VIDALIA, La. – In today’s meeting, the Concordia&160;Parish Police Jury will discuss whether to issue a license allowing ambulance company Med Express to once again do business in the parish.

Med Express discontinued service to Concordia Parish last Aug. 16 but planned to return Aug. 4, company Public Relations Director Shannon Pennington said during the Police Jury’s July 24 meeting.

But before reestablishing service in Concordia Parish, Med Express will have to be granted an occupational license by the jury.

If the license is granted, the Concordia Parish Communications District E-911 Board will meet to discuss whether to add Med Express to the parish’s 911 rotation.

&uot;We don’t have a date set yet, but we will meet as soon as possible after that is decided,&uot; said Sheriff Randy Maxwell.

Currently, American Medical Response and the Vidalia Fire Department are the only two ambulance providers in Concordia Parish.

In addition, the jury will consider whether to grant a permit for Baton Rouge developer Craig Smith to build Villa Apartments, a 40-unit, low-income housing complex, on Lincoln Road just outside Ferriday.

Smith, a Baton Rouge developer, asked the jury two years ago to approve the site for apartments.

That was before the jury, in late 1998, passed an ordinance requiring developers of multi-unit complexes to obtain building permits.

But in July 1998, the jury voted to oppose such a development on Lincoln Road due to citizen concerns about the area’s overtaxed sewer system and additional traffic on the road.

So Smith must appear before the jury again to ask for a building permit.

The Ferriday Town Council on July 11 approved water and sewer service to Smith’s complex and a 38-unit complex the Macon Ridge Economic Development Region plans to develop on Lincoln Road for the elderly.

Smith and Macon Ridge have promised to give the town $20,000 and $25,000, respectively, to upgrade the area’s sewer lift station. Macon Ridge will help the town find a grant to cover the remaining $31,000, said Macon Ridge President Buddy Spillers.

Today, the jury is also expected to adopt a resolution calling for an election to renew a 1.81-mill property tax to fund the Concordia Parish Health Unit.

&uot;That’s because the original tax, which was for 10 years, is up in 2000,&uot; said Robbie Shirley, the jury’s secretary-treasurer.

And members of the Concordia Parish Planning Commission will attend the meeting to discuss the possibility of zoning in the parish.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Police Jury meeting room on the second floor of the new courthouse at 4001 Carter St. in Vidalia.