The Kinder Council agreed to rezone a section on U.S. Highway 167 from GB (general business) to HDMF (high density multi-family) for new apartments.
Both the engineer and the zoning commission recommended the council should take the action. The zoning commission met before the council and heard from two people on the zoning issue. Luke Abrusley explained his client Jerome Karam is in the process of purchasing the old Super Eight hotel. The back part has been torn down and will be used for parking space. The plan is to create apartments in the old hotel, specifically five one bedroom apartments; 25 two bedroom, two bath apartments and one three bedroom, two bath apartment.
Sherman Lewis spoke against the zoning change asking the zoning commission and council to consider the look of the gateway into Kinder. He suggested Kinder should seek big business and explained Popeyes had looked at the area. He said Popeyes didn’t choose the area because of the count of households in the area. Lewis thought tenants come and go and business would be permanent.
Members of the zoning commission said they understood Lewis’ concerns, but it was difficult to draw those types of businesses to Kinder when Lake Charles and Eunice were so close.
The zoning commission agreed unanimously to recommend the council make the changes. Wesley Miller, engineer for Pan American Engineers, also approved of the change. Council members voted unanimously to re-zone the property from GB status to HDMF.
The council approved the recommendations to award contracts for grant management and administration services and engineering services for the Louisiana Watershed Initiative Grant to Pan American Engineers. The town received two bids, one from Catodyne and Pan American Engineers for grant management services and a bid from Pan American Engineers for the engineer services.
The process of selecting the bids was explained stating a number system is applied to each part of the project to see if all requests have been met in regards to the project and then the lowest bid is considered along with the grading scale.
Miller explained the pre application was previously submitted at the state level. The application will be submitted by the February deadline once the council approved moving forward. The monies are federal dollars dispersed by the state, and the council’s pre-application addresses drainage issues in the Nixon Addition.
Mayor Wayland Lafargue has been trying for several years to secure a grant for relief from the backwater flooding in the Nixon Addition. After the meeting he explained the Louisiana Watershed Initiative would be a step forward to relieve the citizens living in that area if the grant is awarded to the town.
Miller said the application suggested the town would like to reroute storm water by pumping it into a pond. The contracts will move the idea to the next stage of securing funding for such a project.
In other business, the council:
•Approved minutes from its November 9, meeting.
•Approved the renewals for alcoholic beverage licenses for 2021. High Alcohol Content, Class A, will be sold at Cilantro’s, Club Hi-Roller, Daiquiri Shack of Kinder and El Maguey. Class B will be at Chadeaux’s, Tobacco Plus, Ted’s Quick Shop, Market Basket, Kinder Quick Stop and Dollar General.
