City finding homes for police divisions

The city of Shreveport continues to move forward with plans for a new Shreveport Police Department headquarters in the current headquarters’ location at 1234 Texas Ave. The process involves many moving parts, as department divisions must be relocated before the work can begin.

Mayor Tom Arceneaux has been looking for a location where a patrol division that initially was to be included in the new headquarters could be located.

“When the (Shreveport City) Council made it clear that they want the new police headquarters to fit within the budget of what the people passed, the only way to do that is to reduce the footprint,” Arceneaux said. “Fewer square feet, fewer costs. So, one of the things that we had initially included in the design was a patrol division at the headquarters site. It would have headquarters and a patrol. The thing that was easiest to eliminate was that patrol site, which means we had to find another location.”

Arceneaux said the city is looking at a building on Line Avenue south of Millicent Way, close to the Spring Lake subdivision, to put a patrol division in place to serve southeast Shreveport.

“We were already looking at that,” he said. “The other site we were looking at would have been large enough to handle two patrol divisions. But that did not work out. We were already looking at the property on Line Avenue as a good location for a patrol division, but it will only house one.”

The mayor said the city is taking steps to purchase the property.

“The council originally had an emergency ordinance that would have required me to buy that site,” he said. “We negotiated with several council members and had a lot of discussion. They ended up with language that said they would endeavor to purchase it, which is fine because we are going to endeavor to purchase it.

“We first determined that we can fit the parking that needs to be there. We have ordered an environmental report and an appraisal. Once we have those two things, we can begin negotiating with the owner to try to acquire that property. Hopefully, we can acquire that property for the amount the people passed.”

Some of the projects under the 2024 bond proposals also are gaining momentum.

“We will be entering into contracts with the program managers for the 2024 bond projects, particularly the streets and drainage and water and sewer projects, so we can begin spending that $88 million that we have from bonds that were sold in November.”

Water woes continue

Arceneaux said the city continues to work on the drinking water after a late algae bloom affected the taste and odor of the city’s water supply, “I think we have the ozone back working, which will help,” he said. “We are waiting on chemicals to treat the algae, which we normally stop around end of October. We had a late bloom, and we think that’s causing the problem.”

A city news release said that the city treats Cross Lake with copper sulfate to manage algae growth, typically from March to November. Unseasonable warmer water in December and January has contributed to the recent algae growth.

Director of Water and Sewerage William Daniel said in the release that the ozone generator used to treat the water is back in service. Arceneaux also said chemicals have been ordered to treat the water as well.

“We are committed to provide our residents with safe, high-quality water and are taking very measure to address the current situation,” Daniel said in the release.

Parades march on

The African-American History Parade Celebration rolled through Shreveport last Saturday. It is just one of many parades that draw thousands to the city streets during the Mardi Gras season. Arceneaux said the groundwork has been laid for those traditions to continue.

“We entered into three-year contracts with the folks,” Arceneaux said of the Mardi Gras krewes. “We have a good security plan. We got everything ironed out with the krewes.”

He said even the weather seemed to be cooperating.

“Last year, we had two parades on the same day, and it was a deluge,” Arceneaux said last week. “Saturday’s forecast is 70 degrees and clear skies.”