Street plan under review in Patterson

PATTERSON — The City Council approved a way to save $348,000 Tuesday, and then began to identify the best way to spend more than $400,000 to fix city streets.
The savings will come from an ordinance under which the city will refinance the $3.4 million still to be repaid from a $5 million 2012 bond issue for the new water plant.
The city government is taking advantage of lower interest rates to drop the rate on the remaining balance from 3.79% to 1.9%.
After a public hearing, the council passed the ordinance unanimously.
Those savings will be realized over the next 13 years.
The city government currently has $440,000 from another source, a parish government bond issue that generated funds that are being shared with municipalities.
Melanie Caillouet of Providence Engineering proposed spending the money on:
—Asphalt overlays for Hurst and Church.
—Complete reconstructions of Waveland, Veterans, Pietro, Corman and Hickory.
The plan also included two alternatives. One is work on Shady Grove Drive with an estimated cost of $213,000, and work on Taft and Eighth, Ninth, 10th and 11th streets as an estimated cost of $121,000.
The work will make the streets true asphalt streets, Caillouet said. Some are now just a limestone base covered with tar.
On Waveland, the material has been pushed up into a hump, Caillouet said.
The council will take the time before the Oct. 6 meeting to see if the work identified in the Providence plan makes the best use of the money.
Mayor Rodney Grogan expects the selection of streets for improvement to generate public comment. He talked briefly Tuesday about moving the Oct. 6 meeting to the Patterson Area Civic Center to accommodate the audience.
The council chamber has limited seating because of social distancing requirements.
Also Tuesday:
—The council received the copy of a proposed police policy manual developed by Chief Garrett Grogan, City Attorney Russel Cremaldi and others.
The manual will supplement the city government personnel policies with police-specific information such as uniform rules and the policy against racial profiling.
—The council heard from 16th Judicial District Judge candidates Keith Thibodeaux and Anthony Saleme, who will be opponents in the Nov. 3 election.
—The mayor said free COVID-19 testing will be available Sept. 28-Oct. 2 at the Patterson Fire Department.
The tests will begin at 10 a.m. each day and will include a nasal swab and a blood sample.