City accommodates victims of 2016 fire

A two-home fire in May of 2016 destroyed the home of elderly sisters Gail Marretta and Katherine Grenon on Main Street. With the help of a hardship variance granted by the city council at its July 17 meeting, they will soon be able to return to the location that has been their family home for more than 70 years.
All traces of the home, where Gail Marretta was born, are gone except the concrete slab. But the sisters will be allowed to move a mobile home onto the lot and resume the lives which were upended by the blaze more than a year ago.
A city ordinance prohibiting the placement of mobile homes within 200’ of Main Street will be set aside for as long as either of the sisters continue to live there. The variance was granted for them only and the mobile home will have to be removed when they no longer reside there.
The location is remembered by long-time residents as, variously, a gas station, a liquor store and a florist’s shop, among other things. The fire also destroyed the 1910-built home of the Florsheim family next door to the Marretta home. A gas water heater in an outdoor shed at the Florsheim home was the source of the fire.
In other business, the Kiwanis Club, represented by club president Jaime Castille, was granted permission to sell alcohol at the Aug. 12 Pepper Festival extravaganza at the Woodmen of the World building on Caprito/40 Arpent Road. Admission is $30, or $240 for a table of eight. Call Brad at 577-7726 for reservations.
Permission was also granted for the Kiwanis to sell alcohol at the Pepper Festival itself. The festival will be held on Sept. 15 and 16 at the St. Martinvile festival grounds. Castille was given clearance to close New Market St. for a car show which will be held in conjunction with the festival on Saturday, Sept. 16. The show will feature classic cars, trucks and motorcycles.
Smart Girls Roc was given permission to hold a Bike Ride for School Supplies on Sunday, July 30 starting at 1 p.m. Riders aged eight and over will ride from the Hwy 31 Truck Stop to Magnolia Park. Entry fee will be $5 or five items of school supplies. Cash proceeds will be used to purchase school supplies to be distributed at the Back2School Bash on August 5. Riders can register on the day of the event.
The council also voted to consider new parliamentary rules for resident participation in city council meetings. Proposed rules will include the requirement for speakers to register in order to address the council, stay on subject and observe a time limit of three minutes to speak during meetings. Speakers will be allowed to sign up on the day of the meetings.
Finally, a permanent stage to be built at the festival grounds got a step closer to reality. Bids were awarded for the concrete and steel work to construct the covered stage, which is part of an extensive reworking of the grounds on the old Talley property.
Dana Dugas Affordable Housing will get the concrete contract. Their bid was the lowest, at $77,800. Losing bids ranged as high as $133,000. The steel construction portion of the contract was awarded to lowest bidder E&G Custom welding. Their bid was $39,850.