City council agrees to help chamber with cost of new roof

The Ville Platte City Council agreed to help fund replacement of the roof over the building on West Main Street that houses the Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce, the parish tourism commission and the Acadiana Works offices.
Chamber Director Camille Fontenot told the council, during its monthly meeting Tuesday, February 11, “As I speak, it’s raining in our building.”
She outlined repairs the chamber and tourism has paid for, including to the roof, but that the condition of the roof is beyond repair and needs to be replaced.
Fontenot briefed the council on provisions of a contact stating tenants of the city-owned building are not responsible for more than $1,200 a year in maintenance costs. She said previous estimates of the cost of replacing the roof are between $8,000 and $10,000.
The chamber director also said computers have not been damaged because of the leaks in the roof, but she said the computers could be damaged if the roof isn’t replaced.
Mayor Jennifer Vidrine, who said she has seen the damage in the chamber building due to the leaking roof, asked Fontenot to provide an estimate for replacing the roof. At the mayor’s request, Fontenot said she would ask Acadiana Works to contribute to the cost of replacing the roof.
At the beginning of the council meeting, Mayor Vidrine thanked Cliff Fontenot, the city’s public works director, and others who responded to a major water leak on Super Bowl Sunday that caused low water pressure in the city. The leak was found in a field, and the problem was corrected by about 1:30 a.m.
In other business:
•The council approved a liquor license to Ha U Want It Creole Seasoning, which will have its first gumbo cook-off at the Northside Park pavilion Sunday, March 2. Proceeds from the cook-off will be donated the the new Boys and Girls Club of Ville Platte.
•Engineer Ronnie Landreneau reported that 1,350 “smart meters” have been installed and are being automatically read electronically. He said a total of 3,000 of the remotely read water meters will be installed.
•Fire Chief Ted Demourelle reported that his department responded to 14 calls in Ville Platte in January, seven of them structure fires. Police Chief Neal Lartigue reported police received 670 calls for assistance in January. Police issued 21 citations in January, and responded to 29 vehicle accidents. No fatalities were reported by fire and police departments.
•Mayor Vidrine said people can still call city hall to schedule free assistance to fill out income tax forms. People also can call city hall to sign up for four-hour sessions designed to improve ACT scores to be eligible for scholarships. Sessions in March will prepare students for ACT tests in April, and more sessions will be held before September ACT tests. Cost to attend a session, which the mayor said is guaranteed to raise the ACT test scores, is $50 per session.