Editor’s note: This is the first in a series concerning Minden City Council District E community meeting and subjects covered.

By Bonnie Culverhouse

In 2022, Minden residents elected an entirely new council – with one exception – while bringing on board a new mayor.

In the past three years, District E Councilman Andy Pendergrass, said great strides have been made, most importantly in public safety, fiber optic cable and infrastructure.

Addressing an outline of several significant topics, Pendergrass and Mayor Nick Cox talked with and took questions from around 40 persons attending a District E meeting at Minden Community House Tuesday.

“I am so happy with this turnout,” Pendergrass said. “I was expecting about 10 people, but this just goes to show how invested the people of this district are in our future.”

AT&T Fiber representatives sponsored the meeting, as well as food catered by Hugh Wood Catering. They also answered questions about the cable and when residents could expect it to be viable at their homes.

“They are running fiber all throughout the city,” said Pendergrass. “It is wonderful and it is spider webbing its way through District E. You may not have it yet, but it’ll be soon.”

PUBLIC SAFETY

“In a small city like Minden, if we can’t say we have a safe community, we have no future.”

In a meeting with newly-elected Police Chief Jared McIver – in 2022 – the council and mayor learned the police force in Minden had around 11 to 13 staff members and only 10 running vehicles.

“That is not nearly enough manpower or vehicles for this community,” Pendergrass said. “If we cannot hang our hats on being a safe community, we can’t have a conversation with the outside world.”

Hot topics at the time were violent crimes, gang crimes and curfews for teenagers.

“Curfew just doesn’t seem to be a topic anymore,” Pendergrass said. “Hot topics now are that people are going too fast down my street, which they are, and stray dogs. Both are valid, but that is way down from gangs and violent crimes.”

In 2025, the police force is fully staffed, technology and police equipment have been upgraded.

Cox pointed out that $1.2 million was added to the city’s budget for police cars, more officers and equipment.

INFRASTRUCTURE

“We need infrastructure that is ready to accommodate larger employers and growth.”

“We (council) spend most of our time on infrastructure,” Pendergrass said. “Cheaper, better more reliable, faster internet is on the way to you if it’s not already at you.”

With streets, Germantown Road and Country Club Circle had “significant” damage.

“Those have been fixed, so those main thoroughfares within our district are fixed, and we are still overlaying streets,” he said.

While water quality was already “top notch” in 2022, there were no plans to address a 100-year-old water main line feeding the entire city, and water storage capacity was less than 1 million gallons.

Now, there is a three-phase plan in place to replace water lines.

“First phase of that plan has already been funded,” said Pendergrass. “Delta Regional Authorities gave us a half million dollar grant to fund that project and we just awarded that bid at our last council meeting.”

Part of that line runs under downtown Minden’s brick street. That will not be addressed for some time, however.

“The history of Minden will be preserved to the best of our ability,” the councilman said.

Cox said this will not happen until Phase 3 of the water project.

“We are going to put it off as long as we can,” he said. “It’s going to be a doozy. We will have to go under the street, so the bricks will come up. Then we have to make a tap to every business.”

The mayor also said the first water project bids came in lower than projected, so while seeking grant funds, they will use the extra funds for Phase 2, which is a $2.5 million dollar project to replace another 100-year-old water main through Miller Quarters.

“As far as I can tell, the city (in the past) had the approach of it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Cox said.  “But we’ve got to get away from that and be proactive, not reactive.

“This (line) feeds the whole town, so it’s pretty important,” he added.

In 2025, the city is using new technology to keep employees abreast of water line repairs.

“That is a huge efficiency-plus when we’re looking at not only repairs but redoing lines,” Pendergrass said.

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