[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6053211,"mediaKeyId","3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3","parentId",3376202,"title","Shreveport fire chief says automatic aid to Caddo Parish strains city resources; staff asked to review agreement","audioSeconds",516,"startMs",456000,"endMs",972000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3&start=456&end=972","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3/thumbnail_456000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6053211/Shreveport-City/Caddo-Parish/Louisiana/Shreveport-fire-chief-says-automatic-aid-to-Caddo-Parish-strains-city-resources-staff-asked-to-review-agreement","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6053211-11cfa8a5127ba233b93ae92d8f2c1776/orig.mp4?Expires=1775209935&Signature=fPU~hbwlnM~uT9fY1H48pE4AaL7NEdjFnwuqXnXQ1HZTyUFkW7~tlx9SBMPdfihRbpUZQlsHTwZU4melwnZ1WSaxEsd7fyhUlLV~nyFAZmAW0wmmd9jD4tBzaM8kWS3yyxE5whiG3AZphPZxhDNV2LngS~ZiqO-vWGuMJd8ocHVdLTf3OaAJsd0M3xu--1skMF-d2bhbHXg9XTP2KfCU7z0zzHoWrwJQflUSfPcVteD0p2QMDCNSAZsSgPyOPgiNDxVmB~QE4oImheCGVMj6lVfHfM7TMZh3kYvWepPtXD4Nmr~u3UtxfosHHLZn8Rm7SjTqe8KWuBIm5BMuTsC9BQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of Shreveport","date","2025-05-14T09:40:57Z","article","Shreveport Fire Chief Farris told the City Council that Shreveport responded with about 13 suppression units to a large, fully involved house fire on Ellerbe Road in Caddo Parish and that the city's automatic-aid arrangement with Caddo Fire District 5 contributed to sending multiple city units outside municipal boundaries.

\"Engine 19 was the first unit on scene on this fire,\" Chief Farris said, describing difficulties getting water to the property and saying roughly 13 units were on hose lines or operating ladder trucks. He added that some of the 18 units reported on the dispatch dashboard were not suppression vehicles and that backups had increased response times for other calls in the city.

Council members said the city's heavy deployment to the out-of-city fire taxed resources. Councilman Green and Councilman Brooks both said they feared longer response times for Shreveport residents when engines are committed outside the city. Brooks noted he supported Chief Farris’s preference to change the agreement.

Farris told the council that the automatic mutual-aid arrangement has been in place since about February 2009 but said the current practice had evolved from the original terms. \"Citizens of Shreveport pay for one fire department,\" he said, and asked the council to consider reverting to a standard mutual-aid arrangement in which Shreveport would respond when asked rather than provide a full, automatic response outside city limits.

Council members asked for the written agreement and the terms that bound the city, and the mayor’s office and chief indicated they would review the document and meet with Caddo Fire District 5 leadership. The chief reported he had emailed Caddo Fire District 5 and requested a sit-down meeting; the mayor’s representative said staff would obtain and review the 2009 agreement to confirm whether the council previously voted to approve it and what vote (if any) would be required to change it.

No formal motion to rescind or amend the agreement was made at the meeting. Council members expressed a consensus that the city should prioritize protecting Shreveport response capacity and requested further staff analysis and a report back to the council.

The discussion included operational detail and planning questions but did not adopt new policy or change the automatic-aid arrangement during the session.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","May 13, 2025 City Council Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","Shreveport Fire Chief Farris told the City Council the department sent about 13 suppression units to a fully involved house fire in Caddo Parish and recommended reviewing the city’s automatic-aid pact with Caddo Fire District 5 to avoid straining Shreveport’s response capacity.","taxTitle","Shreveport City, Caddo Parish, Louisiana","taxId",3917,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6053196,"Council approves Mercy Christian Academy special-use permit after removing student- and classroom-cap limits",2238,3336000,5574000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3&start=3336&end=5574","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3/thumbnail_3336000.jpg","/articles/6053196/Shreveport-City/Caddo-Parish/Louisiana/Council-approves-Mercy-Christian-Academy-special-use-permit-after-removing-student-and-classroom-cap-limits","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6053196-27dc390d66b25e17fa64d1b0a81d5e66/orig.mp4?Expires=1775209935&Signature=gSbVcbatGSvRIf~Aqb-7bfi9R4o2iSjRMEAyNLXU~ZdVZuQfNn-M9fJy-d45jybrKchekzwf68OK1D5BBtdCtNXdeSnw6CDM74YxcxIaoc-LPLEgVcJvjDTZUDNPZkxsTNSwwMlGI5H8qlIsnCcAPQGSae3uBOj2gHvN6Oud2EM8JSPmNcs4by~6pnnx62S4VR-vsHcQtzBGOsgFFKYbWvyvqxb9Ez~vBDJG-FgRiASOlHvO1hj3YxMWueYn3njLrYMXrP-xdbjBppxve8780s77UW~bq524dNHuEim7r3ZuGct35EdwR5c1yJ6RURlN0U~yBwRb7j6A9-CpBLko~w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Shreveport City Council voted to modify a Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) recommendation and approve a special-use permit and site plan for Mercy Christian Academy’s proposed educational facility at the former Shreve City Baptist Church.

