Council adopts concession agreement, approves airport hangar door bid process; other measures introduced

At its Feb. 24 meeting the Natchitoches City Council took several formal actions: it adopted a concession agreement for Park Natchitoches, approved a resolution to advertise bids for an airport hangar-door replacement (federally funded), and introduced two ordinances for future consideration.

Concession agreement adopted: The council moved to adopt Ordinance 3 of 2025, authorizing a concession agreement in favor of Liaison’s Meat Pies, Inc. to operate concessions at Park Natchitoches. The mayor said the request was publicly advertised and the city received one responsive proposal. Council conducted a roll-call vote (Stacy conducting); the recorded votes were: Eli — Yes; Nelson — Yes; Smith — Yes; Harrington — Yes; PT — Yes. The motion carried and Ordinance 3 was adopted.

City leaders noted the concession package did not include installation of a commercial hood because of an approximately $100,000 cost; as a result, some frying operations (including French fries and other deep-fried items) would not be permitted in the current concession configuration. The mayor said the decision stemmed from cost considerations and that limitations were not the concessionaire's fault.

Banking-services ordinance introduced: The council introduced Ordinance 4 of 2025 to authorize the mayor to enter into a banking-services agreement with Bank of Montgomery. Ken Hale, president and CEO of BOM Bank, addressed the council and said the bank was honored to be selected and noted past work with the city. Ordinance 4 was introduced for a vote at a future meeting.

Budget-amendment ordinance introduced: Ordinance 5 of 2025 (budget amendment to cover increased health-care claims) was introduced; the council was told the city is self-insured, had exceeded premiums by about $1,500,000, and was requesting a $650,000 transfer with stop-loss insurance to cover the remainder. The item was introduced and will return for a vote.

Airport bid resolution approved: Resolution 19 of 02/2025 was adopted to advertise public bids for hangar-door replacement at the regional airport as part of an Airport Improvement Program project. Council discussion noted the hangar doors are old (originals likely from the 1930s), the airport owns the hangar (leased to Air Data Solutions), and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to fund the work and engineering. Roll-call votes recorded: Eli — Yes; Nelson — Yes; Smith — Yes; Carrington — Yes; [additional roll call entries recorded as in transcript]. The motion carried.

Ending: The council approved the concession agreement and airport resolution, and introduced two ordinances that will return for public vote.