by Rachel Worthy

The Abbeville Multipurpose Community Center Planning Committee has decided to table plans to create a new community center in Abbeville, in order to have more time to apply for grants and to plan the design and implementation of the facility.

In a committee meeting Tuesday, committee members, Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza and Abbeville City Council members heard from Richard Mienville, a consultant who has helped the City obtain Louisiana Community and Development Block Grants (LACDBG) in previous years.

"Every two years, this Community Development Block program comes along," Mienville explained. "It's one of the largest grant programs the City of Abbeville has used over the last 30 years. The last one the City got was a $600,000 street grant to improve streets throughout your district."

Mienville said the City recently looked at obtaining an $800,000 grant for a multipurpose community center. He said there was a public hearing in June. In July, he, Councilmen Francis Plaisance and Joe Hardy met in Baton Rouge for a pre-application process.

"It's an $800,000 grant, but the state only funds two a year," Mienville said. "We would have a one in four chance they would fund the project." Mienville said there were changes to the grant process this year, which would require the facility to house three service providers on a daily basis, Monday through Friday. Another obstacle, he said, was that $800,000 would not be able to pay for a facility the committee imagines.

Councilman-at-Large Plaisance said he would like to see a facility that seats 500, and an $800,000 grant would only be able to accommodate a 100-seat facility.

In order to receive a grant match, the Council decided to put plans for this year's LACDBG toward a more immediate need in order to have more time to apply for local, state or federal grants to supplement the $800,000. As Mienville explained, the City could apply for a LACDBG for water or street repairs, and can apply for the multipurpose center next year, and receive funding in two years.

"The committee wants to continue pursuing (the community center), by all means," Plaisance assured. "There is no change in that direction; it'll just take more time to develop it. From a federal standpoint, I think promoting our culture in this area of the country would be a good thing that we coud use as a tool to (obtain) some federal grant money, in addition to the state money," he continued.

City engineer Gene Sellers said he has already identified four areas for street overlay projects, which could use the City's portion of this year's LACDBG funds.