Harlan Kirgan
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot says improving the La. 13 and downtown are his focus for the future.
Fontenot was elected to his first full four-year term in the Nov. 6 election after having served nearly three years as an interim mayor and the being elected for to filling about two years of the unexpired term of the late Mayor Rusty Moody.
“My vision for Eunice is to beautify this corridor that goes north and south through town,” he said at the Thursday Eunice Kiwanis Club meeting.
“If you are coming through Eunice and never really been here and you are going from Alexandria to I-10 your preception of the town isn’t that great,” he said.
If travelers move a block to the west and travel down 2nd Street the see another side the city other than old rice dryers, he said.
“Hey, wow! This is a nice city. It really is a nice city. You just don’t see it when you are passing through,” he said of La. 13.
Fontenot said he met with state Rep. Phillip DeVillier and Shawn Wilson, state DOTD secretary about La. 13 and Maple Avenue.
Besides repaving West Maple Avenue, a round about for the La. 13 and Maple Avenue intersection was discussed, he said.
Changing La. 13 from four lanes to two lanes with a median is also being considered, he said.
Funding improvements to the downtown and La. 13 would be possible by developing a special tax district such as has been done in Lafayette, he said. An additional sales, collected in a tax district, is dedicated to infrastructure within the district.
The city council can create a district without a public vote, but Fontenot said he would consult business owners before taking that action.
“We are going to put those ideas out and see if that is something the people want to go with,” he said
Fontenot said he also wants to wait until a new council is seated to set some goals.
Kiwanis Club members asked about Maple Avenue resurfacing and Fontenot agreed that the road is terrible.
“I personally took Sen. Eric Lafleur, he’s head of the finance committee, in my vehicle down Maple and I hit every hole because I know where they are,” he said.
Wilson, the DOTD chief, told him there is a backlog of work that needs to be done.
“I think just with the division between the governor and our representative it is going to be hard to get that done,” he said.
Maple Avenue resurfacing has been funded twice, but removed from action by the governor, he said.
“I don’t know what else we could do,” Fontenot said.
“Get a new governor,” one Kiwanis member said.
There is opportunity for development along Maple Avenue, he said.
“I don’t understand why everything has got to be on Laurel or just right there downtown,” he said.
Fontenot said he is also meeting on the state’s “right sizing” project, which involves the state giving roads back to local government. The state does the necessary work on the road including bridges and then provides 40 years of maintenance costs.
Two streets, East Ardoin from the old Crowley Road from Maple to Sittig and the Old College Road from the Basile Bank to LSUE Drive, are being considered for the program.
The state’s payout for the city assuming ownership of the roads is close to a million dollars, Fontenot said.
The city plans a celebration of its 125th year next year, he said, and volunteers are needed.