FERRIDAY, La. – As soon as the Health Department gives its approval and connections are made to Ferriday’s sewer and water systems, an apartment complex for the elderly will be opened.

That is according to Buddy Spillers, president of the Macon Ridge Community Development Organization, developer of the 38-unit complex on Lincoln Road just outside Ferriday.

Project architects have supplied all necessary documents to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, he said.

&uot;That includes a letter from the town (of Ferriday) confirming that the materials that were put in to connect the sewage to Ferriday’s system met the city’s requirements,&uot; Spillers said.

&uot;As soon as the Health Department gives us the OK, water and sewer can be turned on and people can start moving in,&uot; Spillers said.

He added that more than 20 people had applied for units at Ferriday Leisure Apartments as of Friday. Macon Ridge’s Ferriday apartment complex developments have come under fire several times in the last year.

Most recently, the parish’s building inspector accused contractor T.A. Miller of using shoddy materials at the Lincoln Road site — an accusation the developer vehemently denied.

Earlier this year, the concerns of residents near the site of a complex Macon Ridge built at Ohio Avenue and Third Street forced B.A.S. Construction to take precautions to ensure that excess soil was not stirred up at the site.

That is because residents were concerned that soil at the site could have histoplasma due to the fact that birds had roosted there in the past. Histoplasma is a fungus that can cause sickness and even blindness in some cases.

Meanwhile, construction has been completed at the Ohio Avenue complex.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were scheduled to visit Friday to inspect the complex and brief local managers on proper management procedures.

&uot;We should get HUD’s approval to open right after the first of the year,&uot; Spillers said.

As of Friday, 30 people had applied to live in the complex – which, as of now, only has 16 apartments.

So Macon Ridge has received HUD approval to build another 14 units adjacent to the current complex, &uot;although it’ll be a year before those are built,&uot; Spillers said.