VP City Council hires five cops, one firefighter

The Ville Platte City Council hired five new police patrolmen and a fireman at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening.
The new patrolmen met all department standards, and three of them are Peace Officer Standards Training certified. Nathaniel Leday, Ryan Ferguson, Samuel Tidwell, Chad Romero, and Ramone West were hired.
The Council hired Kyle Dupre as a firefighter.
Mayor Jennifer Vidrine asked for the Council to approve an increase in the cell phone allowance for herself and Police Chief Neil Lartigue, as well as new allowances for two city employees.
Citing the need to access the city’s street safety cameras through the internet, Vidrine said that the increased allowance would enable her and the chief to monitor the cameras whenever necessary.
“It takes a lot of gigs” to stream the video feed, she told the Council.
The Council voted to increase Vidrine’s and Lartigue’s monthly allowance to $125. The two city employees had their allowances set at $60 per month.
Vidrine and City Engineer Ronnie Landreneau told the Council that residents can expect to find city workers changing out their water meters. Landreneau said that some of the recently installed meters had a defect and a recall. The company selling the Iperl meters will be replacing all of the meters with the next generation model at no cost to the city.
Landreneau also said that Phase Three of the water project to replace worn water mains will continue after the holiday break. Currently the work is being done in the Woods section of Ville Platte. The next phase will be to replace the lines along Main and LaSalle streets.
After the water project is completed, Vidrine said, the city will begin making needed street repairs.
In related business, Vidrine said that she is still waiting on word whether city is approved for a $1 million grant to make repairs at the sewage plant. However, she said, if the grant is not approved, then the city has been approved for a $5 million loan with “practically no interest.”
“But,” she said, “we would only use the loan if we don’t’ get the grant.”
In other business, the Council approved applying for a nearly $200,000 grant to upgrade the fire department. Vidrine said that the money would be used to buy a new ladder truck. She also said that the city is still looking at upgrading or rebuilding a fire station on Magnolia Street.
According to Vidrine, the Ville Platte Boys and Girls Club will open as scheduled on June 1. The mayor asked specifically for volunteers for the VITA program that helps adults learn how to read.
“We need 10 volunteers” for VITA, she said. These volunteers would be trained on helping adults learn to read. She said that anyone wishing to volunteer in any way for the Boys and Girls Club can contact city hall.
The Council approved an agreement to sponsor the Summer Feeding Program this year, as it has done in past years.
Finally, because of the Mardi Gras holiday, the Council agreed to move the date of the February regular meeting from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11, still at 5:00 pm. It also approved the list of 2016 city government holiday closures. The list remains unchanged from last year.