Lounge draws complaints at Morgan City Council meeting

Morgan City residents have lodged 10 complaints since Feb. 15 with the city Police Department about Table 5 Lounge, with many of those complaining of loud music.
Hettie J. Carries of Greenwood Street addressed the mayor and council Tuesday about the issue, saying she has to contend with the noise each Friday, Saturday and sometimes on Sunday.
“Every weekend, I have a nauseating headache from the bass and that music. … I call the police. They’ll turn it down. By the time they think the police are gone, they turn it back up again,” she said. “It’s like a game of cat and mouse.”
Carries said she also has heard arguments outside near the bar and has had to call the police after their 2 a.m. closing time because the bar has not closed.
Councilman Rev. Ron Bias said he also has received complaints about the bar. He said one complaint was music coming from the vehicle, among other things.
“They need to know if they want to listen to music, they need to go inside, not have a concert out of their trucks in the parking lot,” he told Morgan City Police Chief James Blair.
Blair said the Police Department has talked to Table 5’s owners and management to try to come to an understanding so they can “co-exist” in the neighborhood with the residents.
“If that doesn’t work, we plan on issuing citations and taking further action,” he said. “We’ve also been in contact with the Alcohol Tobacco Control to make frequent checks in regards to the other situation there.”
The chief said until the Alcohol Tobacco Control can visit the facility and “a more stringent check” can be done, police will make half-hour patrols, starting at 10 p.m. on Fridays. He said they will walk through the facility and will be onsite at 2 a.m. to make sure operations should run as they should.
“It might not be overnight, Ms. Hettie, but I can guarantee you they’re going to get to the bottom of it and we’re going to make it where you are satisfied with the noise level over there,” Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna said of the police department.
Carries also complained of debris and mobile homes on the property.
“It’s trashy as all get out,” she said. “I’ve had rats in my yard.”
City Compliance Officer Pete Lawton said he had spoken with someone in the family that owns Table 5 about the mobile homes recently and they want to demolish one of them. The other one, they are trying to locate the owner.
“As far as the trash … we do have a court order that the city can go in there and clean it up,” Lawton said. “That was a couple years ago that that took place, but we do have a court order on that that they are aware of that we can go clean it up.”
Dragna said the city will look at the court order and if they can legally clean it up, they will and assess the business’ tax bill for the fees.
“That’s all you can do,” he said. “I mean, you give them two years and they don’t do it, then they don’t expect to do it.”
In other property matters, the city introduced an ordinance to surplus the Joseph J. Cefalu Jr. Municipal Steam Plant. By law, the property has to be sold at public bid. However, because they can advertise three times in 15 days, on April 18, a special meeting will be held at City Hall for the second reading and expected adoption so the city can capitalize on the current prices for scrap, which Dragna said are “extremely high.”
Lawton also updated the council on two unoccupied residences the council took action on at their February meeting and one property they deferred action on contingent upon the owners taking action to remedy issues.
Lawton said demolition of a home at 107 Oak St. should begin soon, while plans are in place to demolish a home at 514 Federal Ave. The city is paying for the demolition of the homes and then is billing the owners.
He said the property owners at 1330 Oil Tank Alley have informed him a contractor is finishing a job and then they will be there.
“Probably in the next couple of weeks they’re going to get started on that,” Lawton said.
Dragna instructed Lawton to have the contractor send a letter stating why there is a delay and when they will be at the site to begin work.