zachary post jan 20
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January 20, 2015 • Vol. 10, No. 3TRANSCRIPT
Zachary Post • Tuesday, January 20, 2015 • Vol. 10, No. 3 • Published Weekly • Circulation 16,000 • zacharypost.com © 2015
PRESORT STDUS POSTAGE
PAIDZACHARY, LAPERMIT NO. 6
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BANK of ZACHARYBANK of ZACHARY
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See CITY OF ZACHARY on page 4
New Zachary City Council gets down to business at first meetingAmrhein Sworn In for Second Term as Mayor
Zachary City officials including the Mayor, Police Chief, and City Council were sworn in last Monday at Fellowship Church of Zachary. Pictured above are Robyn Amrhein and Mayor David Amrhein with his parents R.E. Amrhein and Ethel Mae Amrhein.
By Jen Bayhi-Gennaro
The mayor and new council met for their first meeting of 2015 on Tuesday, January 13 at 6:30 p.m. It was the first for new council mem-bers Laura O’Brien and Ben Cavin, who were sworn in the night before.
It was a full house, as members of the mayor’s boards, committees and commissions were all in attendance to be appointed formally, which didn’t happen until later in the meet-ing.
Following roll call and invoca-tion, Avenue C resident Leroy Wil-liams requested to address the coun-cil regarding a gas line erupting or being cut near his house while the city was working on the lines. He also reported that the gas went out on the coldest night of the year, and he and his neighbors experienced gas working in one spot in the house but
not in others. Mayor Amrhein said it happened at his house too, and the city is investigating to find out what happened. Plans are in the works to have every gas valve in the city—and there are an estimated 300-500 of them—equipped with GPS to make sure they are all on.
The question was asked as to how the city could just automate the valves so that a signal would be sent to identify which valve was shut off or inoperable. Bianca Carambat with PEC Engineers was in attendance and explained that it’s “extremely expensive” to automate the valves, but once they are GPS equipped and the system is mapped, a procedure will be put into effect to control and monitor when valves are shut on or off for various reasons.
Next up on the agenda were oc-
BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo Art Gone Wild Contest winner for this year is Second Grader Lilian Strickland. Strickland won the art contest and her piece will be fea-tured in Zoo media campaigns throughout the year.
BREC Zoo ArtThe Zachary/Baker Relay for
Life has been set for April 24, 2015, beginning at 5:00 pm. Relay for Life is American Cancer Society’s local fundraising event held to cel-ebrate, remember, and fight back. This year’s theme is Lights Camera Cure.
Volunteers and teams are needed to make this year’s event a success. The next volunteer meeting is on Tuesday, February 10 at Lane Re-gional Medical Center in the West Wing Conference Room. Leader-ship meets at 5:30 p.m. and team captains at 6:30 p.m. Future meet-ings are planned for: March 10 and April 14. With only three more monthly meetings before Relay, all teams and team members are en-couraged to attend. This is also a great opportunity to see how you can get involved by volunteering or starting a team of your own.
Relay for Life t-shirts are now for sale with a choice of purple and gray, or long and short sleeve. Short sleeve shirts (youth and adult) are $16 and long sleeve (youth and adult) are $19. Remember, if you are a team captain, any shirts that you sell will go to your team totals. This is a great way to raise some mon-ey for your team. To order a shirt, please contact Jill McGraw at (225) 978-3694 or Molly Turner at [email protected].
Team Captains are asked to regis-ter teams online as soon as possible to start entering any monies raised. Each team member must raise $100 to be entered into the HOPE Club. Once you are entered into the HOPE Club, you will qualify for event par-ticipant t-shirts, which are different than the ones that are being sold for fundraisers.
For more information about
volunteering or registering online, please contact ACS Staff Partner, Angela:[email protected], 954-294-3718 or Shea Mal-breaugh: [email protected], 225-301-0333. For more informa-tion about Relay for Life, visit relay-forlife.org.
