Patterson residents hope Shady Grove will finally be fixed

PATTERSON — Many warm feelings were expressed at Tuesday’s City Council meeting: prayers for Councilman John Rentrop, who is hospitalized; a moment of silence to remember the late Jackie Como, a longtime Patterson music teacher; thanks for the ARC of St. Mary/Center of Hope for training disabled people for jobs; a welcome to new Councilman Ray Dewey Sr.; and gratitude to Tina Johnson, whom Dewey replaces.
When the topic turned to Shady Grove Drive, the temperature rose higher.
Dewey took office at Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting. He was the only candidate who qualified for the March 26 special election to pick a council member to complete the term of Sandra K. Turner, who resigned in July. John-son, Turner’s daughter, served on the council in her mother’s place until Dewey took office. Johnson received a plaque in recognition of her service.
“To be a voice for my city,” Johnson said in a letter to the council, “if even for a few months, was an absolute joy.”
Dewey took his council seat in time for Tuesday’s most contentious issue: street projects to be funded with proceeds from a recent $570,000 bond issue.
The city government has been working on a list of projects for that money, focusing on smaller, low-traffic streets, some of them surfaced with gravel, that hadn’t been ad-dressed in two earlier street improvement programs.
The most expensive item on the list is the reconstruction of Shady Grove Drive at more than $200,000.
Mayor Rodney Grogan and consulting engineer Melanie Caillouet said the wetland soil in that area requires a different approach. The plan is to use a 6-inch mixture of soil and cement as a base topped with asphalt.
Tall Timber and Fern would get a similar treatment. Another set of streets — Eighth, Ninth, 10th, 11th, Jake and Bridge — would be resurfaced. St. Mary and St. Lucy would get covered with gravel.
The Shadow Lane proposal drew the attention of audience member Lea Oubre, a Shady Grove resident. Oubre, along with neighbor Grant Dohmann, told the council that they’ve been waiting for Shady Grove’s broken surface and potholes to be re-paired. They’ve been put off with promises by the city, only to see little or nothing done, Oubre said.
After the meeting, Oubre showed cellphone pictures of portions of Shady Grove with large potholes and broken pavement.
In a sometimes heated exchange, Grogan objected to Facebook posts by Oubre about the condi-tion of the street and said her previous com-plaints had cost her support among council members.
“I am pushing Shady Grove,” Grogan said.
Then the talk turned to when the work might be done. Grogan said he hoped the work could be done in July, but Caillouet said the testing needed before the soil-concrete base can be constructed will require more time. But she said residents should see construction on the street this year.
The council voted 3-0 to move ahead with the street plan, including Shady Grove. The $92,000 that had been set aside for Bridge may have to come from a different source in order to make up for the higher than anticipated cost of the Shady Grove work.
Councilmen Dewey, Lee Condolle and Travis Darnell voted for the plan. Absent were Ren-trop and Joe Russo, who missed the meeting due to illness.
Also Tuesday:
—The council set property tax rates for the year. The tax for general government purposes will remain at 8.3 mills. The tax for the waterworks bond issue will be 12.3 mills, down from the original 16 mills when the bond issue was passed to build the city’s new water plant.
—The council heard a presentation by Kristal Hebert, director of the ARC of St. Mary/Center of Hope. The Medicaid-funded center provides training and paid work for people with physical and developmental disabilities.
Accompanied by cli-ents and Patterson residents Sarah Charlot and Heather Guillot, Hebert said the center shut down for 16 months because of COVID-19. But she received a grant that provided iPads to clients so they could remain in contact and keep them from feeling isolated.
Now the center is open again and provid-ing transportation to and from the center and to janitorial jobs that pay at least minimum wage.
“We know gas prices are going up, so things are going to be tough,” Hebert said.
—The council ap-proved a can shake for the Patterson Volunteer Fire Department. The fundraiser will be 9 a.m.-1 p.m. March 19 on Catherine Street.