The Ville Platte Housing Authority continued a discussion the board began several months ago regarding the addition of security cameras to housing complexes in the city.
When this topic was first discussed by the board, the decision was made to not add cameras but instead put more lighting at each facility. However, when the board convened for its meeting last Tuesday, Bo Soileau from ISS (Information Systems Solutions) addressed board members once again regarding trying to make adding cameras feasible for the housing authority.
One of the biggest issues Soileau said was that the cameras would have to be hooked up to electricity in a resident’s apartment. If the resident moved out and the electricity was cut off then the camera would no longer work.
To alleviate this problem, the housing authority would have to invest in having a service system at each housing complex. In total the housing authority was looking at installing a total of 17 cameras, which would require eight service systems.
With the possibility of having a reliable security camera system put in place looking meek, Soileau suggested that the board could reach out to Ville Platte native Cody Perron, who is an “ex-military guy” starting a business that focuses on helping schools deal with intruders. Soileau said, “You can reach out to him and see if there is some grant or some other way he could help you guys with this project.”
The board agreed seeking assistance from Perron was the best option for the housing authority at this time.
During the meeting, the board also received an update on additional lighting they requested to have added at the housing authority.
Executive Director Grant Soileau said, “CLECO did come and we rode around and added some light in some areas and changed the position of some light.”
This effort began to help prevent crime at the housing authority. According to Grant, four lights were added, including one on Chataignier St. and another on S. Soileau St.
The board then moved on to discuss the police contract it has with the Ville Platte Police Department to provide security at the different housing complexes.
Ville Platte Chief of Police Neal Lartigue shared that the previous administrator for this program is no longer with his department. Therefore he recommended GiJuan Anderson become the new administrator and the board agreed.
The board went on to discuss a topic that has lingered on for several months now involving increased water bills.
During the last board meeting it was discovered that a water meter had been read wrong for several months and caused the housing authority’s water bill to drastically increase.
According to Grant, he has met with city officials and reviewed all the bills. Doing his own calculation, he said “it looks like we should be credited $13,000,” or “the auditor said we can deduct it that amount from our PILOT (payment in leu of taxes) taxes we pay each year.”
At this time, Grant said they are just waiting to hear back from the mayor before deciding how to proceed.
Other items approved were:
•Daniel Arvie appointed as board Chairman.
•David Ortego appointed as board Vice Chairman.
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ELIZABETH WEST Managing Editor