SHS traffic discussion gets heated

In a display of public indignation, Mayor Jennifer Vidrine lambasted Sacred Heart School Principal Diane Fontenot during Wednesday evening’s Ville Platte City Council meeting. The fireworks, however, seem to stem from miscommunication issues.
The council meeting was held a week early because of the upcoming Veterans’ Day holiday. Normally, the regular meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month.
Saying that it was “insulting” and a “great disrespect to this mayor and this council”, Vidrine condemned Fontenot for failing to show up at a public hearing held before the meeting on re-routing traffic flow around Sacred Heart for drop-offs and pick-ups.
Vidrine ordered legal action to stop any attempt to change the current plan without city approval.
“We don’t like to be bullied,” Vidrine said, “and we will not be dictated to.”
The roots of the story go back to September, when Robert Soileau of First Student school bus services presented the re-routing plan to the council. At that meeting Soileau said that he came up with the plan after talking to Fontenot. Soileau presented a letter from Fontenot indicating that she was in favor of the plan.
However, the council decided that it needed more input from affected parents, business owners, and home owners before it approved the plan; so, it scheduled a public hearing in October.
At the October public hearing, Fontenot was present, and she indicated that she had not given Sacred Heart parents a copy of the plan yet. So, the decision was once again put off, until November, so that Fontenot could address the issue with parents.
At the public hearing this past Wednesday, a dozen parents voiced their opposition to the plan. Vidrine indicated that more than 300 people had called her office to voice their opposition, but nobody spoke in favor of the plan.
Fontenot, who was expected at the meeting, did not attend. She also did not contact the mayor prior to the meeting to discuss the situation.
Further complicating the matter, Vidrine said that she received a copy of an email purportedly sent by Fontenot that said a new plan would start on Monday, November 10. The email, however, did not indicate what the new plan would be, leaving confusion as to what was going to happen.
“We’ve been going back-and-forth on this for the last three months,” Vidrine said. “We need to know what plan will be used and how it will affect the traffic of the city.
“It seems like the (Sacred Heart) administration is trying to circumvent or go around us again,” she continued.
The council voted against any plan to re-route the traffic flow. City Attorney Gregory Vidrine was directed to write a letter to that effect and send it to Fontenot, Sacred Heart pastor Rev. Fr. Jason Vidrine, and the Diocese of Lafayette.
The mayor also asked Chief of Police Neil Lartigue to speak with Fontenot and to send officers to the school Monday morning to ensure that no change would take place.
As it turns out, the move for legal action seems to have been premature, caused by miscommunication between the City and Sacred Heart School.
The Ville Platte Gazette contacted Fontenot on Friday for clarification about her absence from the public hearing and about the plans for changing the traffic flow.
Fontenot said that she did not attend the hearing because she was unaware of the change of date. In October, she left the public hearing before the regular council meeting began. When she left, she was still under the impression that the November meeting would be on the second Tuesday of the month.
It was only during the regular meeting that Mayor Vidrine announced that the date of the November meeting was being changed to November 5.
The Sacred Heart principal said that she had not seen any media report indicating the change; and that she was not contacted by the Mayor’s Office to let her know of the change.
Importantly, Fontenot said that she is not planning to re-route the traffic flow on Monday. It is true that new pick-up procedures are going to be put in place for the safety of the students; however, these new procedures would not require changing the traffic flow pattern.
Furthermore, Fontenot pointed out, the original proposal back in September stemmed from a discussion initiated by First Student, not from Sacred Heart School.
In other action, the council approved hiring David Charlie as a full-time police officer.
Vidrine also announced that the city has received a refund of more than $37,000 from Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation. A series of videos promoting Ville Platte is now available on the city’s website, www.cityofvilleplatte.com.
The mayor informed the council that utility bills can be paid online through the website, and that the new, custom-built street sweeper will be ready in January.