The Ville Platte City Council discussed at its meeting Tuesday what to do with an unexpected workers’ comp check, a new police tip app, and how to keep police officers in Ville Platte.
Mayor Jennifer Vidrine announced the city received an unexpected LWCC workers’ comp dividend check in the amount of $224,174.31. She urged the council to use the money to approve the purchase of a new backhoe. She also said they need a bucket lift truck which is used to cut branches. She asked to use this money for the big equipment instead of using LGAP grant money. Councilman Mike Perron agreed with Vidrine in that the city does need a backhoe. Councilman Bryant Riggs asked questions about cost and if leasing would be better than buying. Vidrine said a new backhoe would cost $70,000 - $75,000, and leasing would cost $80,000 for a five-year period. Vidrine told the council they could talk about other pieces of equipment they could use the money for besides the lift truck, but she stressed the urgency of needing a backhoe. Riggs strongly suggested looking at all their options before they make a decision. The council agreed to look into the purchasing process of a new backhoe and see if purchasing or leasing one would be more feasible. The mayor asked the council to discuss the remainder of the money and make a decision for the next meeting.
In other action, Police Chief Neil Lartigue said he has taken a detective and put him on patrol. He now has one detective and three patrolmen. “I’m working one man per shift,” he said. “We train them and they leave.” He said he has one graduating next month, and one who is post-certified to hire, and three others to hire, which would bring him up to eight on patrol. Mayor Vidrine asked if the money not used for officers hired in previous months can be used to hire part time, certified people. Lartigue said that money is being used for the dispatchers’ salaries. He has three dispatchers, including a part-timer.
Vidrine said there is money in the budget for 10 patrol officers. Lartigue said 10 officers would give him three at night, and two on the day shift. He said he has no sergeants, and the captain has resigned. Riggs asked if they need a captain. Lartigue said he has no plans to fill that position. Riggs asked if he could take the captain’s salary and use it to give the officers raises to keep them in Ville Platte. Lartigue said he can definitely look into it. Riggs looked at the captain’s salary and said, “You break it down to 10 officers, that’s $310 extra a month, that comes out to $3,720 more a year. That’s not bad. I think we can make that work. That will bring the officer’s salary close to $29 an hour in Ville Platte.”
Riggs said, “But it can be done. I’m going off straight salary.”
Lartigue said, “Also we have to consider other officers at the department who have seniority.”
Vidrine asked to let the chief look at the money and see how it goes and come back with the recommendation. Riggs said the problem is keeping the start-up officers who leave to other cities for more money. Officers sign two-year contracts saying they will stay in Ville Platte for two years. If they leave, they must repay the money the city put into them to train them.
There was also discussion about funding dispatchers or doing away with them and letting 911 take over emergency police calls. The council has discussed this at previous meetings. They wanted to give current dispatchers time to find another job, either within the police department or helping them to get a job at 911 as a dispatcher. Riggs suggested the police department should always keep a dispatcher there. The council discussed not having anyone at the front desk of the police station at night, but keeping the lobby open so that anyone can go in to use the phone in case of an emergency. The council agreed to do some research and make a decision next month.
The council approved the hire of four police officers, one of which is post-certified, and one part-time jailer. In his report, Lartigue said the department responded to 379 calls for assistance, which included 16 arrests, 15 of which were felony arrests in October. He said there were no fatalities.
Vidrine discussed TIP411, a new app which lets citizens anonymously give tips on crimes to the police. She said, with the board’s approval, it should take about a month to get it going. “I think it’s great. I’ve checked with police chiefs in Maine, New York, also smaller areas around here in Louisiana, and they love it,” she said. “They said since they started this program, tips have been coming in that have literally helped them solve crimes, and that’s for municipalities of all sizes. The public is happy with it and the police are happy with it. They also will train the police department on getting the tips.” The first round will be a three-year cycle, paid by December 31. The police department will select the person who will monitor the tips. TIP411 is for tips, not for emergencies. As always, 911 is for emergencies.
In other business, the board approved the promotion of Fabian Poullard to Assistant Fire Chief to replace Blake Perron who retired. Two people passed the civil service test for assistant fire chief, however the rules state the person with the most seniority who passes the test must get the promotion. Poullard has been with the department for 18 years. They also approved the promotion of Scott Dupre to Fire Captain. Dupre has also been with the department for 18 years. Fire Chief Chris Harrison said, during the month of October, the department responded to two structure fires, six grass fires, one trash fire, four alarm activations, one vehicle extractions, three vehicle fires, one gas spill, 12 service calls for a total of 30, and there were no fatalities.
Vidrine said the LGAP application is due in December. Initially, they wanted to use the LGAP to purchase large equipment, such as a new backhoe, but with the workers’ comp dividend check, she would rather use that for equipment, and use the LGAP to purchase more and better security cameras. She said that was a more urgent need due to high crime and shootings at night. She said shooting in the air at night has run rampant. “Every weekend or so we can hear the shots that are going up in the air,” said Vidrine.
Riggs said, “Can we use the money for a part-time officer’s salary instead. I’m not saying I’m not for the cameras, but the cameras haven’t been giving us the bang for our buck.” He said because the crime is so high, he’d rather put another officer on the street instead of a camera which would not be able to catch every gun shot.
City Engineer Ronnie Landreneau said the LGAP does not cover salaries. Vidrine said the new cameras operate by itself, on its own simcard and its own broadband. She said the company is located in Crowley, and they would service the cameras and existing cameras and replace them as needed. Landreneau said part of the resolution would need to be an amount of money. As a city, they could apply for a significant amount of money, up to $100,000. He said about the most money they’ve seen was $30,000, and the legislature was appropriating more funds. He said they could ask for whatever amount, but they would only get about $30,000. Vidrine recommended asking for the maximum amount and seeing what they can get. Landreneau said he would double check the maximum amount. Vidrine said the cost of each camera is about $10,000 for the revolving cameras. The council made that motion to apply to LGAP to cover costs for new cameras.
The council also approved a water enrichment application for the cleaning of three water tower tanks. The application is similar to the LGAP in that, if they ask for $100,000, they might get $30,000.
Mayor Vidrine announced expenses for September were $219,235.01, while expenses for October were $183,916.12, meaning $35,318.89 less in October. She also said they are having problems with companies not getting permits to work in town. She also announced the Christmas parade is set for Sunday, December 1st at 5:30 p.m. Registration is through the Chamber of Commerce.
May 26, 2026