Zachary Relay for Life Preparations Underway
2 Zachary POST Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Letters to the Editor are unedited submissions to the Zachary Post. Letters to the Editor may be submitted for publica-tion at [email protected]. Submissions will be printed in the next issue of the Post, space allowing. Deadline for submission is by 5:00 p.m. the Thursday before Tuesday publication.P.O. Box 1637
Zachary, LA 70791Phone (225) 654-0122
Fax (225) 208-1165
Email stories and photos to [email protected]
Published Tuesdays52 weeks a year
Deadline for news and advertising: Wednesday 5 P.M.
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Publisher & EditorDaniel Duggan
Graphic DesignerTina Adams
Account ExecutivesGeorgiana Walls
Ashley EvansJamar Franklin
Contributing WritersJames Ronald SkainsJen Bayhi-Gennaro
Glitter EditorCalla Duggan
Fried Food EditorChandler Duggan
Bike Trick EditorCecelia Duggan
Deleting Files EditorColton Duggan
DRY’S
Letter to the Editor
Mayor Kip Holden is proposing a $334 million dollar tax.
Zachary is proposing a huge 1% increase in sales tax to the highest in the nation.
We already have the highest school property tax anywhere in the state - We gave the Zachary School System a 72 mil tax 10 years ago.
Why, when we went on a mas-sive building spree, did we not include an auditorium capable of
holding a graduation?If the sales tax is increased
it will hurt all retail business in Zachary.
I could go to Baker and buy groceries at Wal-Mart and buy a new car in Baton Rouge.
Our seven-year-old multi-mil-lion dollar football field and track is supposedly already in need of replacing.
Has anyone thought about us-ing a dirt field and a laterite track
Zachary Resident Against Tax Increaselike the ones that were used for the last hundred years around this area? We are not in the NFL!
I am retired and on a fixed in-come and when our expenses get more than our income, we cut back!
I may vote for a small millage to keep teachers and art and music programs, but the rest of it, I intend on voting NO.
Ray FisherZachary, La
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 Zachary POST 3
See CHUBBYS on page 8
– 10 ACRES
– 2 ACRES
– 5 BR
Chubby’s Pizza and Grill Expands to New LocationBy James ronald skains
“I can’t think of any name that better says that we are talking about good food, than the name Chubby’s,” Cory Wilkins, the former Parkview Baptist High School offensive line-man told the Zachary Post. “My dad and I, and my friends, have been talking about owning and operating a restaurant for years and the name was always going to be Chubby’s.”
The menu at Chubby’s Pizza and Grill, which opened in their new lo-cation on Hwy 19 just north of Main Street in downtown Zachary less than a week ago, is very unique. Not just a pizza place, all the pizza is unique in both its baking and preparation. The sauce is made daily, as is the pizza dough.
“We get most of our food supply from L&A which is an operation by the DeAngelo’s Family out of Baton Rouge,” Wilkins explained. “Not only is the pizza dough sauce fresh, but so are our vegetables. Nothing is frozen.”
“This factor of fresh ingredients not only sets apart our pizza menu, but our burgers and grill menu also. We fix salads that are first class, com-parable or better than anyone else in town. To be honest with you, I just love the food business. This is a dream come true for me.”
Wilkins decided after high school football playing days were over, that if he didn’t receive a scholarship of-fer from LSU, he would concentrate on his studies. Cory only received a preferred walk-on offer, so he de-voted his college days to working on a sports administration degree and working in popular Baton Rouge res-taurants that catered to the college
age crowd.“I really enjoyed my days of
working in the Baton Rouge loca-tions,” Cory related. “It wasn’t long until I realized that I wanted to be in the food service business, preferably owning and operating a restaurant.”
“My dad Marty is my business partner. We first opened Chubby’s in June of 2013 in the old Sonny’s Pizza location behind Taco Bell and Burger King. We were hidden away back in that corner, but we still did pretty well. When we were able to buy the old First South Credit build-ing, we knew we had found a real home for Chubby’s Pizza and Grill.”
