By T. Scott Boatright
Ruston’s Board of Aldermen passed a motion to amend the city’s zoning code to create a Monroe Street Greenway District and Chapter 29 of the city’s Code of Ordinances to pave the way for creation of a new subdivision on the site of the old Ruston Country Club on U.S. Highway 167 South.
Those were two of the primary orders of business during Monday’s monthly City Council meeting at City Hall.
The new Monroe Street Greenway District will run from the south Interstate 20 service road on the north to West Alabama Avenue on the south.
Howard and Minden streets and portions of West Carolina and West Georgia avenues will be the boundaries to the west, while Jena Street, Lee Avenue, Coushatta Street, and a piece of West Florida Avenue will set the eastern edge.
The parkway plan encourages controlled commercial development along the highway, while at the same time protecting nearby residential neighborhoods.
In OKing the change to Chapter 29 of the Ruston Code of Ordinances, the City Council approved a pair of requests from WIVI Land II Development company that will result in what is hoped to become 304 single-family residences to be built in five phases on a total of 81.7 acres the company plans to create into a mix of residential and commercial property.
Phase one of the proposed subdivision would create 84 lots on 17 acres of the property.
In other business, Ruston’s Board of Aldermen passed a motion authorizing the city to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) to sell or lease property to DBUL, LLC, who plans to purchase a pair of swaths of lands near the Ruston Sports Complex’s Indoor Facility on which the company wants to build an entertainment center on the north side of that building as well as a related-use facility on its eastern side.
Also approved was a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a Professional Services Contract with the Riley Company of Louisiana for engineering services related to the McDonald Avenue Cross Drain Replacement project.
“This will be on McDonald Avenue at the intersection of Lafayette Street just east of Bernard Street,” said Ruston Public Works Director John Freeman. “Those pipes have outlived their lives, so we budgeted to do it this year as part of a capital improvement project and this will be the first step in trying to get that done.”
During the meeting, Ruston’s aldermen also passed a motion authorizing the city to acquire property and to institute expropriation actions necessary for construction and completion of the Ruston Industrial Park/Ruston Business Park Access Road Project.
Ruston’s Board of Aldermen also authorized the city to enter into nine Cooperative Endeavor agreements with entities that have operated within the city for years.
Those agreements and basic terms are as follows:
• $50,000 in funding and building use for the Boys and Girls Club of North Central Louisiana
• $70,000 in monthly funding and two appointed board members for the Dixie Center for the Arts
• $30,000 in funding for Ruston Community Theatre
• Use of the city’s old water utility building and utility payments with the exception of natural gas for Louisiana Farm Fresh Corporation (Farmer’s Market)
• Use of the old ArkLaGas building on West Mississippi Avenue for the Health Hut
• Building use, director’s salary and paid utilities for the North Louisiana Military Museum
• Use of Ruston Sports Complex Fields by Ruston Youth Baseball, Inc.
• Use of Ruston Sports Complex Fields by Ruston Girls Softball Association, Inc.
• Use of Ruston Sports Complex Field by Buddy Ball of Ruston
