Also, status in city water, stadium

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux said the city is preparing to sell the first bonds under the 2024 bond proposals passed in April for capital improvements across Shreveport.

The mayor said the city is working on bond ratings and other matters associated with the sale of those bonds. The ordinance to sell the bonds was introduced on first reading at the Shreveport City Council meeting on Sept. 10, he said, and will be available for passage at the Sept. 24 meeting.

“We hope to sell up to $88 million in bonds,” Arceneaux said.

“We hope to sell those at the end of October, just before the presidential election.”

The city has named project managers to oversee the three bond propositions.

Burns and McDonnell will be the program managers for street and drainage projects. The firm already works with the city on water and sewage projects.

“There were two really good applications for that spot,” Arceneaux said. “The architect and engineers committee recommended Burns and McDonnell in a close vote, so I have accepted that recommendation.”

Atlas Technical Consultants will be the project manager under Proposition No. 3, Public Safety and SPAR.

“We only had one applicant for Proposition No. 3,” the mayor said. “It was a very good applicant. Obviously, the committee recommended that applicant, and I have accepted their recommendation.”

The naming of project managers was a stipulation of the city council before selling any bonds.

“We have met that condition, and we are ready to go forward with the bonds,” Arceneaux said.

The mayor said the administration is working on what will be included in the first list of projects.

“Hopefully, within the next two weeks, we will have the list of the projects that will be covered buy the $88 million,” Arceneaux said. “We hope to present a resolution by the council saying this is what this money will be used for.”

Water quality improves

Arceneaux also said the manganese levels in the city’s water supply are down significantly.

“The water is coming out of the plant clear,” he said. “Our number of complaints has decreased tremendously. We’re still, in some places, flushing to get the water clear. But it appears to me we’ve got it now.”

Arceneaux added that the city has taken steps to prevent this issue from recurring.

“We have a chlorine dioxide machine that is going to arrive that will assist us in treating manganese now and in the future,” he said. “We had an old one, and it really is decrepit and needed to be replaced. We did an emergency authorization to replace it.

“The new one is not in service yet, but, obviously, something is changing in the lake in terms of our intake. We will be better prepared should we have this problem in the future.”

Fair Grounds Field

Arceneaux responded recently to another request from the group Friends of Fair Grounds Field to halt the demolition of the baseball stadium, Arceneaux wrote Friends of Fair Grounds Field and other parties, stating his position.

“There are two issues with Fair Grounds Field, which I believe to be not in restorable condition,” he said. “Even if it were, there are no funds to restore it. If you look at the renderings that were submitted with the letter that Friends of Fair Grounds Field sent out, it’s obvious that would be a $1 million project. And no one has identified any funds for that project. Also, no one has identified any funds by which, or any means by which, that stadium would be self-sustaining.”

He said maintaining a stadium like Fair Grounds Field is a costly proposition for any organization.

“Stadiums are costly to keep up,” he said. “Once you do that, there could be a continuing subsidy required by the city. We do not have the funds in our SPAR budget to do that. So one of the conditions I said is you have to identify how this will be self-sustaining. And if you can’t, you have to put up the money. If you stop us from demolishing it now, you have to put up the money for demolition in case your proposals don’t work. I don’t believe FGF has made significant progress on those conditions.”

Arceneaux said he understands why people are interested in saving Fair Grounds Field, but it is not in the city’s best interest.

“I have a lot of nostalgia for Fair Grounds Field,” Arceneaux said. “It was passed by voters when I was on the council. I attended the groundbreaking. I attended opening night. I attended several games while the Captains were here, and even a few games while the Swamp Dragons were here.

“It was a wonderful facility, but it is beyond its useful life. Even if it were restored exactly as though it were new, it would not qualify for minor league baseball. There is no means of sustaining itself over a period of time. So the best for us to do is to demolish it.”