(The Center Square) – The Shreveport City Council met this week to address council and resident concerns about the city.
The council brought up the trash on Interstate 20 at its meeting on Monday and spoke with a few representatives from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development on how to best fix it. Several residents have called complaining about the litter and larger items like furniture, tires and wood planks are also present.
“We’re really trying to move towards beautifying and keeping our city as clean as possible,” Council Chairwoman Tabatha Taylor said.
According to the state transportation department, they work directly with a contractor on this issue. However, they were unable to get a contract in for December, but there is an active contract in place now for the middle of February. The mow cycle, also negotiated in the contract, will begin in March. The larger items mentioned are said to be checked daily by a road runner truck. The department picks these up themselves.
When it came to citizen concerns, a few things were mentioned, including squatters, vandalism, and a billing error.
Jeremy Taylor, owner of Taylor Family Property, LLC, addressed the issues of squatters after calling the Shreveport Police Department. He notes the police asked him to verify proof of ownership upon arrival. Taylor asked the council if there is any legislation in place for the squatter issues and the vandalism they do.
City Attorney Edwards ensured Taylor that all hands are on deck when it comes to the issue, and it is an ongoing challenge in particular parts of the city. While there were no announcements or updates, he did say that it is ongoing.
Robert Brown, of Squirrel Point community outside city limits, was one of four residents who came forth to speak about a letter they received from the city concerning a water and sewer rate change due to a city billing system era increasing rates per household.
William Daniels, director of the Water and Sewer Department, said Squirrel Point receives sewer services without water services. Daniels says there was a transfer error during a computer system change that did not input things correctly for charges.
An audit showed that the subdivision was outside city limits and had been charged an incorrect rate for services since at least 2019, resulting in a correction.
However, many of the community residents said they have been there since before 2019, and their bill has not been different until now.
“You’re budgeting every month as to what it is that you’re going to pay, and so that’s a glitch on our part because we changed computer systems to some other software systems, and something didn’t carry over,” Taylor said.
In total, 75 residents were affected by the bill increase. Many of whom shared at the hearing are on fixed incomes and cannot afford for their bill to double each month.
The council agreed to review the issue with the department to find the best course of action for those affected.
“What we need to do is sit down, look at the ordinance, see what would be applicable, and not give them this shell shocker,” Taylor said.