VIDALIA — Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft said Monday representatives with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office have been at town hall for approximately a week performing a best business practices checklist.

Craft said the office has also requested some financial records from previous administrations, but Craft said he would not go into details.

Before the new mayor took office, Craft said he had requested the state auditors come in to help with the town’s financial processes.

“They are looking into our procedures and making opinions on how we handle things,” he said. “They have been bragging on the way things are being handled now in the town.”

Craft said he was proud of the town’s finance department.

“They are doing a wonderful job,” he said.

Natchez accounting firm Silas Simmons has also been assisting, Craft said.

In other news, the town prefilled an ordinance to annex Cypress Point, a subdivision behind Sonic and Sprint Mart being developed by former alderman Ricky Knapp.

Alderwoman Sabrina Doré was the lone no vote, with Alderman Tron McCoy absent. Doré said in the past developers had been required to complete infrastructure, and only after it had been tested, the subdivision would be eligible for annexation.

“What is the reason in this case that we would change our method of going ahead and starting the annex process prior to the infrastructure being completed and tested?” she said.

Craft said it was a beautiful project that would be a good addition to the town. He said a developer shouldn’t have to go through two sets of fees — Concordia Parish and Vidalia — if he or she plans for the development to be annexed into the town.

“Right now it is considered Concordia Parish,” he said. “They would inspect and it would cost money. Then after he builds it, he would have to go through the fee process again when it is really not necessary.”

Craft said it also brings up further complications if a resident moves into the subdivision and then the city later attempts to annex. Craft said annexing could upset voting districts and the department of justice could also get involved to make sure a politician was not attempting to garner votes.

When Doré asked Knapp if annexation regularly occurred before infrastructure was in place, Knapp said no and added it been a rare issue during his 24 years in office. Knapp said nothing was written in stone.

Knapp said he intended to construct before applying for annexation, but a Concordia Parish official recommended he have the property annexed first to avoid potential issues, fees and also to have a city inspector along in the process to make sure the subdivision is up to code.

Craft said the town would host a public hearing at a future meeting to answer any questions from the public on the project.

4City Manager Bill Murray said the town has been reviewing ordinances and has found a conflict concerning door-to-door peddlers or salesmen.

Alderman Jon Betts said the town has two ordinances, one allowing them and another banning them. Betts said it was unconstitutional to ban door-to-door salesmen, but they can be restricted including what times they can operate.

Craft said the town is reviewing ordinances with the plan to make them available online.

4The town pre-filed an ordinance for a future public hearing to contract with the Louisiana Municipal Advisory and Technical Services Bureau to collect overdue utility bills.

Murray said LaMATS, owned by the Louisiana Municipal Association, provides quarterly updates on any collections made and rather than taking some of the town’s profit, by charging customers an additional 25 percent of the bill.

4The Louisiana Municipal Association presented a resolution recognizing the life and death of former city attorney Jack McLemore.

4An outdoor road sign was approved for C&M Crawfish. At a previous Vidalia meeting, the business and two others were asked to take down the dancing wind people. The restaurant was seeking to replace the dancer with a regular roadside sign.