Ville Platte Rotary Club Meeting

August 20, 2024

 

    The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from guest speaker, Ville Platte Mayor Ryan LeDay Williams.

    Mayor Willims gave a status report to club members on what is going on at city hall.

    A large portion of his comments and questions from club members dealt with the recent meeting addressing the crime problem in the city. The mayor said the city will hire an additional 7-8 police officers to work with a special task force comprised of officers from the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Department, Ville Platte City Marshal’s Office and the State Police to help combat the growing problem of burglaries and shootings in the city. The task force plans to enforce and tweak the current curfew.

   A major problem the city is facing is that the police department is under a U.S. Justice Department decree that police officers must be post certified before they can start working the streets. Currently, the city has hired a post certified applicant and four applicants are attending  the 15 week academy to get that training. The mayor said his number one goal is to ensure the safety of every citizen. One plan under consideration is to have the sheriff’s department take over law enforcement in the city and disband the city police department.

    In another announcement, the mayor stated that “Tractor Supply” will be locating in Ville Platte and will create an additional 20-25 jobs and increase our tax base. The city has received a $500,000 grant to clean up blighted properties throughout the city. Also, the city is making improvements to its parks including Northside, Hargrove and the park across from Walmart.

 In other Rotary news:

--the club welcomed its newest member Justin Lafleur and was informed that the Rotary District Governor will be the featured speaker at its next meeting