More hydro revenue requested for Council on Aging office, turf fields

VIDALIA, La. — The Vidalia community offered more suggestions for the spending of excess money from hydroelectric royalties during a special called meeting Thursday.

These requests included funds for office space to house the administration of the Concordia Council on Aging and furnishing one of the recreation complex ball fields with turf for athletes with special needs.

The hydroelectric station 40 miles south of town, which opened in 1990, was the dream of former Vidalia Mayor Sidney A. Murray Jr., though the town does not fully own it. It cost about $550 million from private investors to build.

However, the town is a co-licensee of the station and receives royalties from the power sold. These royalties capped out at 20 percent of the station’s gross revenue in 2022.

The public hearing Thursday was the last of two that took place this week, where the Vidalia Mayor and Board of Aldermen offered their recommendations for the funds and then the community voiced their feedback, as is required by town ordinance.

The town’s CPA Debra Moak said that the amount the town will have available to spend is unknown as of Friday because the station’s power consumption report hadn’t been finalized. But the amount will be known before the town finalizes and approves the list of projects at its Sept. 10 board meeting, Moak said.

Elizabeth Smith, Vidalia High School special education teacher, asked for funds to either convert and existing ball field or build a new one with handicap-accessible turf for the special needs community.

Elizabeth Smith said she is seeking a Miracle League, which is for adults and children with physical disabilities.

“The game is played on a rubber field that accommodates all wheelchair devices while also preventing injuries,” Elizabeth Smith said. “I have spoken to the president of a Miracle League from McComb and got information from her also. Initially, when they built their field a couple of years ago it cost them around $150,000 to build from scratch. I’m not sure what it would cost with a field there already. That would have to be estimated. I did attend a Recreation Board meeting and they are in agreement that it is a good idea.”

Craft said having the agreement of the Recreation Board is “the most important thing” before the town allocates any money for it.

“We can’t approve money for it and them say ‘we don’t want it,’” Craft said. “We got to make sure we collaborate with them as well as you. … There might even be grant funds out there for it since it’s dealing with special needs children. We want to examine every possibility we can.”

Concordia Council on Aging Executive Director Patsy Ann Smith said the Council on Aging is looking for a facility to house executive and management staff.

The Council on Aging has two centers, one in Ferriday and one in Vidalia.

“Those centers are entirely different from the (offices for) executive management staff. They were previously housed in the old Concordia Parish Courthouse and they were asked to move out of that facility,” she said.

Patsy Smith said around 30,000 meals are served to the communities of Vidalia and Ferriday by the Concordia Council on Aging on a monthly basis, including hot meals at the centers and hot and frozen meals delivered to individual homes. The Concordia Council on Aging also provides homemaker services to individuals throughout the parish.

“I think a lot of people just think we’re meals on wheels and nothing else but they tend to forget about the staff that was at the old facility,” she said. “The facility that they went into is totally non-conducive for housing employees, period. It is not satisfactory at all. It is our desire to have a rent-free place like we had before at the courthouse in Vidalia.

“But everyone wants what we don’t have and that is money. The money we have is used for the meals, transportation, gas for delivery of these meals. We need new buses and new burners in the facilities that feed our congregate meals.”

The Council on Aging receives funding from an ad valorem tax millage from the entire parish as well as state funds.

The Concordia Parish Police Jury is looking for an avenue to restore the old courthouse building to also house administrative offices for the Council on Aging, Police Jury member Cornell Lewis, who was at Thursday’s meeting, said.

However, no plans to renovate the facility have been finalized by the police jury.

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