Officials here agreed Tuesday to sell the town’s old light and water plant for an event center, while calling for an Oct. 3 public hearing to approve the sell of the old dollar store for future business development.

Patrick and Christian Hanley of Welsh, who currently lease the old light and water plant, have agreed to buy the building for the appraised value of $55,000. The couple plans to open an event center, according to Mayor Karl Arceneaux.

“They have already put a lot of work in the building,” he said. “It was just a shell of a building with no electricity, plumbing or restrooms and a leaking ceiling.”

Arceneaux said the town initially sought proposals for a public/private partnership where the town owned the building and leased it, but the Hanleys decided they would rather own it after seeing how much money they were putting into the project for renovations.

“Now that we see they are actually doing what they said they were going to do, we didn’t want for it to just end up as a storage building,” he said.

The couple plans to add new windows and doors, a new heating/cooling system, repair the roof and electrical and plumbing upgrades to include restrooms.

Arceneaux said the Hanleys also plan to add a chapel in the future.

“It’s good to see somebody doing something with that building,” Alderwoman Jackie Balmer said.

No one spoke for or against the sell during a public hearing.

In other matters, the town set a public hearing for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3 to consider the sell of the old dollar store located across from the Welsh Police Department

The town plans to sell the building to Cliff and Tiersa Hebert of Welsh for its appraised value of $173,000.

The Heberts plan to divide the front of the building facing north into three small storefronts and possibly an apartment in the back, according to Arceneaux.

He said the couple already has plans for two tenants, including a possible hair salon and at least one retail shop, as soon as the sell in finalized.

“I am ready to see some downtown development and get businesses downtown,” Arceneneaux said. “Hopefully we will see some retail shops.”

Money from the sell of both properties will go into the town’s general fund revenues and could be used for future projects, including a splash pad. Plans to the splash pad are already in the design phase, Arceneaux said.