The Church Point Town Council unanimously approved a pay raise for the mayor and the town council members.
Mayor Ryan “Spanky” Meche said, “Thank y’all. If y’all thought y’all seen something last year, you’re about to see more.”
The ordinance was passed during the council’s regular meeting on March 6. This brings the Church Point Mayor’s pay rate to about $25.80 an hour and from about $42,000 a year to about $54,000 a year.
During the meeting, the council also voted on the rate of pay change for council members. Council members will now be paid $500 a month, up from $340 a month.
“I went through quite a bit of towns around here,” Meche said. “We are below what (a population of) 4,700 is. The last time (Church Point council members received a pay raise) was probably in the early 2000s that a raise happened. What I am finding is with the stuff that we are working on right now, the annexation and where we are going to be, we are probably going to be, around the 5,500 (population) area by the end of my four years here. It’s showing me that across the board, it’s (council member pay) an average of about $500.”
“I feel that $500 is a good area to grow into,” he added.
Mayor Pro Tem and Ward 5 and Errol “Slu” Comeaux said he thought council member pay was about $80 per month when he was first elected to the council in 1989.
During the meeting, the council also unanimously approved the amount of the quote for the Marie/Michelle Waterline Project pending approval of the quote. The apparent lowest bidder is Southern Constructors, and the quote is for $133,667. Once the quote is approved, the council will vote to accept the contract.
Church Point Police Chief Dale Thibodeaux informed the council that he had accepted the resignation of one officer, and the council unanimously approved Thibodeaux’s recommendation to hire two new reserve officers.
Thibodeaux said he did not have February police department statistics ready due to the town’s Mardi Gras festivities, and he said he would present the information at the next regular council meeting.
“Mardi Gras did go off pretty good,” Thibodeaux said. “We had a few arrests, but less than normal. We had quite a few citations. It went off pretty decent. We got a lot of help from a lot of officers. I saw comments from two tour buses that came, and they said this is the best protection they have ever felt everywhere they went.”
Church Point Water Department Superintendent Johnathan Murphy said that during the month of February, the department fixed four leaks and made several loads of lime sludge.
The following items were also unanimously approved during the meeting:
— Approval of previous minutes.
— Approval of January 2020 financial reports.
— Liquor license exemption for OMP Dinner Auction to be held on March 21 at the Gertrude Wimberley Community Center.
— Vote to proceed with legal procedures outlined in Section 8.1 of town zoning ordinance for Canal/Main Street to the exit of town and POW MIA / from Main/POW MIA to the end of POW MIA followed by a motion that said property be rezoned to C-2.
— Adoption of a proposed ordinance amending fireworks ordinance ban dates. Fireworks will be allowed in town all day on the following dates: July 4, Dec. 24-25 and Dec. 31-Jan. 1.
— Adoption of a proposed ordinance regulating the removal of dead and diseased trees.
