<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=04H7Gu_1GvLbNQs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=04H7Gu_1GvLbNQs00" width="1763" height="1175" ><figcaption>“We are happy with the trend that we are having.”&nbsp; Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller Photo by Richard Meek/AN17.com</figcaption></figure>Tangipahoa Parish is experiencing an uptick in economic development activity, with a possible 400 new jobs poised to come to the area in the future, according to President Robby Miller.Addressing the Hammond Kiwanis Club this past Tuesday, Miller spoke on a number of topics, from economic development to using AI to prioritize street overlay and paving projects to Tangipahoa Parish being the “most fun city in the world.”Addressing economic development Miller said parish officials have recently been contacted by at least six different companies carrying a potential 400 combined jobs if they all opted to relocate to Tangipahoa. He said new economic development director, Stacey Duvic, who recently returned home after a stay with Louisiana Economic Development, has been contacted by several companies, including those involved in the construction of the proposed Space X facility in southwest Louisiana that is also facing legal challenges and the Hyundai metal plant in the River Parishes.“We are happy with the trend that we are having,” Miller said.He also revealed that Roads and Bridges is the parish’s largest department and is funded by three-quarters of the one-cent sales tax that funds parish government. Miller said the money is used for cutting grass, digging ditches, cleaning out cross drains, blowing out driveway culverts and repairing bridges.He said the parish is the process or planning for the replacement of nine bridges and that since he took office 11 years ago “15 to 16 bridges” have been replaced or updated.“We have a bridge plan where we will inventory and rate every bridge in the parish and then go for more (state funding) to get them all up to speed,’ he said.Miller also explained his alternate-year overlay plan, saying that paving every other year will allow the parish to accumulate “more dollars” and pave more streets. He said the idea was conceived when oil prices rose and that limited the amount of work that could financially be completed.“We got 70% of what we normally get for overlay,” he said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=47tKSc_1GvLbNQs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=47tKSc_1GvLbNQs00" width="1217" height="1704" ><figcaption>“We go out there and take care of everybody.” Tangiahoa Parish President Robby Miller Photo by Richard Meek/AN17.com</figcaption></figure>During 2024 there were no overlay projects but those savings resulted in all of the roads that were originally scheduled to be competed in 2025 and came in $1 million under budget, allowing for additional paving.He said bids will soon go out for the 2027 overlay projects.Regarding paving, Miller said that a few years ago he began requiring the cities to “come up with some money” for projects in their area. “I made the requirement that they have some skin in the game,” he said, explaining the new regulation. Miller also said the parish is now using an AI-based system to prioritize roads in most need of repair. He said every road department truck has a cellphone mounted in the truck and employees drive every road.Miller said AI finds potholes, leaning signs, edge of road dropoffs, potholes and other issues. The program then rates the roads as one to five with five being the worst.Priorities are then determined by staff, using traffic data combined with AI information to determine the list and location of most-needed projects. Miller also revealed his reasoning as to why he believes Tangipahoa Parish is the most “fun parish” worldwide. He said Tangipahoa hosts more fairs and festivals than anybody in the state and the country, learning the latter about a year ago.He then “extrapolated” that out and said that he believes the United States has more fairs and festivals than any country worldwide,“So I will take that chance and say it is in the world,” he said, with a smile. On a more serious note, he praised parish residents for responding to the call to help each other in times of a disaster, such as flooding, tornadoes, etc. “If you are Black, white, it does not matter; if you are poor, rich, (there is) no concern about who you are,” he said “Our response is exactly the same. We go out there and take care of everybody.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0qgOGn_1GvLbNQs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0qgOGn_1GvLbNQs00" width="1242" height="1667" ><figcaption>“I made the requirement that they have some skin in the game.' Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller Photo by Richard Meek/AN17.com</figcaption></figure>“You do it individually and do it with your first responders and sheriff’s office and police and firefighters,” he added. “Everybody comes together.”And, of course, he ended with his favorite mantra, “We live in the greatest country in the world, the best state in the country and the best parish in the state.”</div></body>

Block Source: an17.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

Tangipahoa Parish is experiencing an uptick in economic development activity, with a possible 400 new jobs poised to come to the area in the future, according to President Robby Miller. Addressing the Hammond Kiwanis Club this past Tuesday, Miller spoke on a number of topics, from economic development to using...

Miller cites economic development during Kiwanis address

NewsBreak

Tangipahoa Parish is experiencing an uptick in economic development activity, with a possible 400 new jobs poised to come to the area in the future, accord

Miller cites economic development during Kiwanis address

Comments