Notes, Quotes From ODD Meeting
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
There weren’t many decisions made last week during a September Opelousas Downtown Development District meeting, but there was enough dialogue and planning to create an informative 90 minutes.
Three appointed members — Sarah Branton, Rob Hilliard and Stephen Daste — were absent.
Donald D’Avy, Ogen Pitre and Pat Fontenot attended the monthly meeting at the St. Landry Parish Economic District office on Interstate 49.
Main Street Program
Gretchen Erlingson and Melanie LeBouef represented Downtown Main Street.
Erlingston commented on the collaborative effort between the ODD and Main Street in seeking grant funding.
In October Erlingston said Main Street plans to host planning sessions that will be open to the public.
Big Grant Funding
Main Street and the ODD have also been active in maintaining $10,000 Big Grant funding matches for downtown business.
Executive chairperson Lena Charles said there evidently have been problems with some businesses that have applied for grants this year.
Charles said some individuals have attempted to use the funding to rehabilitate their structures, rather than providing enhancement, which is outlined in the grant funding criteria.
Instead of continuing to use a committee to approve the big grants, Charles suggested having the Board provide the approvals or rejections.
Charles added that the Citizens For New Louisiana have made a public records request in connection with the Big Grant program.
Certified Business Sites
Charles said that there has been a recent movement among state economic officials to designate property in downtown areas and strip malls as candidates for certified sites.
In the past site certification has occurred only for large tracts of land which were normally located in unincorporated areas.
M&M Associates Contract
The M&M Associates group led by former Opelousas CAO Purvis Morrison is being awarded another six-months contract at a cost of $1,500 per month.
ODD has previously agreed to let M&M Associates oversee details of the $4.36 million Community Center construction in South City Park.
Morrison attended the meeting remotely and said the Community Center will be available to host medical events, work force meetings and after school events for children.
The Center is due for completion by the end of December, said Morrison.
Stadium Update
Parks and Recreation Director Chris Rideau said the stadium has been hosting youth and high school football games weekly since the end of August.
Rideau said the dark screens recently attached to the stadium fences are being used to hang commercial partnership advertising banners. Seven banners have already been sold, said Rideau.
There are also plans,said Rideau, to use South City Park for the annual Family Fest Event.
Code Enforcement
Code Enforcement Director Lance Ned said code enforcement has started inspecting downtown buildings in order to determine their suitability for commerce.
Ned reminded the ODD that during an August site assessment of the Bordelon Motors property across from City Hall, that traces of arsenic were found among the soil sampling from an environmental group hired by the city.
The ODD provided city funding in order to perform the environmental assessment, but Ned indicated that more money might be necessary in order to determine the seriousness of the contamination which was taken from soil samples that were taken down to six feet deep.