At the MPC hearing the staff recommended approval with five stipulations. The applicant appealed stipulations that had limited the school to 50 students and to five classrooms and sought removal of those limits; the council considered testimony from the school’s representatives, MPC staff and the city attorney before voting.

Michael Kelsch of Raley and Associates, the engineer for the project, told the council that the MPC originally voted to approve without stipulations but then reconsidered and added five conditions after the public hearing. Kelsch said the applicant agreed to stipulations about traffic management and bicycle parking but objected to caps on students and classrooms because the building renovation represented a multi‑million dollar donor investment and the applicant planned for up to 200 students at full build-out.

Founder Jessica Elston described Mercy Christian Academy as a donor‑funded, K–8 program that has grown from 10 to 38 students over three years and expects about 52 students next year. She said more than 90 percent of students receive scholarships and the school plans to cap enrollment at 200 at full build-out.

MPC staff said their stipulations were intended to protect nearby residents from queuing and circulation problems. MPC staff emphasized they were not opposed to the school but wanted a process to ensure the site would handle additional traffic without locking neighbors into their driveways. MPC staff said the traffic engineer had asked for measures to manage circulation and that stipulation 1 required a change in the site plan if traffic backs up into the neighborhood.

The council adopted a motion to affirm the MPC decision while removing stipulations 3, 4 and 5 (the student cap, classroom cap and a requirement that a floor plan be administratively approved). The motion carried unanimously, 7–0. Council members and the mayor praised the school’s mission; several members urged the school to proactively work with neighbors and the police department to plan carpool and pick‑up procedures before the school year begins.

Action taken: council modified the MPC recommendation and approved the special-use permit without stipulations limiting student numbers or classroom count; stipulation 1 (traffic back-up triggers site-plan changes) remains in place and the council asked the applicant to coordinate with law enforcement and neighbors on circulation and queuing plans before opening.","The City Council approved Mercy Christian Academy’s special-use permit to convert a closed church into a K–8 school and removed MPC limits that had capped enrollment at 50 students and classrooms at five.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6053201,"Council debates temporary Kingston Road lease for Area 4, urges faster search for an Area 2 substation site",492,1557000,2049000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3&start=1557&end=2049","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3/thumbnail_1557000.jpg","/articles/6053201/Shreveport-City/Caddo-Parish/Louisiana/Council-debates-temporary-Kingston-Road-lease-for-Area-4-urges-faster-search-for-an-Area-2-substation-site","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6053201-a780bffefcf9047673a8f14bd0d6e11d/orig.mp4?Expires=1775209935&Signature=duMh~pSmXaUc9RsjENJ2WJnbodF9M0FPGyK2jiPWg7YC2SeRD8yQBmUhxAVByiBXaxee58-w5haK7LobgyCqqHHGoY3u3ltIKEUEC~fK7c-sbMKgsUFfLCmeTP5l~jD~Zoy9g7lXRCDKWq3ex231OmDhIr7oBnpXwbehEmHGJHS82S-B1EtdkiwT4Goel~2kVlBP2PpNBrfxGCek7xfeGTseAqNLPZVyWfeDnHjEHzrrp4NnKgor-1naJfBlenYuwmaJQH~O-3NuaisKru5TxlwmXC6BAnvx-NNusCw88~lfFYPYKRqwQf7wixtlHi3J3rmON4TJ5pbNIn3ljD4CHw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City council members discussed a proposed temporary lease on Kingston Road to house a police substation serving Area 4 and Area 2 duties while the city searches for permanent locations. Several council members said the Kingston Road location was too far east for Area 2 patrols and urged staff to fast-track a closer solution.

Councilman Brooks said moving Area 2 so far east would leave parts of Area 2 underserved and called for urgency in identifying an alternative site closer to residents who rely on Area 2 coverage. \"Moving that area out that far is not good for the residents in that area,\" Brooks said.

