police jury prepares to act on abandoned properties

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury discussed clearing of abandoned properties during its committee meeting session Monday, March 2, and decided to take action on the problem during its regular monthly meeting on March 9.
Donald Bergeron, police jury secretary/treasurer, reported that four contractors had been identified as qualified to clear the properties. The cost of clearing those properties would be added to the property owners’ tax bills.
Only one of those contractors had submitted a bid to clear the 10 properties, Bergeron said. The cost would be at least $5,000 per property, and one would be $16,000. The cost includes demolishing and hauling off structures, removing trees where necessary, and leveling the ground.
Juror Ryan Williams urged the police jury to take action on the problem. He said constituents in his district had complained of abandoned structures near their residences.
The jurors asked Bergeron to obtain bids from the remaining contractors before the regular monthly meeting next Monday.
The police jury discussed damage to Reton School Road caused by a contractor hauling equipment to another road that was being overlaid. Ronnie Landreneau, the police jury’s consulting engineer, said the contractor had repeatedly delayed repairing the road. Upon request by the police jury’s legal consultant, Landreneau said he would verify stipulations in the parish’s contract regarding the responsibility of contractors to repair damage they cause.
Chester Granger, public works director, said the contractor avoided using state roads that would give it more direct access to the road being overlaid. He said he “took offense” at the explanation given by the contractor for use of the damaged road and what it intends to do about it. Granger also said the damaged road presented a safety hazard.
The police jury voted to set a deadline for the contractor to repair Reton School Road during its regular monthly meeting March 9.
The issue of salary increases for parish employees again surfaced during the finance committee meeting. Juror Kenny Burgess asked that justices of the peace and constables be given raises. The raises for the five constables and 10 justices of the peace would amount to a total of $1,900 per year.
Action on the measure was tabled until the regular monthly meeting the following Monday.
Burgess then asked about raises for other employees, but juror Bryan Vidrine objected. He said the issue of raises was placed on the police jury’s agenda in October, and all raises should have been proposed and approved then. He also said the police jury had intended to review the performance of employees up to the management level and to base raises accordingly. He said the police jury should require all parish departments to comply with the performance-review-based pay increases, and “if they don’t comply, they don’t get raises.”
In other police jury business:
•The police jury voted to accept a proposal by Granger for motion-activated night vision video systems for road crew yards.
•Received a proposed drinking water ordinance from Tiffany Barth, with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, who briefed the jurors about the state’s efforts to promote voluntary standards by local governments. The standards would set boundaries for locating of possible new sources of ground water contamination.
•Jurors were briefed on the parish employees’ health insurance that will have no increase in premiums but will have new options. The issue will be voted on during the police jury’s regular meeting March 9.
•Jurors voted to call for a public hearing in April for the proposed abandonment of the portion of Rocky Lane where the chip seal ends.
•The police jury discussed asphalt overlaying of 31 chip sealed camper slots at Crooked Creek Recreational Park, possibly as part of the parish’s road improvement bond issue project, at a cost of about $40,000. Jurors questioned whether that should be done during a later phase of the parish’s major road improvement project, but took no action.