Police Jury mulls problem with log truckers

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury, during its monthly meeting Wednesday, July 15, decided to take action on logging truckers who use parish roads and avoid state roads, and on owners of properties with abandoned structures or in need of maintenance.
Chester Granger, parish public works director, said he had investigated the way logging trucks haul loads from where the timber is harvested.
He said a trucker has told him the trucker was instructed to use parish roads instead of state roads. Granger said the truckers use cleared roads from the harvest site directly to the parish roads, avoiding state roads that might be closer.
“We need to make it worth their while,” not to use parish roads by addressing the road bond and fines for violating weight limits regarding trucks that can “tear up” parish roads.
Juror Lamar Johnson said the parish should consider mandating higher bond amounts paid by the larger landowners than smaller landowners.
Juror Bryan Vidrine moved to have the police jury’s road and bridge committee take up the road bond issue and weight violation fines regarding timber hauling during its next meeting, and the police jury voted to do so.
The police jury had requested that Fire Chief Ted Demourelle produce a list of “nuisance properties” that present health risks to nearby residents.
Several people were in the audience during the meeting who live near some of the properties and have complained that children play inside abandoned properties.
Chief Demourelle, who had inspected the properties, distributed written descriptions and photographs of a dozen properties to the jurors and provided addresses and descriptions.
Three of the properties were Oat Patch Road in the Eugene Subdivision east of Pine Prairie. Another property is on Candy Lane, also off Vidrine Road. Three were in the Kennedy Subdivision, and another was between Mamou and Reddell. Other properties were on Chataignier Road, Tee Mamou Road and Sandy Street near Ville Platte.
The police jury’s consulting attorney, Marcus Fontenot, told the jurors the process of officially identifying properties in need of clean-up and official notification follows a state statute. After the police jury notified the property owner by certified mail and that owner fails to respond within the specified deadline, the parish can demolish any structure or clean the property and add the cost onto the owner’s property tax bill.
Juror Eric Soileau said he didn’t want the “parish to be stuck with a problem,” if an owner cannot be identified or refuses to respond to the parish’s demands. The attorney said following the statute is “the only route to go,” and that the tax assessor’s office can identify where the tax bill is sent.
The fire chief said the properties he examined were either uninhabitable or were infested with rodents and presented a public health hazard. One property had a septic tank with no cover, posing a threat to children or others who might fall into it.
The jurors were briefed on progress with developing plans for the construction of a new 8,000 Evangeline Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness building at the industrial park. The building will be on a two-acre lot and will cost $1.6 million. Funds have been raised for the project, and a bond issue has been passed. The parish’s 911 board president, Kent Fontenot, said it will be a state-of-the-art facility.
State, parish, local emergency and medical personnel and the National Guard would use the building as a headquarters as a hurricane classified as a Category 3 -- with winds from 111 to 129 mph -- or above comes this way.
Fontenot said the board will open bids in August, and the building should be completed about 10 months after ground breaking. The building will be constructed to standards that would withstand hurricane force winds.
Juror Soileau thanked Fontenot and the 911 board, and Ryan Ardoin, the police jury president, said “It’s another good thing for the parish.”
In other business, the police jury:
•heard a summary of the parish’s $69.7 million 2013 budget presented by Vic Slaven, CPA. He said the computer system installed last year has helped to clear up problems found in previous years. The jurors voted to approve the budget.
•Approved of a resolution submitted by Ronnie Landreneau, consulting engineer, for a bridge replacement on Morgan Road.
•Moved September’s committee meeting day from Monday, September 1, to the next day because of a conflict with Labor Day.
•Discussed the need to require all new subdivisions to install at least one fire hydrant. The issue originated when residents of Mill Creek Subdivision requested a fire hydrant and jurors discussed the matter with Fire Chief Demourelle. Having one or more hydrant in subdivisions would lower insurance rates. Jurors will take up the ordinance during their next committee meeting.
•Crooked Creek Manager Ken Johnson reported the recreation area took in $20,000 during the July 4 weekend, about $1,000 more than last year. He said Labor Day reservations “look good,” and Halloween reservations were sold out by January 2. Landreneau reported construction of the new pavilion there, funded with grant money, should “wrap up fairly quickly.” Juror Vidrine said tourism in the north part of the parish will get a boost when the Gobble Gully Paintball Field opens. It is expected to open August 9, weather permitting, and will have a raised observation area with covered tables and chairs. Future plans include adding water slide.
•Lndreneau received the police jury’s approval for advertising bids for work on the parish’s industrial park, including painting of the water t