Eunice master plan gains some traction

The development of a master plan for Eunice gained some traction Thursday night after the case for it was presented at City Hall.
In a show of hands most of about 50 people attending the meeting indicated support for a plan to map.
A plan serves as a guide for public and private decision-makers regarding the future physical development, but may include social factors such as schools, neighborhoods and the population.
Board of Aldermen members Jack Burson, Scott Fontenot, Jason Bertrand and Germaine Simpson attended the meeting Thursday.
Burson, alderman at-large, questioned the $95,000 to pay for professional plan development, but later said he is for a plan.
“I’ve been in government most of my life either as a lawyer or as an elected official,” he said. “You can set out all the plans you want, but if you don’t provide the funds to pay for what you want to do you are engaging in a fairy tale.”
But presenters Don Reber, chairman of the Eunice Economic Development Committee; Bill Rodier, St. Landry Economic Development director; Bill Fontenot, parish president; and Sunset Mayor Charles James; made the case for planning along with audience members.
Rodier said, “There are big things at the end of the road if you do a plan and execute the items in the plan correctly,” he said.
A plan is a blueprint for a community, he said.
Fontenot said a plan is becoming necessary to obtain state and federal funding.
“There is just no more federal money to be doled out or state money to be doled out in transportation or any other agency without a lot of hard documentation, facts and comprehensive planning,” he said.
James said Sunset developed its plan partly to control development coming from Lafayette Parish.
“You know Eunice better than anybody,” he said. “You know what you want Eunice to look like. You know what you want Eunice to be in the next 20 years and these folks have the expertise to help you do that,” he said of professionals who assist in developing master plans.
James said Sunset received a $220,000 grant to pay for its plan.
Reber noted that amounted to $87 per person given Sunset’s population of 2,897. The $95,000 plan proposed for Eunice would be at a cost of $7.63 per person.
A master plan should be developed with input from citizens, he said.
Meetings would include discussions on land use, economic development, housing, transportation, infrastructure, resiliency, community design, town history and historic resources, recreation, tourism and environment.
“There is a cost to a process such as this but doing nothing is even more expensive. We cannot sit back and allow the future of our community be determined in a reactive manner or by other communities around us. We must work in concert with those communities around us for our own protection,” he said.
Reber said if the city commits to developing a plan there may be assistance with the cost.
Kelly Pitre, Eunice Chamber of Commerce president, said she has one to 10 year goals in her life. “The issue here is can we set goals?”
The Rev. Clinton Sensat, pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, said Eunice needs a vision that inspires.