VIDALIA &045;&045; Business owners on Westside Drive are tired of being told there is no money to repair their road.

Four businessmen, representing several others, told the Concordia Parish Police Jury Monday night that something has to be done, and soon.

The request was almost a carbon copy of needs expressed by other parish residents at meetings in the past few months &045;&045; the roads are in bad shape.

And just as they’ve told others, the jury responded saying they had no road money to make repairs.

That wasn’t an answer the men wanted to hear.

&uot;How long does it take for the wheel to start turning?&uot; said Mike Grantham of Camco Construction. &uot;It’s time to quit thinking. You’ve got to have a plan.&uot;

Grantham and members of the Jury mentioned levying a parish tax to raise money for the roads.

&uot;We don’t have any road funds at all,&uot; President Melvin Ferrington said. &uot;Would you be able to get out and help us pass a road tax?&uot;

Ferrington said the tax would be the only way to get parish roads up to proper standards, but questioned the support such a tax would receive in the parish.

Grantham told the Jury he would support the task, but asked them for a written plan outlining the use of the money.

Charlie Blaney, also a Westside Drive business owner, asked the jury to consider the needs of businesses that employee more than 150 people and pay large amounts of taxes.

&uot;What y’all do tonight is going to make a showing of what you are going to do for businesses in the parish,&uot; Blaney said. &uot;All I’m asking you to do is show some priorities.&uot;

Juror Whest Shirley made a motion to write a resolution to State Rep. Bryant Hammett asking for state grant money to repair Westside Drive. The jury agreed to write the resolution and passed another motion made by Randy Temple to organize a meeting with Hammett.

Temple asked to contact Hammett for a meeting by the middle of next week with himself, Shirley and representatives from all Westside Drive businesses.

&uot;There is no quick fix,&uot; Ferrington said. &uot;I don’t know a quick fix on it. If we pass a resolution it’s going to take a year before we can get anything.&uot;

In other business, the jury approved the renewal of a one-fourth cent sales tax for the hospital district. The tax, already in effect from the last year, will be on the Jan. 15 ballot. The money is used for operational expenses of the hospital.