By JIM SMILIE
Alexandria City Council members voted 4-2 to support District 4 Councilwoman Lizzie Felter’s request to replace current Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority (GAEDA) Board Chair Tracye Snow with John Callis. Snow is the third GAEDA commissioner replaced in the past year by the City Council.
GAEDA (www.gaeda.org) is a political subdivision created in 2003 by the City of Alexandria to promote economic development and foster tourism. The GAEDA Board is composed of seven members, each appointed by an Alexandria City Council member.
Snow was appointed as the District 4 representative in 2022 by then District 4 Councilwoman Catherine Davidson. At the time of the appointment, commissioners to the GAEDA board were to serve a four-year term. The only way to replace them was if they resigned or committed some sort of malfeasance.
A year ago, in February of 2023, the City Council voted 6-1 to change the policy to allow council members to replace their district representatives at any time. District 5 Councilman Chuck Fowler was the lone vote against the change.
Since then, District 1 Councilman Reddex Washington and District 2 Councilman Gary Johnson each changed their representatives on the GAEDA Board. Snow’s removal was supported by City Council members Felter, Fowler, Lee Rubin and Jim Villard. Council members Johnson and Cynthia Perry opposed the move and Washington abstained. When it was time to approve Callis’ appointment, the motion passed with the same votes.
Several members of the community spoke out in defense of Snow and in opposition to the change, including former District 3 Councilman Jules Green. Lorenzo Davis, a self-described “community activist” and former candidate for Alexandria Mayor, asked why Felter believed Snow wasn’t qualified to serve on the GAEDA Board and why Callis was qualified. In response, Felter said she thanked Snow for her service and didn’t say she wasn’t qualified but that she was “taking my opportunity to appoint someone I think will do a fantastic job. This is a change I want to make.”
Felter said Callis is a Texas native who has lived in Alexandria since 2004. His professional background includes working in the legal industry as well as with computer software. She said he has also worked to restore a number of old buildings in the Alexandria area, including current renovation work on the former Owl Grocery location.
A fourth GAEDA Board appointee could be replaced soon as Rubin asked to add a resolution to the agenda to remove current commissioner Candace Cheney, who serves as the Secretary/Treasurer. Adding a resolution to the agenda requires a unanimous vote and the issue was defeated when Perry voted against adding the item. Other members of the GAEDA Board include Vice Chair Dr. Curtis Lewis, Paula Katz, John Caroll, Chris Patel and Ronald Morgan.
In other action, council members unanimously approved an ordinance to “simplify, reduce and eliminate certain building permit fees, inspection fees and trade licensing fees.”
In a committee meeting prior to the main council meeting, Mayor Jacques Roy said the new rates are among the lowest in the state and are below those charged by the Rapides Area Planning Commission, the City of Monroe and the City of Lafayette. He said the administration’s analysis showed the impact to the budget from loss of fees would be minimal and could be offset by increased tax collections from more projects being built in the city as the result of the lower costs to build.
Roy noted the current formulas for calculating fees can be confusing. The revised ordinance has a clear fee schedule starting at $50 for construction projects less than $25,000 up to $1,500 for a $1 million construction project. The administration provided examples showing that under the current fee schedule, a $100,000 project would have $460 in permit fees. That drops to $100 with the new fee schedule. A $250,000 project dropped from $910 in fees to $500 and a $500,000 project dropped from $1,660 in fees to $750.
“We have nothing to lose,” Roy told the council members. “Try it for a year. See if it attracts more people.” Councilman Fowler agreed, saying the new fee structure, “won’t hamper and it may help.” Rubin also agreed, adding, “anything we can do to spur development and encourage people to build homes and businesses is good.”
As the meeting concluded, Roy introduced Dr. Skip Fox as the city’s new Recreation Director. Fox, a psychologist, is well known in the area for his involvement with the Dixie Girls Softball program. He has served as the State Director and was the driving force behind Alexandria hosting numerous national Dixie Girls Softball World Series championship tournaments.
During his introduction of Dr. Fox, Roy noted Fox recently successfully secured seven of the state’s nine Dixie Girls state tournaments to play in Alexandria, which is expected to have an economic impact of $1.25 million.