Lots of information was brought before the Town of Kinder’s council on Monday night, February 6, highlighting bridge issues, financing, updates to healthcare and new services being offered.
Jacob Dillehay
Dillehay, parish engineer for the Allen Parish Police Jury, discussed the Park Road Bridge and the options available to make repairs to the structure, which has some structure deficiencies that could lead to it being shut down by DOTD at its next inspection. He said the town has some options, including a constructing a wood bridge, installing a steel bridge, which is structurally as strong as a concrete bridge, or having DOTD construct a concrete bridge.
Dillehay explained he located a company that would install a steel bridge and invited Kinder Mayor Wayland LaFargue to attend a meeting where they learned more about the structure. If Kinder chooses to have a steel bridge installed, it would make history as the first site of a steel bridge.
There are several pros to pursuing this structure. It costs a third of what a DOTD-style bridge would cost at approximately $300,000 to $350,000. It’s designed to last almost as long as a concrete bridge. Steel would last about 75 years and a DOTD bridge about 80 years. It would take about a month to install a steel bridge,
A DOTD project would require funding be designated for the project first, and then it takes about 18 months to replace a concrete structure and costs about $1.1 million. If the parish would choose to do a wood bridge, that design would only last about 15 to 20 years.
The parish and town made a request to Senator Heather Cloud and Representative Dewith Carrier for appropriations to replace the bridge since about 1,000 vehicles and school buses use this bridge daily making it one of the highest traffic areas on a bridge in the parish. The two agencies could do the pre-work by taking the bridge out. Its pilings and caps need to be replaced.
He also said they have the materials on hand to put a band-aid on the project by doing temporary repairs if needed. Dillehay said it took six months to get those materials. He said they are waiting to see which route they will pursue.
Senator Cloud said she was excited about the steel possibility since it would be the first one in the state, cost a third less than a DOTD bridge and take about a fourth of the time to install it. She also noted it would last just as long. She said the session starts April 10, and meets for two months to tackle the budget. She said the earliest the governor would sign the project into law would be August which meant funds would not be available until after that signing date. She said both she and Carrier would work to get the appropriations for the bridge.
She said many rural communities had difficulty replacing bridges which often led to them being closed to traffic. If this new process is a success in Kinder, she said it would benefit the rest of the state.
Dillehay also discussed the parish’s new process on handling adjudicated property using its GIS system on its website. There is a booklet that tells persons, interested in bidding for adjudicated property, how to utilize the digital system and guides one on finding the information on the property, making a request to bid, etc. He said they are hoping this process will be streamlined, but no one has utilized the new process yet. He said its basically a digital shopping list for the parish. He also noted the jury cannot sell adjudicated property for Kinder, and the mayor suggested the town getting on the same page, which would benefit the town also.
Senator Cloud
Cloud congratulated the town on securing a $3.7 million water sector grant. She said it was a very competitive process. With Kinder being awarded the grant, she said it meant they submitted a good application. She said so many towns were competing for this money and didn’t receive any.
“The benchmarks were high, and many fell short because of their application,” she said.
Cloud also briefed the council on the recent special session to fund insurance companies and retain them in Louisiana. She said it was a band-aid of putting $45 million for this purpose, and she said they would have to look at options in the future.
She said insurance companies can apply for two to $10 million, if they are willing to participate in the Louisiana market. The insurance company has to match the grant, and then write four-times that number in policies. The participating insurance companies must stay in the state for five years. She said the process would go into effect immediately, and despite some of the negative comments from the press, she believed it would help the Louisiana insurance market.
She said safeguards were put into place to make sure participating companies followed through. She also said this would help many, like those utilizing Citizen policies, which had increased 65 percent last year.
She said residents in the Citizens program couldn’t receive insurance in the private market sector. Due to the increase in premium costs, she said many were losing their homes. She believed this would help all Louisiana residents secure insurance at better premiums.
“It’s only a temporary fix. We have to go back and fix the foundation,” Cloud said.
Representative
Carrier
Carrier said he was busy preparing to file local bills for the April session. He gave two examples – one for a fire district asking to raise per diem from $30 to $100 and one to change the maximum charge for cemetery plots from $350 to $1,000.
Jackie Reviel
Reviel, AP Community Healthcare CEO, gave a quick update on the hospital’s construction project to update healthcare in the parish. She said, “It’s such an honor to give something like that back to the community,”
Reviel reviewed the recent ribbon cutting of the new Allen Parish Rural Health Clinic (held January 12). She said its been 53 years since the hospital opened, and the new facility is going up on the west side of the old building.
Once completed it will feature two new ER rooms, a GI suite, lab and imaging services, etc. She said the steel has been ordered and is on site. They are waiting for the ground to dry, so concrete can be poured for the new structure. Many will see the steel frame coming up soon. She said the completion date is April 10, 2024.
“I appreciate all the hard work our team does to provide healthcare services to this community. We are so excited.”
Lewis Williams
Williams, chief deputy, discussed the digital changes at the Allen Parish Tax Assessor’s office, especially utilizing the GIS system, as well as keeping the traditional books up-to-date for parish residents. He also gave a brief job description of the assessor’s office, and encouraged everyone to visit the office and look at the mapping system on their website. He said he could walk council members through the process of using the mapping system, which he explained was made possible through funding from the assessor’s office, police jury, sheriff and school board.
Williams encouraged residents to let the assessor’s office know if their property lines were not accurate on the mapping system.
“Our end goal is heading toward quicker service for our residents.”
He noted his experience was in customer service and how important it was to serve customers. He said time frames have also changed due to the new technological features the office is utilizing.
Thomas Mayes
Mayes, a member of the District 2 Drainage board, asked the town to split the costs of cleaning the ditch, located between state Highways 165 and 383. The council agreed. He said they would have the settlement removed during the cleaning process. He said they would probably remove two to three loads of settlement. He also gave a brief description of some of their other projects, and said the would do as much as they could to help the area’s drainage with the funds they were given.
Other business
In other business, the council approved the resignation of Christian Guillory at the Kinder Police Department. Matt Smith of Oberlin was hired as a patrolman. Cheri Rougeau was hired as a part-time dispatcher.
The mayor was named to the LMGA Board of Directors to represent Kinder. The board helps secure gas prices and purchases. His alternate will be City Clerk Traci Fontenot.
The council did table the matter of introducing an ordinance for special permits regarding the movement of trailers, older than six years, into Kinder. After much discussion, Councilwoman LaToya Tunwar made the motion and will research the issue more and look at some of the solutions discussed by the council.
The council also:
•Heard a report from the engineer on the town’s ongoing water, sewage and drainage projects.
•Adopted the town’s 2023 revised Employee Handbook.
•Approved the minutes of its January 3, meeting.