The Ville Platte City Council, Tuesday, is considering a request from the Evangeline Parish Police Jury to take over animal control throughout the parish. Mayor Jennifer Vidrine said the police jury is prepared to pay the city $20,000 a year to handle that service for parish residents.
      The mayor said a cost estimate will be prepared to determine how much it will cost to expand the current city animal shelter facility as required by law to handle parish wide service. Once that price is determined, she will present it to the police jury to cover the cost.
       Such an undertaking by the city would also require employing additional personnel. The city council voted to table any action on the police jury request until a cost estimate could be determined.
       In other business, the city council approved paying for new radios for the both the city police and fire department to access the new narrow band frequencies as required by the Federal Communications Commission. All emergency radios must be tuned in to the new frequencies by December 31. It will cost the city $13,000 for the radios for the police department and $12,000 for the city fire department.
     In other action the city council:
– set trick or treating hours for 5-7pm Oct. 31 Halloween night;
–received news that expenditures for the month of September amounted to $194,538, a decrease of $5700 over the month of August;
–approved a request from the mayor to institute a community garden in cooperation with the Southern University Ag Center and LSU Extension Service. The garden will be maintained by volunteers and local residents at a leased site near the Swamp Pop Museum at the corner of LaSalle and Railroad;
–announced that the dedication of the Town Square Park is set for Oct. 19 at 3:30pm when the park will be renamed Allen Ortego Town Square Park after the resident who donated the property to the city;
–approved a beer and liquor permit for the new Becky Lou’s Restaurant on Tate Cove Road, in the old Luke’s Meat Market.