Ville Platte City Council Meeting June 9, 2020 The Ville Platte City Council Tuesday met in a virtual meeting from City Hall for their regular meeting of the month. The council approved a recommendation from Mayor Jennifer Vidrine to reduce the hours of its nightly curfew to assist local businesses and help spur our economy. The new curfew hours effective Wednesday night will be from 11:00pm to 6:00am for adults and businesses. This replaces the old curfew times of 9:00pm to 6:00am. The curfew for juveniles remains from 8:00pm-6:00am each night. The mayor said phase two of the state regulations ends June 26 and the city will revisit the curfew hours after that date. The police chief Neal Lartigue said the curfew has worked well showing a marked decrease in crime in the city. Also in business, the council approved a proposal from Todd Morein with Universal Communications to provide another choice in high speed internet service to local city residents. The city attorney will draw up the agreement with the company which will agree to pay the city $600 a month for the use of three city owned towers. Mayor Jennifer Vidrine announced that testing for Covid-19 will be given to elderly residents at Chateau des Amies June 11 from 10-12, Annie May and Pop Garden Apartments June 18 from 10-12 noon and at Village de Memorie June 22 from 10-12 noon. The testing will be offered to both residents and the staff at each facility. The mayor said, testing will soon begin in other parts of Ward One including Chataignier, Point Blue and L'anse Aux Pailles. Mayor Vidrine said city hall is still closed to the public until the facility is outfitted with sanitation equipment such as plexi glass and floor markers. However, city employees are still coming to work each day providing city services. The public can contact city hall for any questions or concerns at 363-2939. City customers can pay their utility bills using the drop box on the side of city hall, pay online or by mail. Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue reported that for the month of May, the police department responded to 102 calls, issued 27 citations, made 26 arrests, 13 felony arrests and worked 24 traffic accidents. Also the chief announced the hiring of three new police officers: Bryan Wyles and Stewart Brady who are both post certified and can go to work immediately while the third new officer, Brandon Fontenot will attend the police academy for training. In other action, the city council approved a request from Rev. Lawrence Dick of Disciple Baptist Church to allow the closing of a nearby street for two hours near the church so the church could conduct services outside each Sunday starting July 5 until the Covid-19 orders are lifted by the state; The proposed new City fiscal year budget was officially presented to the city council during the meeting. It shows the city will end June 30 with a $317,292 surplus and an ending fund balance of $14.6 million dollars The budget includes additional revenues for the police department including 14 additional police officers and two detectives. The budget also includes the position of a training consultant. It increases the starting pay for new police officers to $15 an hour. The city budget capitol outlay funds has money dedicated for street work, jail repairs, and additional security cameras. Mayor Jennifer Vidrine announces the Civic Center is still not taking bookings due to the Covic-19 pandemic. Due to the fire marshal regulations, dances and buffet lines are not permitted. She is waiting to see what the phase 3 regulations will look like before approving bookings for the civic center.