By T. Scott Boatright
Every family needs a backup plan prepared in case of trouble or emergencies
During Thursday evening’s Grambling City Council meeting, the municipality’s Board of Alderson passed a pair of motions to do just that, looking out for its citizens and businesses.
The Grambling City Council passed a motion to amend two Community Water Enrichment (CWEF) grants (2022-23 and 2024-25) as well as the municipality’s 2024-25 Louisiana Governmental Assistance Program funding in order to be repair Well No. 6, located on Gum Street, which is currently non-operation.
Residents in that area are still receiving water, but Mayor Alvin Bradley it’s still important that the well be repaired.
“We have Well No. 4 and Well No. 5 in operation, which supplies water to the entire city,” Bradley said. “So no one has been without water. We’ve just got to get some repairs done to Well No. 6. It’s a backup. Well 5 and 4 can supply water to the entire city.
“But we need to have backup. We’re already working on getting the price to do the repairs. We’re amending those grants to be able to use leftover funding from those grants to be able to do the repairs. We’ve already pulled (the well). Now it’s just a matter of getting the pricing for the repairs and installing it back into place.”
Bradley said he expects the repairs to cost around $100,000 – $120,000.
The other backup move for the good of Grambling approved Thursday night was the City Council authorizing the mayor to sign a lease for a sanitation truck.
Bradley is targeting a three-year lease at around $2,000 a month with an option to purchase at the end of those three years.
“That’s our best option,” Bradley said. “The reason to do this is that we only have one (garbage truck). So if that one goes out, we don’t have one. I have to call our neighbors for them to be able to help us. If we lease a new one, then we can move the old one into place as the backup and if something happens to the new one, we won’t have to face reimbursing neighboring areas to help us handle our garbage.
“One good thing about this new sanitation truck is that it will be able to handle our commercial sanitation bins. So we’ll be able to address those needs on our own. That’s why we’re getting a new truck.”
During the meeting, Grambling’s City Council also passed resolutions to authorize signing of 2025-26 SWEF and LAGAP applications.
Three hires were also approved by the City Council — Mikao Smith as a full-time Public Works employee, Luis Ramos as a full-time firefighter and Richard Smith as a part-time firefighter.
During his monthly report, Public Works Director Eric Caldwell said that installation of water valves, which was postponed due to the recent ice storm, is set to begin on Feb. 13.
Police Chief Tommy Clark’s report was brief but he did announce that the City Memorial was recently stocked by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and that anglers were already fishing for the new arrivals.
During her report, Revenue Collection Supervisor Marjorie Prudhomme, warned that the payment address found on water bills is incorrect and that the correct address can be found on the city’s website.
It was also announced at the end of the meeting that State Rep. Rashid Young has been named Executive Director of Lincoln Preparatory School.
Before his political career, Young was a classroom science teacher in Homer and quickly rose to administrative roles, including becoming the COO of Lincoln Preparatory School at age 29. He also served as CEO and Head of School at a Baton Rouge charter school.
