PINEVILLE NEEDS A SPARC PROGRAM TOO

Pineville Mayor Clarence "ClayRay" Fields has a vision for the commercial center of downtown Pineville that includes buildings occupied by healthy businesses where people shop, eat and bank. (See: "Pineville mayor has vision to revitalize Main Street").

Much of the recent commercial growth in Pineville has been pushing east and north -- on La. Highway 28 East and U.S. Highway 165 and the Main Street corridor is no longer the the centerpiece of the City. id.

This is the same problem faced with the City of Alexandria's downtown which has seen the growth of business development move to other parts of the city due at least for the need of parking. Mayor Fields, who has L-O-V-E tattooed on his knuckles, had first better come up with a way to take care of that parking problem.

Fields also hinted at future development Pineville's riverfront. id. I hope that the Mayor is going to abandon his dreams for a restaurant on top of the levee because those plans were apparently ended by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' getting on Pineville for building things in and on the levee. ("THE PINEVILLE LEVEE ISSUES" and "U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS SAYS THAT OUR LEVEE PROBLEMS ARE IN PINEVILLE AND ALONG BAYOU RAPIDES").

Can the people look forward to more pollution in the Red River by Pineville? ("CITY OF PINEVILLE PLEADS GUILTY TO POLLUTION CHARGES").

Pineville had also better come up with a way to pay the costs of the expensive hazardous waster abatement, such as asbestos, in the old buildings of downtown.

The development of downtown Pineville also falls in line with ClayRay's desires to bring alcohol into Pineville. ("MAYOR FIELDS PUSHES ALCOHOL SALES", "DOESN'T LIKE BOOZE" and "The Lights Have Been Turned On in Pineville"). Of course ClayRay can more conveniently do his drinking in Pineville then. ("IS CLAYRAY OFF THE HOOK?" and "JOSH BADEN ON CLAYRAY & MARK BADEN").

What ClayRay needs to develop is a version of Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy's SPARC (CRAPS) plan whereby he too can indebt his city for decades into the future with no jobs are businesses coming from it.