Ville Platte City Council - Meeting, Tuesday, September 12th The Ville Platte City Council met last night (Tuesday), and they were updated on the Animal Shelter. Planned improvements have been completed, but the shelter still failed the inspection. Problems include draining in the wrong direction, so trenches aren't draining. There are no doors on the back of some kennels for cleaning, and the shelter requested roofs on at least two of the kennels so that the jumping and climbing dogs can't escape. Back gates need to be repaired. The Mayor and City Council will work with the contractors to fix these problems. The Council was presented with the new City website. Megan Norris, showed the new functions and pages on the website. Parts of it are still under construction, but it will be very user friendly, contain valuable links to pay bills, keep informed of events and activities in Ville Platte and link to important related websites. The site is cityofvilleplatte.com Bill Fontenot provided the update for the City Engineer. The sludge removal project is under way, and the city is working hard to take care of the sewer problem. An Architect has been hired to prepare drawings for the park project. The Ville Platte Fire Department received a Class 2 Rating out of 10 (with one being the best) from the Public Fire Protection inspection. The department improved 2% to 86% since the last inspection. This is great news for both protection and insurance purposes. The Fire Department received a FEMA grant to replace breathing apparatus and communications equipment in the amount of $134,000. Fire Prevention week starts October 8th with a theme of Cooking Safety Begins at Home. They have officially closed on the new site for the station and work will start immediately. There is an Open House tentative scheduled for October 21st. There were 45 incidents in the month of August. John Deville provided the Police Department update. They responded to 657 calls in the last month that included 8 felony arrests out of 12, and 25 accidents. The Mayor announced that the Ville Platte Fire Chief Chris Soileau received his Fire Officer IV Firefighter and Emergency Responder Certification from the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshall Public Safety Services.