes won’t begin operating until the hub is moved, he says.
The council will also consider approving repayment of a loan related to the Third Street parking garage. An agreement with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation over management of the garage was rewritten in September.
The council will take up for the first time a policy called Complete Streets, which aims to improve capacity and efficiency of the city-parish’s road network by improving transit options and road conditions.
The council will also consider whether to annex into the City of Baton Rouge a small portion of the unincorporated part of the parish in the Legacy Court subdivision. A group of roughly 35 homeowners submitted a petition for annexation.
The council meets for its budget hearing today at 5 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. It will convene at the same location Tuesday at 4 p.m. for its regular meeting. See the full agenda. —Kelly Connelly
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