KILLIAN - The Board of Aldermen voted to temporarily dissolve the police department and bring on Livingston Parish Sheriff's deputies to patrol, and the mayor gave an update on the water system at Killian's Tuesday night meeting.

At the start of the meeting, Mayor Caleb Atwell said he received an email from Waggoner Engineering, a construction engineering company brought on by the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to assist with Killian's water problems. Atwell said the email concerned Magnolia Water, a private utility company, and GOHSEP's discussion of sale terms.

Magnolia Water still expressed interest in purchasing the town's water system. Atwell said Waggoner would still be in charge until a sale transfer was complete.

Additionally, the board voted to continue to allow Sherman Mack, an attorney brought on by the town to assist in the Municipal Police Employees Retirement System settlement, to continue negotiating. Shortly after taking office, Atwell said the MPERS let Killian know it was violating state law by never enrolling in the system.

According to previous reporting, the town owed over $370,000, which the mayor said was close to the town's yearly budget. Mack said the town will likely pay $50,000 in the settlement.

"I think it's a viable settlement. What it will do is allow you to go from July 1 [of 2024] forward," Mack said.

Then, the board moved to the cooperative endeavor agreement with the Livingston Sheriff's Office, which would cost the town up to $100,000 a year, starting at the end of January.

"The police department ran, spent $18,000 a month for the last six months," Atwell said. "Based off the projection that I did, if we try to keep the police department, even with the reduction in staff, between September and October, based off historical trends, our bank account balance goes negative."

Per the agreement, the town would keep the police chief on part-time, paying the chief $1,000 a month.

Many at the meeting spoke against the decision.

"For the thousand dollars a month, how much is the chief working? How many hours a week? How many hours a month for a measly less than minimum wage rate of a thousand dollars?" one resident asked.

"I would rather our chief get a livable, wonderful salary and have a vehicle that runs, that is dependable, and keep the rest of the money here," another said.

The board voted to move forward with the cooperative endeavor agreement between the town and the sheriff's office. After public comment closed, Atwell said he would propose a funding resolution at the next town meeting to create a new sales tax to pay for the police department. The board also voted to approve sending surplus police vehicles to auction.