“When we left the back alley location in the strip center behind our new location, we didn’t bring much equipment with us,” Wilkins acknowledged. “We installed an all new oven, range, fryers and grill, only bringing some food prep tables with us to the new location. We also did extensive remodeling. My dad built a lot of the booths and tables,
Cory Wilkins, purveyor of great food at Chubby’s Pizza and Grill. Chubby’s relocated to 4696 Hwy. 19. In the old First South Farm Credit building.
which are bright colors.”“Our goal is to give our custom-
ers fast professional service with outstanding food. We have either dine-in, take out or drive-through pickup on all our food menu items. If you call in an order, we try to have it ready for you by the time you get here to pick it up. We try to operate on a 10-15 minute window from the time you order until food is in your hands.”
“Time is of the essence in food preparation, especially with pizza,” Cory pointed out. “It takes about three to six minutes to prepare a piz-za for cooking depending upon the type and toppings. We have a couple of pizzas that are my favorites, a Buf-falo and a Cajun.”
“Although we prepare the piz-
4 Zachary POST Tuesday, January 20, 2015
CITY OF ZACHARY continued from page 1
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cupational license waivers, which were granted to Dawn Saucier for her concession trailer and Johnnie Brown for his photography busi-ness. Kenny Arnold, a resident of Rush Drive, then requested a waiver to place an accessory building on his three-acre property. He said he has been attempting to get this done for two years, although it was never made clear why it took two years. There was some confusion among council members as to whether or not Arnold even needs a waiver and if the new law governing accessory buildings is even in place, then May-or Amrhein called a time out, waving Arnold’s plat map. He said the map shows Arnold’s land as being two lots, which is the reason he can’t be granted a waiver. “No it isn’t,” Ar-nold says, explaining that he came before the council years ago request-ing to have his property subdivided but the request wasn’t granted. “Well this is very confusing….why did you give us this map?” the Mayor asked, then sent Hugh Engels next door to
his office to get a true copy. “I have a map right here on my phone,” Ar-nold said, but Engels proceeded next door. He returned with a map show-ing Arnold’s property is a residential estate on three acres, and his waiver was granted. “And they wonder why it took two years!” Arnold said to the audience before making his exit.
Next up were appointments of department heads, then appoint-ments to committees including Plan-ning and Zoning, Alcohol Beverage Control, Site Plan Review Com-mittee, and several others. Brandon Noel was elected Mayor Pro Tem-pore for 2015.
A CPA from Hugh Baxley CPA in Plaquemine was in attendance to review the audit. She hit the high-lights on the extensive report, not-ing that the city’s net position is more than $40 million. “You have a healthy balance sheet and a healthy net position,” she said.
Carambat then gave construc-tion updates. The Council approved the certificate of substantial comple-tion for Grady Crawford & Assoc. for the sewer contract #5, as well as the change order #2 for the gas
regulation station, which increased the contract price by $65,000. The Mount Pleasant Boulevard project is coming along well and the dirt is almost to the final grade, Caram-bat said, and a payment request for $399,000 was approved.
Finally, Randy Partin with Zach-ary Parks & Recreation addressed the council to request the go-ahead to get bids for the new water meter system. Steve Nunnery briefly re-minded everyone that this project was approved under capital projects and allotted $500,000, and Partin’s request was just a formality to be able to go out for bids and spend that money. Councilman Nezianya asked what’s wrong with the current system, and Partin explained the technology is nearing obsolescence. Newer water meters have capability of automatically sending signals to city computers throughout the day. Our current practice of driving by each meter in the city has a no-read, or failure, rate of 5-7%, while cities with newer models have a rate of less than 1%.
The meeting was adjourned just under the two-hour mark.
Dr. Thomas Trahan Named Medical Director of Lane Wound Center
Thomas N. Trahan, M.D. has been named Medical Director of the Lane Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxy-gen Therapy Center, 4917 West Park Drive, Zachary.
