City Council also passes nuisance vehicle ordinance
– New St. Martinville City Council Culture and Tourism Director Michelle Broussard told the City Council about her plans for the city at Monday’s council meeting. St. Martinville Culture, Recreation and Tourism Director, Danielle Fontenette, is retiring and will leave her position in November with the three jobs split into two aspects. Broussard will head the culture and tourism department and thanked Mayor Jason Willis and Councilman Brad Horton for contacting her about the job.
“I’m very excited to be a part of the city,” Broussard said. “I’m born and raised here. I’m actually from the Cade area.
“I am extremely excited and ready to dedicate myself to making the city grow, to making things happen.”
She also thanked Fontenette for helping her in the transition and noted Fontenette served the city for 30 years and wore a lot of hats in the city administration.
Broussard said the city’s stop on the Fête-Dieu du Teche this past weekend was well attended with more than 24 boats and participants from around the city and around the country.
The city also hosted Acadian Day this past weekend in conjunction with the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site.
Upcoming events include invitations to parish and other area schools to visit the city’s museums and historic sites.
“We have the museums, we have the Evangeline Oak, so much to offer,” she said. “We have lots of new bedand- breakfasts coming.”
A cleanup day is scheduled in September in conjunction with the La Belle Ville Civic Club as part of the statewide Love Our Waterways initiative. The city’s cleanup will be from the bridge to the new kayak area, Broussard said.
She added that new City Councilman George Choplin told her that he would like to see his district cleaned up a little bit at a time, and she said that cleaning up a little bit at a time moving down Main Street might be a way to help keep the city clean.
The city’s Main Street Association also is holding a citywide garage sale in conjunction with the Breaux Bridge city garage sale.
The city’s first artwalk and artisan market will be held Oct. 24.
“We have a lot of fine artists here in our community, and I really would like everyone to join in and see what we have,” she said.
The city will hold a Trunk or Treat on South New Market Street in front of City Hall from 2-6 p.m. on Oct. 31.
“Everything that you hear about is on Facebook and we will share in our community calendar,” Broussard said.
Horton asked if local businesses could be contacted when events are happening so they can prepare for visitors to the city.
Broussard said she is working on putting together a list of residents and businesses in the downtown area so the city can inform them of upcoming events.
“I think tourism is very important,” Horton said. “We have a lot of history here in St. Martinville, so I knew we needed a strong tourism director. After Danielle has been here for 30 years, we needed somebody that could do the work to replace her. I knew you were the person.”
He said the tourism department needs to tell visitors where they can eat and stay overnight in town, and Broussard said she and her assistant are working to do that and also to provide information to people moving into the community information about housing and realtors.
Director
Choplin said he is pro business but wants to stress bringing new industries in the area, and said that city parks are important as well as new subdivision developments.
Nuisance vehicles
The council passed an ordinance amending the current ordinance with respect to abandoned and nuisance vehicles on private property.
“We needed to get our ordinance strong enough so we could take action,” the mayor said of the amended ordinance.
The city is prepared to start enforcing the ordinance after it makes another Facebook post along with a media event explaining the new ordinance. Council members also were encouraged to let residents know of the new ordinance.
The ordinance says that any vehicle stored or abandoned on property which is totally inoperable and whose value is less than the cost to repair such vehicle constitutes a public nuisance. Any such vehicles remaining for 30 consecutive days on private property will have a notice attached to the vehicle directing that it be removed from the property within 10 days of the date on the notice. The city may place a sign on the property as close to the nuisance vehicle as practical, as well, providing the notice to remove the vehicle. After that 10 day period the vehicle is subject to being removed by the city or an authorized tow truck operator and may be disposed of pursuant to the Louisiana Towing and Storage Act.
Nuisance vehicle has been left on property without the consent of the owner for three days or more, are subject to having a notice placed on them directing that the nuisance vehicle be removed within 24 hours from the posting of the notice. Any such vehicle not removed with 24 hours may be removed by the city or a tow truck operator authorized by the city, and shall be stored and can be disposed of, the ordin ance states.
In other business
The council gave a property owner 30 days to clean up his property at 725 N. Martin Luther King Drive.
The council also voted to approve a resolution authorizing the city to provide match money for a $500,000 electrical upgrade Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) grant that the city is applying for that would pay for transformers, changing copper lines to aluminum lines and other upgrades on electric poles in the city. The resolution also would authorize the city to move forward with applying for the grant.
In a discussion of the monthly finance report, the mayor said that the city is under budget for the fiscal year, but claims against the city are up to $95,000. The city’s insurance covers the claims but the city has to meet its deductible.
The council also approved an ordinance authorizing the sale of the city’s undivided interest in the lot at the corner of Berard and St. Martin streets to St. Martin Parish Government.
The city owns 92 percent of the property after adjudication. Normally those properties would be sold at auction, city attorney Allan Durand said, but there is an exception that allows sale to a neighbor who has cared for adjoining property, in this case, the parish courthouse properties.
The mayor also reported that the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary hosted its annual picnic at Adam Carlson Park with more than 100 kids and accompanying adults attending.
The city sidewalk project on South Main Street is proceeding after a week off while the state’s funding was being taken care of. The project is expected to be finished in mid-October.
Work on lighting the roundabout south of the city is awaiting a work plan review that must be submitted to the state because the highway is a state road.
The next council meeting is being moved to Aug. 31 because the following Monday, the normal meeting date, falls on Labor Day.
Testing for the four qualifying applicants for the city police chief position is scheduled Sept. 10 at Adam Carlson Park, after which candidates who pass the test will be interviewed by a panel that will make a recommendation to the mayor as to who should be hired as police chief.
