Small Town News

Jena agrees to mutual aid agreement with LMA

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The Jena Town Council voted at their regular September meeting held Tuesday night of last week to enter into a mutual aid agreement with the Louisiana Municipal Association (LMA).

Jena Mayor Murphy McMillin explained that last year LMA developed a mutual aid agreement (LMA-MAA) support system to provide municipalities with an effective tool to help members get help quickly when suddenly overwhelmed by an emergency or disaster event.

The LMA mutual aid system was developed because a large number of municipalities do not have access to sufficient quantities of commonly required emergency resources immediately following a disaster event.

The intent of the LMA-MAA is to provide easily executed on-call assistance to Louisiana officials in the first 72 hours after an emergency or disaster. For many emergency and disaster events, most small towns are considered lower priority by state and federal agencies and their needs are secondary to those of larger cities.

The LMA-MAA is an organized system for sharing resources, which will assist municipalities to maximize the potential for reimbursement from FEMA following a Presidential-declared disaster. FEMA makes a cost reimbursement eligibility determination and approval only if effective documentation of the type of equipment, rate/cost per hour, and utilization records are available.

"The LMA executive committee thought this was a good idea and would supplement and formalize which we are already doing in our fire, maintenance and administrative departments," Mayor McMillin told members of the Council. He serves on the LMA executive committee.

During the meeting, the mayor and council discussed the escalating cost of retirement contributions for the town.

Jena's contribution toward both police department and municipal employee retirement plans are projected to increase substantially over the next six years, Mayor McMillin explained.

For employees of the police department, the employee contribution is 7.5%. In year 2009, the town was required to contribute 11% to keep the retirement fund whole. Starting in 2010, that percent increases to 25% and continues to escalate to 35% in year 2015.

For all other municipal employees, the town was required to match their 9.5% contribution at a 13.5% rate. Starting in 2010, that rate increases to 14.25% and continues to increase to 23% in 2015. What this means for the town of Jena is that over the next six years, the town will have to spend an additional $115,000 for employee retirement fund contributions.

"The above estimated cost increase is a direct result of bad investment decisions made by the committees overseeing these two retirement funds," Mayor McMillin said. "At last month's LMA convention, the participants, including myself, were vocally upset

at the decision makers responsible for investment choices. We recognize that the effects of the poor decisions made in the past can not be reversed, but a better informed committee could only reverse this trend for future years, but could not correct the sins of the past."

Mayor McMillin said no action was required on the item but he wanted to keep the Council informed of the increased costs that will face the town in the future.

For several months, the town has tried to sell a truck bed and police unit with the use of bids but to no avail. Attorney Walter E. Dorroh, Jr., advised that the town has satisfied all applicable laws governing such sales and can dispose of these items at the discretion of the council. Therefore, a motion was passed authorizing the mayor to get the best price for the two items and disposed of them immediately.

Town Engineer Keith Capdepon gave his report, indicating the sewer project in old Jena was about 40-percent complete and should be finished within the next month to six weeks.

Mayor McMillin said the town was waiting until the sewer project was completed before beginning work on a $600,000-grant project for re-surfacing several streets in town. He also asked council members, within the next month, to drive the streets of Jena and come up with recommendations for a list of streets that need to be re-surfaced in future projects.

Superintendent Don Jones gave his monthly report, indicating that the town now has 13 employees (the entire crew), certified in the gas, water and wastewater treatment departments. He noted that four years ago, he was the only one certified in the crew.

In his report to the Council, Mayor McMillin said the recent award from the Louisiana Economic Development Department recognizing Jena as a "Louisiana Development Community" means a lot to Jena. "We were the smallest of 12 communities selected to receive the award and it proves we are doing the right things in Jena for economic development," he said.

McMillin also reported that the application has been submitted for a State of Louisiana Disaster Recovery Community Development Block Grant for mitigation. Jena officials selected a project for mitigation of future flooding by cleaning out the creeks and constructing a retention pond in and around the Jena City Park. When studies were completed, the grant application requests $700,000 for work on the mitigation project.

McMillin thanked those who took part on behalf of the town in greeting students at Good Pine Middle School, reported that Dr. Mike Wilson day in Jena was a big success, and noted that Jena and LaSalle Parish remains among the lowest areas of the state for unemployment.



Copyright 2010 The Jena Times, Jena, Louisiana. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 The Jena Times Jena, Louisiana. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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