Dr. Trahan has more than 26 years of experience in Emergency Medicine and replaces Dr. Howard Martin who recently retired. Prior to this positon Dr. Trahan was Medical Director of the Department of Emergency Medi-cine at Lane Regional Medical Center.
Originally from Maurice, Louisi-ana, Dr. Trahan graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, earned his medical degree at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport, and com-pleted his residency training as Chief Resident in family medicine at Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge.
He and his wife of 25 years, Susan, live in Clinton and have three children, Alex, Claire and Madeline. In his free time Dr. Trahan enjoys playing golf, reading and following LSU sports.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 Zachary POST 5
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WHAT A RELIEF!
Samuel Thomas Fitzgerald, the son of Don and Lori Fitzgerald of Baton Rouge, was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on April 27, 2014. Sam’s very proud grand-mother, Felicia L. Fitzgerald, has been a lifelong resident of Zachary. His Eagle Court of Honor was held by Troop 1 at First United Method-ist Church in Baton Rouge. Sam joined Scouting as a Tiger Cub as part of Pack 178 and was a Boy Scout in Troop 1 for seven years where he earned 33 merit badges, served in leadership, spent over 80 nights camping, and attended two BSA National Jamborees and Sea Base and Philmont BSA High Ad-
venture bases. Sam’s Eagle Service Project
provided three raised garden beds including an irrigation system on the property of HOPE Ministries on Winbourne Avenue in Baton Rouge for the use by participants with the ARC of Baton Rouge. The ARC uses the gardens to grow vegetables for their organization to use and to sell produce.
Sam graduated from the Dun-ham School in Baton Rouge in 2014 and is now a freshman ma-joring in Computer Science at Louisiana Tech.
Fitzgerald Earns Eagle Scout
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 Zachary POST 7
Classifieds3 Lots Available at Lake Jolie Vue. Great Subdivision. Beautiful lots. All in Zach-ary School District. Call Becky Robinson, Keller Williams Realty Red Stick Plus at (225) 937-0384. “Each office indepen-dently owned and operated.”Cook wanted. Monday - Friday 6:00-2:00. Must enjoy cooking for groups in a camp program. Group sizes and ages varies. Call 225-938-1498Beautiful ash colored dinette set. Seats 6, sage green, brown-gold marble faux table top. 1 year old, 4 wing back chairs and large bench. Excellent condition. $350. 225-286-5201 or 225-978-4276.Wedding Gown, white sheer lace sleeves and lace beaded bodice, long train, veil included. Excellent condition. Size 10. $40. 225-286-5201.$100 reward lost cat August Hwy 432 E. of Amite river female, longhair, blue eyes, tan body, brownface tail 770-757-5013FOR RENT. 2BR/2Bath Mobile Home on Private Lot. Central School District. $750/month plus Security Deposit. No Pets. Stove, Fridge, Washer/Dryer All included. Call (225) 954-0655.Clerical FT 8am-5pm – Exp preferred in Quick Books, invoicing, trucking permits, trailer leasing and general office duties. Must be detailed oriented and able to multi-task. Smoke free office. Fax resume’ 225-658-2243 or email to [email protected] Driver: Heavy Equipment, Low-boy Driver Needed for Statewide hauls. MUST have experience. Email resume’ [email protected] or fax to 225-658-2243 and call 225-259-0576.Condo for Rent in Zachary. 1100 sq. ft., 2 bedroom, 2 ½ bath, all electric. $975 deposit, $975 monthly rent, 1 year lease. Call 225-287-2350. Cross Creek Cowboy Church. 21160 Plank Rd, Zachary in blue Legendz building. Sundays 10:30. Come as you are, bring your lawn chair. 225-721-0333. Facebook.com/CrossCreekCowboy-Church.Immediate opening for experienced Medical Clerk and Medical Assistant. Please fax resume to: (225) 658-8840.HOUSE FOR RENT. 8473 Steve Johnson Drive in Solitude, LA. $400 monthly rent. For more information, call(225) 931-5939, (225) 301-1540, or (225) 939-8533.For Sale 5 x 5 round bale bahaia hay
