UPDATED: Patterson city clerk retiring; Dardeau will succeed Shilling-Boyles

PATTERSON — After dealing with the business of bonds and budgets Tuesday, the City Council paid tribute to a longtime servant of city government.
City Clerk Angela Shilling-Boyles, who has worked for the city for 41 years, is retiring July 1. Shilling-Boyles will return to work part-time in two weeks, when one of her jobs will be training the new city clerk.
The council confirmed Mayor Rodney Grogan’s appointment of Kim Theriot Dardeau as the new city clerk.
Dardeau has worked for Patterson city government 17 years.
Shilling-Boyles noted that she worked for five mayors, and for aldermen before Patterson became a city. She thanked them all and received a standing round of applause at the meeting.
“Angela is awesome,” Grogan said. “Angela has the personality.”
Also Tuesday, Grogan recommended and the council confirmed Angie Landry’s appointment as tax collector. Landry has worked for city government for 12 years.
The council also recognized a relatively new hire, Regina Wheeler, the city secretary.
Street bonds
The council unanimously approved a bond issue of $570,000 to pay for improvements, mostly overlays, on some of the city’s less frequently traveled streets.
The borrowed money will be repaid with an existing 8.3-mill property tax levied for another bond issue, which has since been paid down enough to free the $570,000.
Patterson State Bank was the lone bidder for the new bonds.
The money will finance improvements from a list of projects with a total estimated cost of $984,000.
The gravel streets on the list of projects include portions of Taft, Eighth, Ninth, 10th, 11th, Tall Timbers, Fern, Dangerfield, Vaughn, Willow, St. Mary, St. Lucy, Sugarhouse, Stable, Joseph, Lucia, Progresso, Morrison, Rousell, Laws and Jake.
Streets that are on the list and already have overlays include Park, Shady Grove and Bridge.
The most expensive project on the list is Shady Grove between Red Cypress Road to Cul-de-Sac at about $153,000.
The smallest is Willow between Taft and Martin Luther King, estimated to cost $5,400.
The city government will have to set priorities for the work after the money becomes available June 24.
“All the streets will cost $900,000,” Grogan said. “We’ve got $570,00. Do the math.”
The council heard some good news about street work.
A previous round of street improvements, paid for with parish government bond issue funds on a revenue sharing agreement, cost $68,000 less than anticipated.
The new bond issue received yes votes from all five council members: Joe Russo, Sandra K. Turner, John Rentrop, Lee Condolle and Travis Darnell.
Budget
The council unanimously approved operating and capital budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The proposed 2021-22 budget anticipates revenue of about $8.48 million, up about $23,000 from this year, and spending of about $8.1 million, down about $110,000 in 2020-21.
City Accountant Reginald Weary budgeted an increase of $30,000 in tax revenue over the current year.
He described the budget as fiscally conservative and says it maintains the current levels of service.
The city anticipates receiving about $2.1 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding, passed to help the economy overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grogan told the council that the U.S. Treasury Department is still working out the rules governing the use of the money.
But the priorities will include improvements to water and sewage treatment systems as well as economic stimulus, the mayor said.
Car seats
The Patterson Police Department will run a car seat event 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the parking lot near the police station.
A specialist will be on hand to check for proper child restraint.

The council also:
--Approved a Planning & Zoning Commission recommendation allowing for a new mobile home park on Lia Street.
--Approved The Daily Review as the city government's official journal.
--Introduced an ordinance changing the zoning code to allow "Wholesale Businesses, Warehouses, and Warehouse Services, and Lumber Yards" on land fronting U.S. 90.