Mayor Lee Posey brought a much needed addition to the City to the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission’s meeting Jan. 18. New pet waste stations should hopefully solve an ongoing problem the City is experiencing with irresponsible pet owners who aren’t cleaning up after their four-legged friends. With enough residents voicing their disgust over the piles and pieces that are left everywhere on the riverbank and at City Parks, these pet waste stations are a last effort before the City moves to ban dogs from these areas completely. The stations will be installed in necessary locations in Pierson-Mallette and City Park, as well as in the downtown area.

Other things Posey discussed were:

The City is asking for public input on what it should name the new sports and recreation complex. Ideas should be submitted to the Mayor’s Office before Jan. 22.

Pushing for more bike paths in the community

Developing a more concrete plan for a dog park

Crews are currently replacing the roadway on the riverbank. The City hopes to have this done by March. They’re focusing on the north end first to ensure there’s enough room to accommodate upcoming festivals.

Work is starting on a set of central stairs on the south end of the riverbank

The bathrooms on the south end of the riverbank are close to completion. All that’s left is fixtures and some finishing work.

Two docks will be installed on the river near the restrooms for boats to pull up to.
In the near future, the City hopes to address an issue that occurs when people are dancing to live music on the riverbank. The dancers impede the flow of pedestrian traffic from one end to the other, so there’s plans to increases the size of the dance floor in front of the stage.

The NHDDC is looking at funding a special project to expand the floating dock located on Cane River in downtown Natchitoches, which is used by the NSU rowing team. This would be a $10,000 investment and the NHDDC is interested in funding half if they can find a partner for the other half. This would allow the NSU rowing team to bring in more teams for competitions. Some of these teams can have up to 160 members, and competitions can bring in six teams at one time.

“Rowers are a neat piece of the puzzle that makes Natchitoches special,” said Posey. The City purchased two sets of docks a few years ago. “This is just another way to promote our community to more people,” he said.

The marketing committee for the Natchitoches Rebranding Initiative is now on the design/logo phase and will meet Jan. 22 to narrow designs down to two. These designs will be shown to the NHDDC for input and the committee will then work with the City to roll it out.

Organization Updates:

Cane River Waterway Commission- The CRWC is waiting on funding so things can move forward with the St. Augustine Church riverbank stabilization project. The estimated date for completion on the Cane River Pump Project is Feb. 22.

Cane River National Heritage Area- Walking Tours in the Historic District are up 20 percent. Los Adaes is currently closed, but the CRNHA is upgrading the facility and plans to reopen with a bang in March.

Cane River Creole National Historical Park- Oakland and Magnolia Plantations saw a 30 percent increase last year for visitation, which totaled 30,000 plus visitors.

NSU-Brett Garfinkel said the Theatre and Dance Department is looking for a new space to hold its next Modern in Motion performance next fall.