Lana Venable introduced herself at the Police Jury meeting with a proposition to bring affordable housing to Allen Parish. Venable, a former resident of Oberlin, and her husband own Prairie Delta Housing Corporation and are seeking to develop as well as provide much needed rental properties in Oberlin.
The project consists of 48 multi-unit townhomes with the option for both one and two bedroom four-plexes (meaning four apartments) and six-plexes (meaning six apartments). The project called Tiger Manor Apartments will reside on a six-acre vacant tract on Hwy 26. Venable came before the jury to ask for a tax abatement on the property of 80 percent a year for 20 years. This will be approximately $115,000 tax revenue for the year by turning it from agricultural tax to a townhouse tax. The goal of Tiger Manor is to provide high-quality housing to local families who do not qualify for Section 8 housing but cannot afford market rent prices.
The complex is set to be professionally managed, gated and have security cameras. Venable also stated this would bring new revenue – such as water, sewage and garbage pickup. She stated this would be a large economic development for not only Oberlin but Allen Parish. She also stated the police jury would show its support of this project by passing the tax abatement.
The jury approved the resolution on the basis of pending further investigation due to the fact that many on the jury were just notified at the meeting. This begins the first step in the process for Prairie Delta with the next steps being to secure purchase of the land as well as complete the application for the funding. The application deadline is December 6, with a notification of acceptance or denial in the spring.
In other business, the jury discussed funding for water when Rusty Reeves from West Allen Water District spoke to the jury requesting funds to interconnect West Allen to Southwest Allen as well as install a new water well. This will help with everyday activities as well as when natural disasters occur. To match the grant given, the water district will have to come up with $780,000. Reeves stated his office can potentially come up with $330,000 but they still need the rest to be met. He stated the water sector is changing every day and the importance of staying on top of it. Tony Hebert said speaking personally he would like to help but the jury is still trying to figure out where they will get this money from. This request was neither accepted or denied but rather still under investigation to see if the funds are there to allow this project to get underway.
The finance committee made the following requests, all of which were approved:
•Approved to pay AFI $2,225 to build and install a chain link gate for Solid Waste in Kinder.
•Approved to pay Bumper to Bumper $2,663.71 for a compressor A/C kit for a tractor in RD1 (Road District One).
•Approved to pay Carlton Construction $9,878 to repair water damage at the administration office.
•Approved to pay Carlton Construction $9,785 to repair water damage at the courthouse.
•Approved to pay Lewis Motors $27,500 for 2012 Mack Pinnacle Dump Truck for RD5.
The road committee also made requests, which were approved:
•Approved a JSA with the City of Oakdale for grass cutting, pothole patching and trash pick-up for the month of November 2021.
•Approved a JSA with the Allen Parish Police Jury for manpower, equipment and material to fix the following bus turn-arounds: Indian Landing Road in Oakdale, 188 Young Road in Fairview and 1658 Hwy 190 in Reeves.
The inmate report was read and the budget for the month was $17,300. The expenses for the month were $12,655.52. This brought them $4,644.48 under budget for the month and $79,352.37 under budget for the year. There were 75 inmates, eight in the department of corrections and 145 federal inmates as of Monday, November 1.
Also at the meeting, the jury:
•Approved to adopt an ordinance for redistricting. This will require the police jury to hold a public hearing. The public hearing will be before the December police jury meeting.
•Approved to hire Mike Hefner with Geographic Planning & Demographic Services LLC for the redistricting of Allen Parish. The bid was $25,900. This cost for redistricting will be split between the police jury and the school board.
•Approved a JSA with the Allen Parish School Board to share in the cost of and complete the required redistricting process.
•Approved to advertise for six month bids for the airport.
•Approved to advertise for the RFQ (Request for Qualifications) for the Allen Parish Drainage Masterplan. This is a master drainage plan for all of Allen Parish including those in and out of city limits.
•Approved to authorize Jacob Dillehay, administrator, to certify Tony Hebert’s signature on the LGAP/CWEF grants. These are the grants for the drainage system.
•Approved to enter into an agreement to lease the Arizona Chemical property to Saia Wholesale. This is a one year lease that renews automatically for $800 a month. This is just for the use of the loading dock and building.
•Approved to adopt the annual six-parish Multi-Jurisdictional Agreement for the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
•Approved to reappoint Don Dowies to the Northwest Allen Water Board for a one-year term.
•Approved to adopt a resolution authorizing a sidewalk ramp by the LADOTD. This sidewalk will be from the elementary school down Fourth Street in Oberlin.
•The jury also recognized the death of an employee. “It’s with a heavy heart, the police jury respectfully regrets to announce the passing of Travis Skinner, the Ward 2 Road Foreman (Kinder Area). Mr. Skinner was a hardworking, strong, proud man, who loved his job. He was larger than life and never missed a chance to fill the halls of the police jury with laughs and jokes. He tackled his work daily, and even while his health was failing him, remained a faithful public servant to the residents of Ward 2. Mr. Skinner was a friend and a joy to work with and he will be sorely missed.
