Parish mayors tout towns

Three St. Tammany Parish mayors and an “honorary mayor” touted the accomplishments of their cities last week at the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Mayors Louis Fitzmorris of Abita Springs, Candace Watkins of Covington and Ben Morris of Slidell gave a recap of the events and progress in each of their towns. Parish Councilman Al Hammauei lives in unincorporated Lacombe and spoke about his community.

Officials agreed working on historical districts and having art communities has helped their cities, both in reputation and in revenue.

All the towns have been named a certified arts community, which means sales of all local artwork is tax free, which brings in more tourists and sales.

The towns’ historical districts have also become important revenue providers. “Fifty-two percent of sales tax comes from our historic district,” Watkins said.

Fitzmorris said Abita Springs is trying to bring back the historical atmosphere of the town when it was a well-known resort and spa in the early 20th century because of its quality of air and the famous spring water, and Morris said Slidell is working to re-invigorate Olde Towne.

Building and growth were also common themes among the four speakers. Watkins said Covington has seen housing starts increase by one-third, which she said is “very big for a small town of 9,000.”

Fitzmorris said Abita’s population is also growing, and businesses are setting up shop. A new Walgreen’s will be finished soon, but he said Abita needs a grocery store and a hotel.

Hamauei talked about all the development going on north of Interstate 12, such as the expansion of the Louisiana Heart Hospital, the new crime lab of the Coroner’s Office and the project where three local universities plan to set up satellite campuses. These campuses will allow parish high school students to take college courses.

Morris said his city has grown to about 30,000 in population, with new businesses coming in every day.