Alleman appointed city clerk

Shantel Alleman’s appointment as Crowley City Clerk was approved during the recent meeting of the council.
Alleman had served as interim clerk since Aug. 2. She formerly served as the secretary-treasurer of the Beauregard Parish Police Jury.
Also during the November regular meeting, council members addressed a number of ongoing and planned infrastructure projects. Council members approved:
• A payment of $71,297 to Southern Constructors, Inc., for the city-wide drainage improvement project;
• Plans and specifications authorizing the advertisement for bids for the second phase – Contract B – of the city-wide street improvement project;
• A payment of $170,418 to Glenn Leger Construction, LLC, for Contract A of the street improvement program;
• A payment of $115,149 to Triton Construction, LLC, for the city parking lot improvements program; and
• Plans and specifications and authorization of bids for rehabilitation of the city’s sewerage collection system.
The council also introduced an ordinance adjusting ward boundary lines between Ward 1 and Ward 3 to balance the population of election districts in accordance with the results of the 2020 Census.
A public hearing on the ordinance will be held at the Dec. 8 council meeting.
After some discussion, the council also adopted a resolution authorizing the city to join with the state of Louisiana as a participant in the Louisiana State Local Government Opioid Litigation Memorandum of Understanding which includes participation in the settlement agreement authorizing the law firm of Laborde and Earles to execute the MOU.
Madelyn Brumely, an attorney with Laborde and Earles, explained to council members the state’s share of the proposed settlement negotiated by state Attorney General Jeff Landry is about $350 million over a span of 18 years.
“All of that money will be divided up among the participating municipal and parish entities,” she said, the only caveat being that 100% of the entities in the state must sign on or the amount is reduced by 30%. The funding can only be used to abate the opioid crisis.
“This doesn’t obligate you to do anything,” Brumley said. “The money will be held for you in trust. If you don’t use it it will go into the state’s general fund.”
But some council members were hesitant to approve the resolution without more understanding and an attempt to put the decision off until the Dec. 8 meeting fell short with only Brad Core, Kim Stringfellow and Vernon “Step” Martin voting for the delay. Only Core and Stringfellow opposed a subsequent motion to authorize participation in the settlement.