By Emily Burleigh
DeRidder residents expressed concerns over city infrastructure and assistance for the elderly at the City Council meeting on Monday.
One resident of Carlisle Street in District 1 asked the council why his street had not been fixed when other streets with recent developments have had repairs. He used Warren Street as an example, which is one street over and close to the Whataburger that was opened in recent years.
“It’s so good a baby could walk on it, but the next street over, which is Carlisle, its been like that for almost 30 years. They’ve got curbing, they’ve got sidewalks, but my street, where I was born and raised at, is just like an alley.”
Mayor Misty Clanton explained that the city’s overlay plans can only include approximately 10 streets at a time. The city has a limited amount of money budgeted each year for road repairs, and overlaying 10 streets costs around $1 million.
“We have a long list of streets, and lots of streets need to be fixed. … We don’t get very far in terms of what we’re able to maintain. …Unfortunately, we can’t’ redo every street that needs to be done.”
Director of Public Works Tommy Landry confirmed that Carlisle Street is “way down the list. He explained that Warren Street was in “very, very bad shape,” but Carlisle Street was “nothing like what Warren Street. was.”
The frequency of overlays has increased over the years, Clanton said.
“We have been able to do one or two street overlays in the last couple of years, consistently, where we used to have to go every other year to build that back up. But, we’ve been able to get some state funding to do it.”
She continued by stating that when overlay plans are developed, resources are distributed evenly among the five districts.
Another citizen posed a question for the council: What does the City of DeRidder do for the elderly?
“I seem to see a lot of elderly here that’s getting no assistance. We’ve got people with roof problems.”
She told the story of an elderly citizen she is helping who has set up buckets next to her bed to collect water dripping from her ceiling. She said she has spoken with several elderly people that are in similar situations.
“She’s not the only one, she’s just the one we’re trying to help right now.”
Clanton said she is coordinating with local volunteers to help the elderly citizen, but ultimately she needs a new roof.
“In terms of what we do for the elderly, it gets pretty complicated when it goes into fixing homes and what the city can do.”
She said the city has been trying to find a way to raise money to replace the citizen’s roof.
Councilmember Artemese Hickman, District 2, explained that the State of Louisiana has programs in place and that citizens can contact her directly to get information on assistance.
Councilmember Wayne Godfrey, District 1, and Hickman told citizens that it is vital to communicate directly with their council members to bring light to issues.
“If I’m not aware of what’s going on in District 2, then I can’t represent you,” Hickman said.
“Let’s communicate, and we’ll go ahead and try to get this stuff taken care of,” Godfrey seconded.
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