Here is a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils. To see the full agendas, check out the links below:
Parish Council
Final Adoption
Magnolia Kids Club land donation. The Council is scheduled to approve a land donation to Magnolia Kids Club. The nonprofit organization requested three properties be donated by the parish to use as agricultural land to hold livestock for educational purposes and events. All the properties — 131, 135 and the 200 blocks of Malveaux Road — were adjudicated in or before 2018, with more than $11,000 owed in back taxes, and had been previously used as agricultural land. Magnolia Kids Club offers programming for children in Acadiana, emphasizing facilitating entrepreneurship and business ideas.
Introduction
No Significant Items
City Council
Resolutions
Federal transit grant. Approval of this resolution allows the city to apply for Federal Transit Administration grants. The city plans to apply for urbanized area formula grants, which allocate federal dollars for local transit projects. One of the main functions of the grant program is replacement and repairs for bus systems, with the grants more focused on broader public transportation tools versus individual road repairs or fixes.
Reports
New LHA head. Latweeta Smyers, the new Lafayette Housing Authority executive director, will be introduced to the City Council. Smyers previously worked at the Atlanta Housing Authority, where she oversaw the housing choice voucher program, commonly referred to as Section 8. She was recently appointed to the position in April. The LHA froze its housing choice voucher program as of April 22, citing funding shortfalls.
Final Adoption
City/state road swap. LCG will take ownership of two segments of state roads. The deal with Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development includes Johnston Street from Ambassador Caffery Parkway to North College Road, as well as Bertrand Drive from Johnston Street to North College Road. In return, the city is handing over control of Ambassador Caffery Parkway from Johnston Street to Bertrand Road to DOTD. The city is acquiring the roadways as part of its Johnston Street and Bertrand Drive improvement plans. The administration wants to remove cluttered utilities from the roadway and increase walking opportunities along the corridor with a sidewalk project designed to connect Moncus Park to the Cajundome.
Introduction
Artmosphere permit. Two conditional use permits (CUPs) are scheduled for a vote by the City Council. The first permit is for an entertainment facility at 4024 Louisiana Avenue, which would allow the location to host live concerts and sporting events but no private events. The property owner, Jacoby Landry and investor Orlando Mouton plan to build a 20,000-square-foot facility at the location. The second is for a bar downtown at 902 Johnston Street, the current location of Artmosphere under the new ownership of Justin and Marcela Bennett. The conditional use permit for the bar requires the location to serve food and be open at least five days a week. The Lafayette City Zoning Commission recommended the CUP for the Downtown bar and denied the Louisiana Avenue entertainment location.
Annexing Walkers Village. To connect to LUS services, a developer building a single-family development at the 400 Block of Barkhill Drive wants to annex the property into the city. Austin-Clement Enterprise LLC, the developer and petitioner for the annexation, is in the process of building a four-part single-family home development, with two of those parts to be annexed under the ordinance. If annexed, the property would be rezoned RS-1 and hooked up to utility services provided by LUS. The Lafayette City Zoning Commission recommended the annexation and rezoning, with one member abstaining.
Downtown hotel parking. LCG is set to enter a cooperative endeavor agreement with Lafayette Developer, LLC, for parking spaces in the Parc Auto De Centre-Ville for the 83-room hotel currently under construction Downtown. In the agreement, the city calls the parking garage underutilized and agrees to 40 parking permits for the hotel. The permits will cost the hotel $5,000 annually for five years, with the price doubling to $10,000 annually for the following five years…