It may be July, but Mardi Gras will be up for discussion this morning at New Orleans City Hall.
Safety on the parade route will be among the carnival-related issues during today's meeting of the New Orleans City Council's Governmental Affairs Committee.
Council president J.P. Morrell says safety is the main reason the council passed new rules about what can be taken to parades.
"When you have walls of 'houses' and walls of ladders, then people can't get in and off the route, when something does happen, it causes a catastrophic stop in the parade," Morrell said. "When you have easy access to and from the route, not just with people but with those who are trying to help people, things get resolved much faster too and the parade continues to go."
The meeting will also include discussion of possible improvements to the city's Mardi Gras ordinance, and the creation of an official wait list for krewes seeking a parade permit.
