Parish Council dreams a little

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Like someone buying a Powerball ticket and dreaming about what they would do if they won, the St. Landry Parish Council did a bit of blue-skying about more than $557,000 the parish may get from the CARES Act.
At end of Wednesday’s meeting conducted through teleconferencing due to coronavirus restrictions, Council members offered ideas for the money that would come through the Community Action Agency.
Kristen Thomas, CAA director, said the deadline to submit an application for the money is June 15.
The CAA staff and Board wants to assist the St. Landry Parish School with student supplies and support distance learning.
Other ideas for money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act included:
— Food assistance;
— Wheelchair and elderly access for public buildings;
— Rent and mortgage assistance;
— Utility and energy cost assistance;
— Hygiene cleaning supplies;
— Eunice Community Health Center; and
— Tutoring.
The CARES Act money was discussed at the end of the meeting.
By contrast, near the beginning of the meeting Amanda Cain, finance director, reported that March sales revenues were over $576,000, which covered the parish’s monthly bond payment of $476,000.
The sales tax money is used to pay for the Smooth Ride Home Program. A 2% sales tax is collected in rural St. Landry Parish to pay for the program that has paved more than 300 miles of parish road.