Harlan Kirgan
When 2020 unfolded the future for Eunice city government, like most other entities, was uncertain.
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot said he was concerned as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded.
Police and fire department raises were starting, paid for by a new 0.25% sales tax.
Looking back, Fontenot believes the city was in good financial shape to weather the coronavirus slowdown.
Sales tax revenue to the city did not fold as people shopped locally, he said.
“We never had to lay anybody off or furlough any employees. That is a plus,” he said when asked to review the year.
There was plenty of successes for the city in 2020, he said.
“We did secure that fire truck grant, which is a very big thing,” he said.
The city was approved for a $730,000 FEMA grant to buy a new ladder truck for the fire department.
The city also received news that its fire rating went from 4 to 3, which should lower insurance premiums.
The improved fire rating was due to years of work, he said.
The city also started the year operating the library separate from the Opelousas library.
“We’ve successfully ran our library. We are running our library now, which is a big thing,” he said.
The library was closed for several months due to the virus crisis and reopened in July.
Fontenot said the library employees seem to be happy with the city as their employer and the city recently invested in new books
An LED lighting program funded by a state Public Service Commission $1.6 million grant was completed in 2020, he said.
The city is now lighting the Harris and Southeast ballfields for the time, he said.
“We had two major disasters come through,” he noted. Hurricanes Laura and Delta left debris that still remains.
The St. Landry Parish Solid Waste Commission is assisting with debris removal and FEMA assistance is expected, he said.
“We did a lot of infrastructure projects,” he said. The work was at the city’s sewer plant to bring it into compliance with state and federal regulations.
The plant had been out of compliance for about 17 months, he said.
More than $350,000 was spent to bring the sewer plant back into compliance with federal Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Quality permits.
The city also replaced its fleet of trucks for about the price of maintenance of the old fleet, he said.
An agreement with a non-profit group is underway to revive the Liberty Theater, he said.
The year’s first Board of Aldermen meeting is scheduled Tuesday.