The Sulphur City Council on Oct. 14 introduced three ordinances to enter cooperative endeavor agreements (CEAs) with the Louisiana Department of Treasury for state legislative allocations: $50,000 for senior center upgrades (Ordinance 77-25), $100,000 for fire hydrant replacement (Ordinance 78-25), and $125,000 under a “project to be determined” line item (Ordinance 79-25).

Why it matters: Each ordinance authorizes the city to accept and later execute a CEA for the stated appropriation. Public commenters and several council members expressed concern that the full cooperative endeavor agreements were not attached to the agenda and requested details on scope, budget breakdowns, timelines and reporting requirements before final authorization.

Public questions and council response

Wendy Wingate, a resident who spoke during public comment, asked whether the proposed senior-center allocation was an additional $50,000 beyond earlier legislative funds. City staff explained the $50,000 is a separate supplemental appropriation under a different act number than the 2024 allocation and, together with the prior allocation, would total $100,000 over two fiscal cycles if the earlier funding was enacted as described. Wingate and other speakers repeatedly asked why the CEAs were not posted with the agenda; staff and the mayor responded that the council was making introductions so the documents could be finalized and returned for final vote at a later meeting. The staff representative said the CEAs are prepared by the state and are provided to the city; the council will vote on final CEAs once they are on the agenda.

Fire hydrant replacement questions

Wingate and other residents also asked about the hydrant inventory and whether a report of hydrant conditions was complete. The mayor and staff said the city inventories hydrants on an ongoing basis and that the CEAs and any final scope would include state-mandated reporting and receipts for eligible expenditures. Council members said they would provide details and documents when the final CEA is available; staff noted some CEAs have submission deadlines to the state that make timely introduction necessary to preserve the appropriation.

Vote and next steps

Council voted to introduce each ordinance for later final action. Multiple speakers asked the administration to attach the full CEAs before the council votes to authorize the city to sign them. The council and staff said they will return future meeting agendas with the CEAs attached and that final authorization would be deferred if members or the public required more information.

Ending

Council members and members of the public said they expect to review the final CEAs, project scopes and timelines at the next meeting before any final authorization to sign the cooperative endeavor agreements.