Governor Jindal visits Ville Platte with good news

Governor Bobby Jindal visited Ville Platte Friday, December 27, at the Evangeline Parish Courthouse to bring good news, as Evangeline Parish will be receiving 14 generators thanks to a $1.2 million CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) grant.
Jindal addressed an audience in the courthouse, stating the new generators are intended to help better prepare communities for emergencies and allow access to key utility services during and immediately after storms.
The generators have been placed at the Evangeline Parish Health Unit in Ville Platte; the Chataignier Fire Station; lift stations in Chataignier, Mamou and Basile; sewer treatment plants in Ville Platte and Pine Prairie; and at the largest well in Turkey Creek.
“Today’s announcement is great news for Evangeline Parish,” Jindal said. “Communities here were without power for up to five days after Hurricane Gustav, leaving our people without critical public utilities and services. These new generators will give parish officials the ability to respond faster and keep utilities up and running in the event of a future disaster. This funding is part of the money we committed to continue recovery after Gustav and Ike here in this area. Realizing that local control of disaster funds is the best and quickest way to get a community back up and running and prepared for future storms, we dedicated more dollars directly to parishes to reduce bureaucratic roadblocks that were delaying those efforts. Parishes now have more influence over where these dollars are best invested for maximum impact, allowing these funds to be invested faster and directly into local communities that need them most.”
In attendance were several local politicians and dignitaries, including Evangeline Parish Police Jury President Bryan Vidrine; Police Juror Lamar Johnson; Ville Platte Mayor Pro-Tem Donald Sam; Ville Platte City Councilman Mike Perron; Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court Randy Deshotel; Evangeline Parish Public Works Director Donald Bergeron; Representative Bernard LeBas; and Mamou Mayor Ricky Fontenot.