Council members and the chief discussed operational trade-offs. The police chief (unnamed in the transcript) said substations primarily serve as roll-call and administrative hubs; officers still spend most of their time patrolling from their vehicles. The chief explained that positioning a vehicle nearer to its patrol area reduces transit time and increases productive patrol time: \"If that car is positioned in Southern Hills, it's gonna always, for the majority of the time, be in its district where they serve.\" He added that not all patrol officers have home storage units and that roughly half of each shift would likely need to check out vehicles from a substation under the planned arrangement.

Council members balanced fiscal concerns about leasing space and retrofitting non-police buildings against service-level considerations. Several members said retrofitting and moving officers twice would add costs and that a temporary lease could be less expensive than immediately constructing a new facility. At the same time, multiple council members asked staff to actively pursue closer sites — suggestions included vacant office complexes near Highland, Centenary-owned properties, Mall Saint Vincent and available space on Southpointe Parkway.

Council and staff also discussed logistics such as vehicle key exchange, home storage units, and whether some vehicles could remain at headquarters for check-out to reduce transit time. The police chief said physical logistics would need a management plan and that the city could consider duplicate keys or field-based supervisory exchanges to reduce inefficiency.

No final council vote on a permanent location occurred. The council signaled support for using a temporary leased site to remove officers from an unsound Texas Street building and requested staff to pursue nearer-term alternatives for Area 2 while moving forward with arrangements that preserve patrol capacity.","Council members debated a short-term lease for a police substation on Kingston Road to house Area 4 while urging staff to find a closer, permanent location for Area 2 officers. Concerns focused on response times, vehicle storage and costs of moving officers twice versus building new facilities.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6053206,"Shreveport sells remaining $29 million in voter-approved G.O. bonds at favorable rate, netting $600,000 premium",88,1135000,1223000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3&start=1135&end=1223","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3376202-a0c5bb21f22fb7f3599028e14c1c7ea3/thumbnail_1135000.jpg","/articles/6053206/Shreveport-City/Caddo-Parish/Louisiana/Shreveport-sells-remaining-29-million-in-voter-approved-GO-bonds-at-favorable-rate-netting-600000-premium","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6053206-05cdbe0ef8733485f8ce1d2fadaeceb5/orig.mp4?Expires=1775209935&Signature=dz6nWUYvrQrQEqpEqa7W6CdWmqxMOB6cXqyEewGNChUXVeaG0KP7UscrIwsnobcMXNIfSCnOqIluiPNuawS4xz8iPuDr498fd2EVuisl6Q6C4PaXmO60DSOBYoOzlK-V4VbAc7s6Y4d8~TPQmuGmz2JGfOhzFaHFUD-xt9JexVYUsWNXNbjASpri0ei4zqq2rIcxiC4ls7mWM336u3agDeohlb-5tcZNaDymQXD5VGYgUzCkpVel448dE0KAsphK6kwGjhkInFcQ~c9Rz2EWCqmoSfnttPIthibqgLlG~UA8DAbBpGxAH7McKT4Dbh6KjE1mnc6bGPAO-svPjJVRnw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","A representative of the mayor’s office told the City Council that the city sold the remaining $29 million of voter-approved general obligation bonds authorized in 2021 and that the sale produced a net premium of roughly $600,000 above the principal.

\"The bonds were sold at an average interest rate of 4.74%, which is better than we had anticipated,\" Marisol, a representative of the mayor’s office, told the council, noting that market timing and the city’s financial advisers and bond counsel contributed to the favorable result.

The mayor’s representative said the bonds are part of the public-safety proposition passed by voters in 2021 and that the sale proceeds will support projects in that proposition, including the police station and a substation. Council members greeted the news as positive for the city’s public-safety capital work; one member specifically noted that the Texas Street police station could be demolished now that funding was in place.

The statement to council did not adopt any new appropriation ordinance during the meeting; officials said the premium added about $600,000 available in project funding and thanked the bond team for the outcome. Council members had no further questions on the sale during the communications item.

No vote on the sale was required at the meeting; city staff presented the sale result as a report to the council.","City officials told the council the sale of $29 million in general obligation bonds authorized by voters in 2021 closed at an average interest rate of 4.74%, producing a premium of roughly $600,000 above the principal to support public-safety projects identified in the ballot proposition.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Shreveport fire chief says automatic aid to Caddo Parish strains city resources; staff asked to review agreement

Council approves Mercy Christian Academy special-use permit after removing student- and classroom-cap limits

Council debates temporary Kingston Road lease for Area 4, urges faster search for an Area 2 substation site

Shreveport sells remaining $29 million in voter-approved G.O. bonds at favorable rate, netting $600,000 premium