By: HEATHER BOGARD
Associate Editor
Rotarian and Ville Platte Mayor Ryan Leday Williams welcomed LUS (Lafayette Utilities Systems) Fiber Interim Director and Electricity, Water and Sewer Director Jeffery Stewart and Chief Engineer Eric Grimmet as the guest speakers for the March 26, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club. Williams stated he had been working on trying to bring fiber optic broadband Internet service to the parish since 2019 during his term as president of the Evangeline Parish Police Jury. The Acadiana Planning Commission asked him what the biggest need for Evangeline Parish was, and Williams said broadband connectivity. Williams said the police jury, along with APC and LUS, applied for a grant in the amount of $20 million through the federal government’s broadband infrastructure program and was successful in obtaining the grant.
Williams noted he was glad the police jury chose LUS as they are a state of the art company that can provide high connectivity which is vital for growing our communities. “I am thrilled for this opportunity to enhance the quality of life for our residents, increase business opportunities, and support our education and telemed services, just to name a few,
he stated. Williams added, “Grants take time but I’m glad I’m still around to see it come to fruition.”
Stewart, a 1996 graduate of Sacred Heart High School in Ville Platte, gave a brief history of LUS, noting it was originally formed in the 1890s when Lafayette voted to create its own electricity/water/sewer utility systems. Over the years, LUS continued to expand and currently, serves 75,000 customers (200,000 people). LUS Fiber was created in 2005 to create a fiber system in Lafayette to improve reliability, which has drastically improved over the last 20 years. As there is extra capacity on the system, LUS voted to create LUS Fiber and sell the service retail to homes in Lafayette. This infrastructure turned into great economic development and has attracted businesses to locate here due to the enhance upload and download speeds necessary to conduct business in the office or remotely to offices out of state. Stewart said, “Everybody that associates with LUS Fiber believes in the business plan, the product itself and the services provided.”
LUS now has a multi-fiber system and Stewart shared he wants to see Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish succeed. He said, “It took a while to get to this point, but we are on the brink of serving customers starting in April.” Stewart said the company wants to provide the best service it can and do things the right way.
Grimmet noted about 780,000 of one million feet of lines have been placed to date, saying they are working up through Church Point, Eunice, Chataignier, Ville Platte and then sneaking back up to Pine Prairie and Mamou. He said some customers will begin being served in April in certain areas and other areas will be wrapped up by the end of summer. Stewart added, “I don’t want to say ‘pay more’ because the product is better. The product employs a different type of technology that costs a little more. We are going to be as competitive as we can.”
Stewart noted there are more grant opportunities available with a goal of serving underserved customers. There are another couple of rounds of competitive grants coming to Louisiana to the tune of over $1 billion with a goal of serving underserved areas in Louisiana with broadband. The awarded funds must be spent within two years, so Stewart said to be prepared to see a lot of activity throughout the state. Grimmet continued, “There are multiple providers doing this so hopefully five years from now everyone is connected and we are not left behind.”
President Brian Ardoin reminded members the annual spring social will be held Tuesday, April 16, at the Group Camp at Chicot Park at 6 p.m. A barbecue meal will be served and The Browning Onions will provide musical entertainment. Ardoin also announced the District Conference is planned for April 19th - 24th in Gonzales. The board suggested bringing smoked sausage to represent Ville Platte at the Food Fest during the conference.
The next Rotary meeting will be held Tuesday, April 2, with a program presented by Rotarian Beau Wilson.
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