By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

VACHERIE – St. James Parish Council members on Wednesday were treated to a pair of promotional videos designed to attract businesses to the parish and promote quality of life.

The videos, which cost $32,000 to produce, will be posted on the parish’s website and will also be put onto DVDs that can be taken to conferences and other meetings to promote the parish. The parish’s Economic Development Board had requested development of the videos.

Dave Weber, of New Orleans-based Digital Bayou HD Productions Inc., the company that created the videos for the parish, told the council that each video serves a different purpose for the parish but added both do a very good job of promoting the region from an economic development standpoint.

Weber explained that the “signature video” dictates why businesses should relocate to St. James Parish. He said the video features interviews with business owners and government officials and also includes images of the Mississippi River, industry in the region and depictions of the cultural traditions of the parish such as the Christmas Eve levee bonfires.

Weber said the second, or “companion video,” focuses on the quality of life in St. James Parish and gives those who live outside of Louisiana some idea of what it is like to live in the parish.

“The quality of life video really captures who we are as a parish,” said Steve Nosacka, a parish consultant on economic development. “People would rather watch a video than read a line of text.”

In other action from Wednesday’s meeting, the council approved a renewal of another five-year contract with the Department of Children and Family Services for operation of a disaster food stamp office in the parish. Parish President Dale Hymel said the agreement allows the department to operate a disaster food stamp office as needed. The office will run out of the St. James Reception Hall in Vacherie.

The council also approved a harmless agreement between the parish and the Pontchartrain and Lafourche Basin levee districts for construction of the annual Christmas Eve bonfires atop the Mississippi River levees in the parish. Hymel said the agreement outlines the rules and regulations regarding construction of the bonfires.

He also said it requires the parish to purchase $2 million worth of insurance coverage for the event.

Hymel said the parish will announce in the coming weeks when the proper permits for the bonfires will be available. The permits are obtained through the parish’s Economic Development Office.