Police jury briefed on new main library project

Engineer Ronnie Landreneau said the process of resuming construction of the new parish main library building is taking more time than he had anticipated. But he said a subcontractor should soon be on the construction site.
Landreneau said he should be able to recommend a subcontractor during the police jury’s regular monthly meeting Monday, March 10. He briefed the jurors on progress on the library project during the police jury’s monthly executive committee meeting on Monday, March 3.
The contract with the contractor that had been handling the construction project was terminated late last year because the contractor abandoned the project. Landreneau said he and Donald Bergeron, police jury secretary/treasurer, and Mary Foster-Galasso, parish library director, took part in a conference call with the company holding the surety bond. That company submitted two contract versions for the police jury’s legal consultant, Greg Vidrine, to examine.
Landreneau said most of the construction on the new library has been completed, and the project should be completed quickly when work resumes.
Landreneau also briefed the police jury on three bids for construction of a new pavilion at Crooked Creek recreational area. He recommended the low bid of $221,070 made by Phillips, Frederick General Contractor Inc., of Ville Platte. He said the bid was within the $283,000 budgeted for the project. The police jury will consider the bid for final approval during its regular monthly meeting Monday, March 10.
Jurors also received an updated list of roads from Liz Hill, director of the Evangeline Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness. The list identified public and private roads, new road names and abandoned roads.
Hill asked the jurors to confirm the roads are correctly listed, and the jurors voted to hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m., before their regular meeting next month, on April 14, to approve of the list, which OEP will incorporate for use in emergency dispatching.
The issue has been discussed since late last year during police jury meetings. One of the issues involves road names that are the same or similar, which could make emergency response difficult. Hill advised jurors not to allow more names that are similar or the same as existing roads. Another issue is the need to name unnamed roads or abandon them.
In other business,
•The police jury heard of a proposal to lease nearly 60 acres of farmland owned by the parish at the industrial park. Bergeron said a farmer offered to enter into a one-year contract to lease the land for a total of about $1,800. Bergeron will determine if the parish is required to advertise for bids before the jurors make a final decision.
•The police jury received a report by Anna Frank, Section 8 housing director, who said there are 92 people on the waiting list for housing. She said letters will be sent to those people in April, and if any of them fail to respond in 15 days, they will be dropped from the list. Frank also reported that because of her participation in Louisiana Housing Council programs, she has been elected vice chair of the organization.
•Cost of living raises for parish employees was on the police jury finance committee agenda. However, jurors decided to take a closer look at funds available for the raises in the parish budget.