Weekly City Update

Last week, it was brought to the attention of the Mayor’s office that there is a grant, called the Energy Efficiency Block Grant, for which the city of Central is eligible to apply. The federal government gives the money for this grant to parishes/counties around the country, and each parish has two choices: to pass out 75% of the funds to cities within the parish, or to use all of the money for a parish-wide plan to help the parish become more energy efficient in some way. After contacting both the parish and Mayor-President Kip Holden’s office, it was found out that Mayor Holden’s office chose, on behalf of East Baton Rouge Parish, to use the money for a parish-wide initiative. The only problem is that this plan does not include the cities of Baker, Zachary, or Central. In fact, Baker, Zachary, and Central were not notified about this grant at all. Mr. Barrow at Mayor Watts’s office has been working to get in touch with people in charge in the hope that Central can apply for inclusion in this grant before the deadline, which is tomorrow. A big thank you to Mr. Barrow and the mayor’s office for working so hard on behalf of our city.

The city of Central sent out an advertisement in November looking for an engineering firm to perform the needed maintenance for our street rehab program. Seven proposals were originally submitted from different engineering firms. Those seven were narrowed down to three. The 3 remaining firms will likely be interviewed in late January, with a decision being made in early February.

At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, several positions were filled to take the place of ourgoing members of the Planning and Zoning Committee and the Board of Adjustments. On the Planning and Zoning Committee, the terms of Mr. Walker and Mr. Blough are coming to an end. Mr. Walker volunteered to be a part of the committee for another term, and the City Council approved his returning for another 4 years. To take Mr. Blough’s seat, Mayor Watts recommended Mr. Harry Rauls, and this was also approved by the council. Congratulations to Mr. Walker and Mr. Rauls.

On the Board of Adjustments, Mr. T.J. Johnson’s term has expired, and he has been replaced by Mr. Marvin Garrene, Jr. Mr. Aaron Moak announced at the council meeting this week that he will be stepping down from his position on the Board of Adjustments, though his term has not ended. Mr. Donald Ray Lovett, a consistent presence at Central city and school board meetings, will be coming forward to take the vacated seat for the duration of Mr. Moak’s term. Congratulations to Mr. Garrene and Mr. Lovett.