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VIDALIA, La. — The Concordia Parish Police Jury appointed jury member Cornell Lewis to the revived Concordia Economic Development Board during its Monday meeting with jury member Kenny Simpson as an alternate.

The Concordia Economic Development Board has been “inactive” for some time and it is the police jury’s desire to “get the ball rolling again,” Lewis said.

The board is comprised of a representative of the police jury as well as the mayors of the Town of Vidalia, Ferriday, Ridgecrest, Clayton and some business owners.

Lewis said the board has been inactive since 2022 after former Concordia Economic Development Director Heather Malone moved to Texas and had never been replaced.

Malone, a Concordia Parish native, had acted in that role since 2008.

“We let it sit idle for too long and it’s time we started again and maybe actively look for someone to replace Heather,” Mayor Buz Craft said.

Craft said he does not have a prospect in mind for an economic development director, but added “There is too much going on in the parish” to indicate that there is a need for one.

The job of the economic director is to find ways to stimulate the existing local economy, identify its needs and wants, as well as attract new businesses.

In other matters of Mondays’ meeting of the Concordia Parish Police Jury, Paige Dicky, who is an LSU AgCenter Extension Agent who leads Concordia Parish 4-H Youth Development, recognized the parish’s 4-H Junior Leaders and state board members.

“They help me plan the calendar of school and community events. If you know anything about 4-H, you know that 4-H is nothing without volunteers and our Junior Leaders are my biggest volunteers as well as their parents. They do an exceptional job,” Dicky said.

The police jury is also considering bids to clean up properties with ordinance violations on Vail Acres Street. After notifying the owner, the parish may place a lien on property taxes to clean up nuisance properties, such as those with excessive trash, clutter, tall grass and weeds. Only one bid had been received from C&M Earthworks LLC of Vidalia to clean up lot 11 and lot 134 at a rate of $10,000 per lot.

The police jury took the bid under advisement without further action during Monday’s meeting.

The police jury also approved Wilmar Construction Company to rebuild the awning at the front of the Concordia Parish Courthouse for $12,985. The awning rusted and collapsed, making the front entrance of the courthouse unusable the past couple of weeks, officials said.

Officials also approved Premier One Painting to repaint each office inside the Clerk of Court’s office in the courthouse for $7,950. The offices had not been painted in about 50 years since Clyde Webber’s administration, Clerk of Court Andy Anders said Monday.

The police jury also approved the Secretary-Treasurer and police jury members’ travel to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s workshop in Lafayette on Oct. 23 and 24.

Two hold harmless requests were approved for spraying weeds, including one from Recreation District #1 for spraying weeds on the fence of Fort Bowie Park and another from Concordia Parish School Board for the fence line, the cracks in asphalt and the railroad track adjacent to Ferriday Lower Elementary School.