On Oct. 13 the Shreveport City Council will vote on a resolution to authorize Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins to execute a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) with the Red River Waterway District (Waterway Commission) for the installation of LED decorative lighting and roadway lights on the Texas Street bridge (Project).
The lighting of the bridge was the cover story of the Aug. 28 issue of FOCUS SB.
The proposed CEA is to be executed by the Waterway Commission, the city of Bossier City (Bossier) and the City of Shreveport (Shreveport).
The CEA lists the following committed funding:
$1,000,000 from the Waterway Commission
$250,000 from the Louisiana Public Service Commission
$20,000 from the National Endowment of the Arts
$191,250 from "other fund-raising".
Dr. George and Sandra Bakowski have also pledged $1 million dollars.
The CEA commits Bossier and Shreveport to the following:
a. fund or obtain funds for the design, development and construction/installation of the Project;
b. operate, maintain, secure, repair and replace the Project for a minimum of 20 years;
c. obtain all necessary permits, licenses and rights of way/rights of use for the Project from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development;
d. maintain proper insurance for all work on the Project.
e. complete or substantially complete the Project by Dec. 31, 2121.
The CEA also requires Bossier and Shreveport to reimburse the Waterway Commission if the Project is not maintained for 20 years, subject to a deduction of $50,000 for each year of operation.
The total cost of the Project is not set forth in the Council resolution or the CEA. Thus the potential front-end cost to Bossier and Shreveport is not known. The documents also do not disclose anticipated future costs of the city for maintenance of the Project.
This information should be required by the Council before adopting this resolution.