Council votes to close welcome center

The Donaldsonville City Council met in its regular scheduled meeting to discuss a continued discussion from an earlier meeting this month.

Donaldsonville is home to a welcome center that sits on the corner of Railroad Ave. and Mississippi St. It has been closed for several months due to lack of personnel to run the facility, but the city still has a costly tab.

A few weeks ago representatives from the Ascension Parish Tourist Commission addressed the council about ways to keep the center open, but also added an additional $8,000 increase to the $8,000 the city already dishes out annually, bringing the total to $16,000.

" The tourist commission put us in a terrible spot trying to double the cost they want us to include," said Councilman Emile Spano. "This is a pressure point, and I feel that the commission has made up there mind of closing the museum. I don't think we can afford to double the amount," he added.

Council Chairperson Raymond Aucoin added, "if we want to continue promoting the city, it has a price tag."

In reply, Spano reminded the council that the Tourist Commission agreed to equally promote the city of Donaldsonville whether the museum remains opened or closed.

Councilman Brown made the motion to close the welcome center, all councilmen agreed.

In other news:

Council voted to declare the month of February Dating Violence Awareness Month.

Glenn Shaheen of GSA Consulting gave a monthly report on current projects in the city.

Council meetings are the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. at city hall. Public comments are allowed and encouraged by the council. All members of the council were present with the exception of Tony Huey.