St. Martinville – At this month’s Public Works Committee meeting, Parish President Guy Cormier added 21 paved roads to his wish list for the parish’s 2012 Road and Street Improvement Project.

Reconstruction of these roads – along with paving of some 25 miles of aggregate (limestone or gravel) roads – will be put out for bids next month with a contract possibly awarded in June.

Cormier said he’s hopeful all the roads can be done. If the bids come in too high, the roads will be prioritized according to a cost-to-benefit ratio derived by dividing the estimated cost by the number of residences.

Cormier praised the Parish Council for letting the engineers set the priorities rather than fighting for projects in their respective districts.

“In other parishes this would have become a territorial battle,” he said.

The estimated $6.1 million for both projects will be financed with $7 million in bond sold at a very low interest rate through the Louisiana Local Government Environmental Facilities and Community Development Authority, or LCDA.