Ville Platte City Council Meeting
January 10, 2023
The Ville Platte City Council Tuesday heard from Linda Fontenot who is in charge of a program to help young people called “Save Our Community Kids Adventure Camp”. Her group plans activities and events for young people including workshops the arts and science. Her headquarters is on Jack Miller Road. This past year, her group mentored some 35 young people.
Ville Platte Mayor Ryan LeDay Williams, in his mayo’s report announced that the city will be adding another retail business that will bring in another 40-50 new direct jobs to our area. The mayor said the agreement with the new firm forbids him from disclosing more information about the business. He said ground breaking will take place late this summer.
The city council reviewed the cost of utility deposits in the city as compared to deposits that residents in other municipalities are paying. It was learned that Ville Platte residents are paying more than in other comparable size cities. No action was taken by the council.
The council approved annexing property along US 167 Opelousas road from Crimson Lane to the East Side Water system office.
Fire Chief Chris Soileau reported there were 22 incidents for the month of December including two grass fires and two building fires. For the year 2023, the fire department worked 308 fire incidents. The Ville Platte City Council approved a request to raise the salaries of paid firefighters by two percent for a cost of $8800 a year. The city approved the hiring of Chirstopher Jordan Dupre as a new firefighter.
Police Chief Al Perry Thomas reported there were 784 calls for December. The police wrote 8 traffic tickets, made 28 arrests including 7 felony arrests, and worked 27 traffic accidents and one fatality. The city approved hiring John Christophel and Javonte Freeman as new police officers.
In other business, the city:
--Approved advertising for bids for the refurbishing of 19 sewer lift stations using funds from a five million dollar grant;
--voted to name Councilwoman Anna Frank as Mayor Pro tem for the year 2024;
-approved moving the February council meeting date to Feb. 6 due to the Mardi Gras holiday.