It’s been 30 days since the city council here approved a trial of the Local Agency Compensated Enforcement (LACE) program and Police Chief Ricky Martin provided an update on its results at the Sept. 17 council meeting.
The LACE program funds extra patrol time for off-duty officers, paid for through the citations generated. In that 30-day period, 210 traffic tickets were issued by the extra patrol officers provided, but Chief Martin was not sure just how much revenue the tickets would generate.
Before the trial began only two officers had been patrolling the streets of St. Martinville at any one time. Officers have told the Teche News that left very little time for traffic enforcement. While traffic monitoring is the primary task of officers on duty with the LACE program, they are available for back-up of regular-duty officers or other requirements.
In other business, The council approved the expenditure of $1,850 to hire an appraiser to assess the fair market value of a .63-acre parcel in the southwest corner of the old Walmart parking lot on North Main Street. An appraisal is required before a contemplated sale of the property for the construction of an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store can be completed.
Also, April Viator with the St. Martinville Sr. High REACH Club, was given permission to hold two events. REACH stands for Respect, Encourage, Accept, Change, Help. The club, established at SMSH last month, has the goal of “promoting school spirit, community service, and bringing awareness to troubling situations that kids may be faced with, such as discrimination and bullying.”
On Saturday, Oct. 27 the group will host a haunted house for residents age 13 and over. They asked for the use of the warehouse building on the festival grounds.
The council approved the request, but offered the old pool building at Magnolia Park as an alternative. Mayor Melinda Mitchell was given approval to grant either option at no cost when the group decides which venue to use.
Viator was also granted permission to hold an Anti-Bullying Walk down Main Street on Saturday, Nov. 3. It will begin at St. Martinville Sr. High and proceed to Magnolia Park, where speakers will give talks about the problem of bullying.
Finally, the council approved a new schedule of hourly rates to charge residents for personnel and equipment when city crews perform utility-related work on private property.
Dist. 2 councilman Craig Prosper said the city has previously had to compute rates charged without set guidelines. He added that the rates are the lowest charged by municipalities in the area.