By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
During the Broussard City Council meeting on August 13, 2024, the Council approved Ordinances #24-800 and #24-801 for the issuance and sale of two bonds. Bond issuance refers to the process by which a company or government entity creates and sells bonds to raise capital.
Ordinance #24-800 authorizes the issuance and sale of not exceeding $7,500,000 of Recreational Facility Sales Tax Revenue Bonds of the City of Broussard in one or more series. This bond issuance will be used to expand St Julien Park. According to Mayor Ray Bourque, a new facility with an observation deck is planned for park offices, a parking lot, and outdoor pickleball courts, which will be located next to the tennis courts.
Ordinance #24-801 authorizes the issuance and sale of not exceeding $7,500,000 of the City of Broussard’s Public Improvement Sales Tax Revenue Bonds in one or more series. This bond issuance will be used for Phase II of Envision Broussard Master Plan, a three-phase project created under Bourque’s first term as mayor to reconstruct Broussard’s Downtown and Main Street Corridor.
Phase II will address the infrastructure expansion in the downtown area of Brousssard on Main Street from Clara Street to St. Desporres Street. Bourque advised the drainage and water lines along Phase II are more than sixty years old, and the plan is to replace a water line along Main Street and all of the drainage and possibly sewer lines in this section of Main Street.
The planning for Phase II is about 80 to 90% complete. This Phase, which has many businesses and homes along this section, made the planning more difficult than planning for Phases I and III.
Phase I of the Envision Broussard project has been completed, with the city self-funding the initiative. This phase involved significant drainage improvements and infrastructure upgrades on Main Street from Bernard Road to Clara Street. Also carried out in this phase was beautification along this section of Main Street, including the new Gateway Sign, multi-use sidewalks, and lamp posts with lighting added to the historic oak trees to illuminate in the evenings. Traffic signals were placed at the intersections of Main Street and South Bernard Road, as well as at Albertson Parkway and South Bernard Road.
Phrase III of Envision Broussard, self-funded by the City, focuses on expanding infrastructure from St. Desporres to Albertsons Parkway. According to Bourque, this phase is estimated to be completed by the first quarter of 2025. A ditch collapses in that area, and about ten homes on Sugar Drive have flooded multiple times. Phase III will address these issues, along with adding sidewalks and lamp posts along this section of Main Street.
