The Ville Platte City Council during its meeting Tuesday night voiced their approval for a new apartment units to be built on the corner of Lincoln and Tate Cove Roads.
Rhett Holmes appeared before the council on behalf of a Georgia company that builds and manages similar units in over 30 states across the nation including ones in Winnfield. He stated that the plans call for 56 apartments with one, two, or three bedrooms.
Holmes explained that the property will also include a playground, a four-mile walking trail, and “a community center with a computer lab and space that will be furnished for people to have parties inside the community.”
There will also be a picnic area with grills for the residents to use.
“We have submitted for funding through the Louisiana Housing Corporation as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture for debt and equity,” said Holmes.
He further said, “We would serve the working class of Ville Platte. It’s not a rental subsidy property. You have to have a job and you have to pay your rent. There are no handouts that will be given, but it does provide a quality apartment for an affordable price.”
According to Holmes, the rent will range from $300.00 for a one bedroom apartment to between $650.00 and $700.00 for a three bedroom apartment. He also explained that the property would be constructed using local contractors and vendors.
Holmes further expressed that there will be a substantial amount of security that will include surveillance cameras and lighting. “These are the best things we can do,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of other processes from gates to police officers, but we believe strongly that surveillance cameras and gates are the best way to deter.”
Mayor Jennifer Vidrine stated her position in opposition to the apartment units because the city’s vision is to “move toward single family homes with a yard to give people some pride and ownership and a stake in their community instead of having people next to each other and on top of each other in an apartment complex.”
To the mayor’s point, Councilman Bryant Riggs said, “This is a start of owning your own home because if you can afford $700.00 a month for rent then you should be able to afford a house of your own later own.”
He said that residents can live in these apartments while they are building their credit to where it needs to be so that they can buy a home.
Riggs added, “We do need rental apartments also because, if you look at some of the crappy houses that people are renting around here, people can move up like the Jeffersons.”
Councilman Mike Perron, who represents the district where the units will be located, stated his concerns about the property. “Lincoln Road is such a narrow road, and these apartments would be behind two subdivisions and in my constituents’ backyards,” he said. “My constituents are concerned that people will walk the streets and cut across their backyards.”
In response to that, Holmes said, “There are a lot of things we can do to help mitigate that through landscaping and through an ingress only or no vehicular access on one side of the property.”
The council agreed to sign letters confirming the zoning and that utilities are available to the site.
Mayor Vidrine earlier in the meeting reported that the city spent $183,472.29 this month which is $78,837.34 less than the previous month. She said, “This is the first month of the new fiscal year, so it’s good to see that we are starting with a month where we are saving and spending less money.”
The mayor also reported about Dominos Pizza coming to Ville Platte along with a Church’s and a possible yogurt restaurant.
In other business, the council:
• voted to submit the Louisiana Compliance Questionnaire for audit engagement.
• hired Cedric Jackson and Dalon Maricle as full time patrolmen and Crystal Vidrine as a part time dispatcher for the police department.
• appointed Danyon Charles as gas supervisor.
• approved a request to close Trojan Lane for the Sacred Heart Trojan Day set for August 18.
• heard from Charles Guillory who is running for Evangeline Parish Sheriff.
• introduced an ordinance for the disposal of city vehicles.
• granted alcohol permits for Terryl Jackson of the Flat Town Culinary Academy for the end of the year banquet on July 20 and for Ziyad Machni who is the new owner of Main Street Pub and Grill.
• and tabled an alcohol permit for Margo H. Fontenette who plans on opening a sports bar at the old Whistle Stop on LaSalle Street next to the railroad tracks because the City needs to see if the location is at least 150 feet from residential areas as per ordinance.
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TONY MARKS Associate Editor