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Industrial board asks jury to use dormant funds and business pledges to pay $140,000 parish plan
Summary
Blake Biles asked jurors to refer to the finance committee a plan to hire Tipton & Associates to develop a parish-wide economic development plan. Existing municipal and jury funds total about $126,053.66, leaving a gap of $13,946.34 that local businesses have pledged to help cover.
Blake Biles, representing the Sabine Parish Industrial Board, asked the Police Jury on Nov. 20 to refer a request to the finance committee for funding a parish‑wide economic development plan by Tipton & Associates.
Biles said the planning firm would spend 12–18 months engaging each town and community in Sabine Parish to produce a district‑based development plan that would improve grant competitiveness. He told jurors the total cost for Tipton & Associates would be $140,000. Biles said the mayoral committee has approximately $28,301.61 that has sat unused for more than a decade and that the police jury holds another $93,752.05 available for industrial‑committee work; together that amounts to $126,053.66, leaving a shortfall of $13,946.34. Biles said local businesses have agreed to donate toward that gap, and the mayors’ committee had voted unanimously to support the plan.
Jurors asked for documentation and minutes; Biles said the mayoral committee meetings and minutes exist and that the industrial committee was unanimous in support. The president said the item would be taken to the finance committee for consideration and possible placement on the December agenda so work could begin in January if approved.
What happens next: the jury referred the request to the finance committee for review of the proposed funding sources and to determine whether the parish should obligate the identified local funds toward the work of Tipton & Associates.
