Step-N-Strut eyes Rayne as 2016 site during City Council meeting

Members of the Rayne City Council put off until Monday a decision on whether or not to allow the Step-N-Strut Trail Ride Festival to relocated to the Frog Festival grounds this year.
After an hour-long presentation by Paul J. Scott of Opelousas, director of Who-U-Wit Entertainment, LLC, producers of the festival event, council members voted to delay a final decision until a special meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 15.
Billed as “the grand-daddy of Creole trail rides,” Step-N-Strut is a four-day festival of live music, cooking, camping and horsemanship. It is slated to be held the first weekend in November.
In recent years, attendance exploded at the event, which outgrew locations in Leonville and the acreage surrounding Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino in Opelousas. The event moved to north Louisiana (Natchitoches) in 2013, before returning to St. Landry Parish (Plaisance) last year.
“This will be our fourth location change,” Scott said. “We’re looking for the best fit, and we feel that there is a match here.”
If the council approves, Scott’s group will literally fence in most of Gossen Park around the baseball fields, all the way back to Armstrong Middle School. Attendees will pay for admission at the entrance just off Oak Street and will exit onto Lillian G. Pierce Drive behind the middle school.
Trail ride groups travel to support each other’s rides, resulting in hundreds of customized pick-up trucks, trailers, campers and RVs following these events.
“Conservatively, we think we’ll bring in about 5,000 people the first year,” Scott said. “We think we can grow that to 8,000 or 9,000 in a couple of years.”
Scott explained that the event is moving more toward a music festival than a trail ride, although the trail ride is an important draw.
He said music will kick off the Thursday night of the event with live bands performing Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“Zydeco will be the king, but we’ll spice it up with more southern soul, more country and more R&B,” said Scott. “No hip-hop. We stay away from hip-hop.”
If the first year is successful, Scott said he hopes to “sit down with the city” to negotiate a multi-year contract.
Scott’s entertainment company handles everything except security inside the festival area, and Rayne Chief Carroll J. Stelly said he has met with the organizer and feels that, with some help from surrounding agencies, the RPD can handle those issues.
“I’ve check with other towns (that have hosted Step-N-Strut) and, really, the only issues have been with the number of horses, but they’ve cut that down in recent years,” said Stelly.
As for the trail ride — which would be held Sunday — “that’s going to be up to the sheriff’s office,” Stelly said, noting that the bulk of the proposed route is outside the Rayne city limits.
Council members voiced a few concerns, primary among them being traffic congestion and access to Abundant Life Assembly of God Church for Wednesday night and Sunday services.
Scott assured that he plans to sit down with church officials to work out the details of access.
As for traffic: “Straight up, there will be traffic issues,” Scott said, adding that he believes the monetary benefit to local businesses will far outweigh those inconveniences.
Council members were reluctant to vote up or down on the proposal during Monday night’s regular meeting and, instead, asked for a week to think about it.
The special meeting at 9 a.m. on Aug. 15 is open to the general public.
In other business Monday night, Tim Mader, engineer, reported that state funding for the construction of a new Martin Luther King Community Center was approved “through an 11th-hour amendment” to the state budget and has been signed by the governor.
“The total estimated cost of the project is $420,000, and the city has to contribute 25 percent — or $105,000 — in matching funds,” Mader said.
“We have $108,000 set aside in a special account specifically for this project,” said Mayor Chuck Robichaux. “So we have more than enough.”
On Mader’s recommendation, the council authorized Robichaux to execute and submit a “Request for Line of Credit to Facility, Planning and Control” along with a resolution that commits city funding for the project.
Mader said the city should expect a response from the state around the first of the year.
This project would demolish the existing center on Martin Luther King Boulevard and construct a new building in its place.
The original application was submitted in October, 2013.