Classifieds$30. Square bales $4. Delivery available. Randy 658-8792Prime multi acre residential homesite in the heart of Zachary. Country living in the City! Ready to build your dream home. Brokered by Monte Real Estate 225-658-1515. Listed at $69,000 with 100% lot financing available through Brandy Westmoreland at Guaranty Bank.For Sale! Seasoned firewood. $125 per truck load. Pick up only in Slaughter. 225-654-3236Mechanics: Hiring Event! Diesel Techni-cians/Mechanics. 9a-5p Wed 1/28 & Thurs 1/29. Penske Truck Leasing 6890 Pecue Ln , Baton Rouge , LA 70817. Come Talk to a Recruiter about Every Diesel Technician hired will receive a $1000 Tool Voucher!!! Great Competi-tive Wages, Comprehensive Benefits, & More! Call John Now: 855-971-8224Help Wanted. Trim carpenter needed. Call (225) 301-2220.FORT TRANSFER is now hiring Inde-pendent Contractors!76% pay package option Bring drivers for chance to win $25,000CDL Class A must have TWIC & HAZMAT Call 855-252-1634
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8 Zachary POST Tuesday, January 20, 2015
CHUBBYS continued from page 3
zas basically the same each time and bake for five minutes at 550 degrees, no two pizzas are ever exactly the same. Maybe that is one reason that I love the food business so much. You can’t always make the food, even piz-zas look the same, but you can always make sure the quality is the same.”
“We really enjoy what we do. In fact, we are passionate about it, but we don’t ever take ourselves too seri-ously,” Wilkins admitted. “We try to have fun and provide an upbeat fam-ily place for families and kids.”
Although Chubby’s Pizza and Grill has been open less than two years from its startup in the old loca-tion, Chubby’s is a little economic en-gine in its self. It employs upward of 15 people including the part-timers. Wilkins’ longest running employee is his buddy from high school, Logan. It’s easy to mistake Logan for Cory
as both are about the same age and former offensive linemen.
On the business side of the op-eration, father Marty is in the mix as well as Carole, Cory’s mother. Carole helps out on the booking on a regu-lar basis, with sister Whitney helping with the paperwork part-time.
Although un-married at the pres-ent time, Cory is engaged to a 5th grade teacher in the Central School System. They met in college while both were working in the food busi-ness in Baton Rouge.
“My dad is really enjoying him-self with Chubby’s,” Cory explained. “It seems like he has a new idea to try every day in the restaurant. Some of them really sound good. I tell him we will try them and see what happens. We keep the good ideas and move on.”
Marty Wilkins is a long time resi-dent of the Zachary area. He is a self-employed sales/marketing person distributing high tech equipment to
plants up and down the river.“I got my first summer job while
still in high school working at the Copper Mill restaurant with one of my dad’s connections,” Wilkins noted. “I enjoyed doing that kind of work and although I pursued studies at LSU outside the food sciences, I always knew in the back of my mind that Chubby’s Pizza and Grill was where I wanted to wind up for a ca-reer.”
“I don’t know what the future holds for Chubby’s, but we will be right here trying to improve our food and menu every day and also add positive things to our family environ-ment atmosphere. Who knows, there may be other Chubby’s locations in the future. At 27, I’m thankful that I have a bright future in front of me.”
Zachary Area Students Make LSU Chancellors
Honor Roll ListStudents who earned
grade-point averages of 4.0 during the 2014 Fall semes-ter are listed on the Chan-cellor’s Honor Roll.
Zachary Area:
Brandon Reed DeshotelsSamuel William StuarLauren E HudsonCatherine Ann TravisZachary Cole HolleyJacqueline Elise OdomElizabeth Ashton Schwab