Franklin hops on board with ITEP

Franklin Councilmembers approved a resolution Tuesday authorizing participation in the parish’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
St. Mary Parish Director of Economic Development Frank Fink brought the extra agenda item to the floor on behalf of St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff, who couldn’t be in attendance.
“I just wanted to offer an update. All the taxing bodies now have passed the resolution,” said Fink.
“We will be visiting next week in Baton Rouge in front of the Rules Committee to show them the way we’ve managed to solve the problem that other parishes were not able to solve.”
Franklin Mayor-elect Eugene Foulcard expressed that a change of “verbiage” in the original resolution, to include council members in the decision of the parish president concerning ITEP contracts, with municipalities keeping the option to terminate, was the lynch pin needed, as far as he was concerned.
Also at the meeting, a $2,253,000 bid was approved to make improvements to the Franklin and Vicinity Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Reid Miller of Miller Engineers & Associates stated that he thought work could possibly be completed shortly after the beginning of 2019.
In other news, Beverly Domingeaux, executive director of St. Mary Council on Aging presented COA’s annual report to the council, saying, “I’d like to report that this fiscal year we have delivered 16,250 home delivered meals. Homemaker visits were 1,250 and personal care visits were 2,250 and we’re proudest of this number: 3,045 hours of socialization, recreation, and just plain fun.”
However, Domingeaux also quipped as she left the podium, “And remember: St. Mary Council on Aging, we’re a hand to hold, an ear to listen, a heart that cares. And we say, ‘Please keep us in your budget!’”
To which, Franklin Mayor Raymond Harris Jr. replied, “Ms. Beverly, I got your note tonight. I want to say, you do a great job with the seniors and they are lucky to have you, and I’ve told you this before… you are one of the best politicians in this parish.”
Finally, Harris commended the city’s emergency services concerning their execution in managing Monday’s gas leak on Yokeley Road.
“It could have really been more problematic than it was, but it didn’t become the problem it could have become because of these professionals that were on the scene and knew what to do,” Harris said. “Also, they did a great job getting all the traffic through Franklin that came through Franklin,” adding that the most important thing was that nobody was injured.