“Change is coming and there is simply nothing we can do about it.”
That was what Mayor J. “Spike” Harris informed those in attendance at the monthly meeting of the Town of Jonesboro Board of Aldermen that was held on May 14th at the Charles H. Garrett Community Center.
The change being referred to is the mandated increase in water rates cited by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) if the town of Jonesboro intends on keeping the grant money that has been received for water system improvements.
“The LDH is saying that we have to raise our rates or we are going to lose the grant we have received. We can’t afford to have that happen,” said Harris.
The amount of increase that the LDH says needs to be put into place is $50.00 per month for each individual household and despite Harris’s pleas to do this over time, that the full increase needs to implemented now.
“I pleaded our case that a jump like this all at one time would hurt our residents, especially our senior citizens and those on fixed incomes,” said Harris. “Unfortunately it fell on deaf ears. We were told that the state has been doing their part in helping up make up for the shortfalls in our water revenue and now it is our responsibility to do it ourselves.”
Harris said he and the town council are working diligently to find a solution to the problem that the town has been dealing with for over 10 years.
“We are exploring all options available to help take some of the sting out of this,” explained Harris. “Hopefully one day soon we will once again have meters in place that work and we can charge on actual consumption, but until then, as long as we estimating usage, the amount being charged has to increase.”
In additional business, a presentation of the Louisiana State Mesonet Project was given. In 2023, Louisiana District 5 U.S. Representative Julia Letlow sponsored the request for the State Mesonet Network Project. This project was approved for $2,000,000 as part of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
Mesonet’s are interconnected networks of instrumented monitoring stations across an entire state or region that measure temperature, humidity, pressure, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, precipitation, and soil conditions. The Mesonet and its data is used for critical weather and climate monitoring that will affect sectors such as severe and hazardous weather forecasting, homeland security and emergency management, aviation, energy and renewables, agriculture, transportation, and education.
One other agenda item, a proposal by Mr. Kamal Singh to transform the Old Fred’s Dept. store into a gas station / liquor store was tabled until more information could be gathered.
Mrs. Juliette “Judy” Saint Purdue, age 85 of Jonesboro, Louisiana passed away peacefully on May 16, 2024. Judy was born in Choudrant, Louisiana on April 11, 1939. She is preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Nettie Saint; loving husband of 61 years, Larry Pardue; and son in law, Stephen Morgan.
