Ed Bee, president of Taimerica Management Company, addressed the board of alderpersons Thursday with a preliminary report on the state-funded economic redevelopment plan the company is building for Bastrop and Morehouse Parish.
Bee said Bastrop should have hope, pointing to cities in situations comparable to the 2008 closure of International Paper Company. Bee specifically discussed Port Saint Joe, Fla. and Lafayette. The Florida town lost a major paper and pulp manufacturer, and Lafayette lost several major oil and gas companies in the mid-1980s. Both towns have significantly recovered, largely due to economic diversification.
“I want to give folks in Bastrop and Morehouse Parish Hope for the future,” Bee said.
Bee said that other areas of the country have a shortage of the skilled blue collar labor that the closure of IP flooded the Bastrop job market with; Bee explained that the trained workers are a marketable asset the area now has to attract new businesses.
The economic redevelopment plan will take information collected about Bastrop, its workforce and both strengths and weaknesses and find existing industries that would mesh well.
“You have opportunity in Bastrop and Morehouse too,” Bee said.
“What makes the difference is the leadership of the community,” Dr. David Kolzow, also of Taimerica, said.
Kolzow emphasized the need to shared vision and action for the plan to succeed.
“If we want change, we must initiate that change,” Mayor Clarence Hawkins said.
Kay King, CEO of Morehouse Economic Development Corporation, said she has been working diligently on the project with Taimerica.
King spoke with the council about a cooperative endeavor plan that would give the city $2 million to encourage business growth on Highway 165. The funds are not guaranteed, but the council gave the mayor leave to sign any necessary paperwork if the funds become available.
Under the plan, the city would provide $130,000 as a match in order to receive $1.7 million from the Economic Development Administration. Secretary of La. Economic Development Stephen Moret offered $350,000 from the state to help make the match.
In order to obtain the money, which would be used to give some areas access to city water, the documentation must be signed before June 30.
The council agreed to an additional cooperative endeavor that would provide the capital to put a fence entirely around Morehouse Memorial Airport.
Mayor Hawkins joked that currently the airport has gates but no fence.
“It’s something we’ve needed for a long time,” Airport Manager Brent Elton said.
Part of the money from a previously acquired $1.695 grant for computer equipment for the police department will be used to buy new servers that cost $32,750.
At the meeting, the city honored K.C. Priest for outstanding service to the country. Priest served in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.
“I knew him, but I didn’t know how varied his life and experience has been,” Hawkins said.
Priest accepted the honor on behalf of all who have served and gave credit to his family; his daughter spoke of her pride in Priest. “My father took the road less traveled,” she said.
Marc Vereen gave the council an update on Main Street, noting the group received accreditation from the National Trust. He mentioned that the project to turn the old high school into retirement housing has hit a small snag- the Louisiana Housing and Finance Agency doesn’t consider Bastrop rural. The wheels on the project are turning Vereen said, just slowly.
Hawkins named Enterprise editor Dee Tubbs as the new member of the Historic District Commission
