Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

VIDALIA, La. — Concordia Parish Tax Assessor Jeanie Archer approached the Concordia Parish Police Jury a second time to request American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for a flyover that would provide 3D aerial images of the parish.

The service provided by EagleView costs approximately $116,000 and covers one flyover and an additional flyover within three days of a natural disaster to help the parish assess damages, she said. Archer first made this request to the police jury in May 2022 and said she had not gotten a response.

“The flyover has to be done in February, next month when the leaves are off the trees,” Archer said. “We have to enter into a contract with them to get in line because they can only do so many a year. I’m going to have a bill from them to present for this and I’ve yet to hear anything back from you all regarding the ARPA funds. Half of the ARPA funds have already been received, to my knowledge, and I believe you all got $3 million.”

Police Juror Joseph Parker asked Archer if she had a backup plan to pay for the service if there isn’t enough ARPA funding available.

“Yes I do, but we actually qualify in all of the applications that the ARPA funds are to be dispersed through. When I spoke to the secretary-treasurer, there had not been a written request other than mine for this money. It’s actually federal money that is to be used for the parish. It’s not me asking for your money. It’s asking for free federal money that you all received for the parish.”

The parish’s digital maps are viewable to the public online at atlas.geoportalmaps.com/concordia and are widely used, she said.

The service particularly helps surveyors, bankers, real estate agents and appraisers but is also useful to the assessor’s office to find properties and make accurate assessments, particularly if a new structure is built that can’t be seen from the street or a structure is destroyed or abandoned.

The police jury said the finance committee would review her request but took no action on it.

In other matters during Monday’s meeting, the police accepted two resignations from the parish’s five-member sewer board.

Richard Crews and Cornell Lewis both turned in their resignation letters from the Concordia Parish Sewerage District 1 board.

The remaining members are Eddie Nugent, Chairman; Charles Turner; and Melvin Ferrington. The district manager is Debi T Duncan and the operations supervisor is Dutch White Jr.

The police jury also unanimously agreed to post advertisements for the two vacancies on the sewer board.