Eunice master plan committee begins work

An 11-person committee formed to study the feasibilty of master plan for Eunice met for the first time Tuesday at City Hall.
The committee members were greeted by Jack Burson, alderman at-large, who spoke in general terms about the committee’s assignment from the council.
After suggesting the group name a chairman, Burson said, “Needless to say, anything you all need from us just tell us and we will see that it gets done.”
There were no written guidelines for the group appointed at the September city council meeting, but they began the business by naming the Rev. Clinton Sensat, pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, as chairman.
Van Reed, LSUE director of public relations, was named secretary.
Sensat said among the group’s initial questions to be answered is the scope of their work.
Council and Economic Development Committee meetings have suggested anywhere from a do-it-yourself approach to spending up to $96,000 for a professional planning effort.
The planning issue seemed to come to a head with a July meeting, which packed the city council chamber with mostly supporters of formulating a master plan for the city’s growth.
Tuesday’s meeting included all but one of the committee members named to the study group.
In attendance were Sensat, Reed, Jarrod Prather, Jeremy Ortego, Shelsy Williams, Phillip Isaac, Kim Russell, David Harper and Hans Heinen.
In a round-the-table session, all said the city needed a master plan.
Ortego said, “Up until this push from the Economic Development Committee ... the community just seems kind of aimless.”
Heinen said, “If you start driving from St. Mary by Perry Pitre Ford and you drive all the way down to Bobcat across town, nothing has really changed at all.”
Russell, who is the new chancellor at LSUE, said she can provide comparisons of other cities where planning has occurred.
The planning process must be a grass roots effort and needs the support of the city and parish.