Abbeville approves plan for progress

According to Councilman Wayne Landry who grew up in an area of Abbeville referred to as “the bottom”, the city’s newest project, to build a retention pond to rid that area of flooding is, 40 years or more in coming.
The neighborhoods affected stretch from Frank’s Alley on the east of the city to the Godchaux subdivision on the west.
According to Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza, the flooding problem fix has been in the works for 15 years, but the funds have never been available.
“This project will be specifically to help this area,” Mayor Piazza said.
“That is very good,” Councilman Landry stated. “I grew up in that area. It is going to be good news to them (the residents).”
The project will affect homes in three of the city districts.
In order to complete the project, the city will purchase 28.6 acres of land south of Young’s Coulee, create the 21.6 acre retention pond, surround it with a fence and beautify the immediate area with funds from Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) from Hurricane Rita.
“The water will be strictly run-off. There will be no sewage going into this pond,” Engineer Eugene Sellers added when questioned about the stagnation of water when held in that manner.
He also explained that the pump to the pond can be run at anytime and will periodically be done to keep the water clean.
In addition, the pond will be dug to a depth that will keep algae from growing in it.
According to Sellers, the retention pond will serve all the surrounding neighborhoods because the rate of water draining into the coulee will be at a lesser rate than it currently runs.
Along with the approval of the pond, the mayor and council approved a new subdivision, the Jean Lafitte Terrace Subdivision.
Developer David deGraauw will build 24 houses in the subdivision that will lie south of Charity street, on the south side of the coulee behind the existing strip mall, cinema and neighborhoods.
For access to the new neighborhood, the city will build a wood bridge over the coulee at Lee Street. There will be an additional entrance from John Hardy.
The city will also purchase an access easement from the pond to John Hardy.
Throughout the city residential properties such as the 250 apartment complex and the completion of the Francis Woods Phase II project show the addition of housing.
The completion of the Tractor Supply Store on the east side of the city and the construction of the new surgical complex on the north side are just two more of the major developments in the city recently.
In other progress news, the mayor signed a resolution allowing him to execute all documents relative to an airport grant in the amount of $17,500, that will be used to re-seal runways and taxiways at the Cris Crusta Airport.