On Monday night, the Evangeline Parish Police Jury held their monthly meeting.
- In the Executive Committee meeting, they discussed utilizing Open Meeting Software to livestream Jury meetings for easier access for the public.
- The Road and Bridge Committee approved beginning the process of looking into taking back Nobrac Road from Crowell Lumber.
- Brian Richmond, the Park Manager for Crooked Creek, handled some personnel issues and then reported on successful April events. The Memorial Day Celebration on May 25th will include the Rose Down Rockers, and there will be a Black Pot Cookoff from 11:00-1:00.
- Kim Deville from the LSU Ag Center spoke about the new sign grant for the Chauncey Pitre Barn and introduced student and Grant Recipient, Dane Fontenot, who got approval for his Pollination Project from the Building Committee. Project funds were from a Grant, and donations from Heather Cloud, Progressive and donations of local native grasses. Vincent Deshotel introduced the new Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent, Brittany Zaunbrecher.
- The Building Committee also approved work to be done by Calcasieu for the Courthouse.
- The Claims Committee approved enrolling two Firemen in the Insurance plan.
- The Equipment Committee gave approval to Engineer Jody Snoddy to proceed with the acquisition of a semi-trailer truck, a backhoe, and tractor with front-end loader, backhoe, grappler and shredder attachments under an existing grant.
At the Regular Meeting, it was announced that the Parish will receive an $85,000 dividend back on the OSHA insurance coverage, so hiring the insurance agent has been very beneficial. Tim Causey invited Ben Hunter from National Water Infrastructure, a private waste water and utility company, to speak about taking over the responsibility of waste water from the Parish. A Motion was approved by the Jury to have a Legal Advisor develop a Bid Plan to auction off the plants in the parish with the exception of the ones that the Parish are legally obligated to control.
The Public Works Director, Jody Snoddy, reported that they are working out the flood problems in the Ward 1 Drainage in District 8, and they continue to work on the 2% Drainage in District 5. It will take about 4 months to get all of the bridges complete to do delays in getting the bridge timbers.
Toby Landreneau gave the Engineer’s Report on two projects. He recommended awarding the Water Sector Project in the Wyble Subdivision, and that was approved. The Evangeline Parish Industrial Park Road and Utility District is moving forward. It should be complete by the next meeting and ready to go to bid.
The Secretary/Treasurer Dirk Deville reported Sales and Use Tax collections for February 2024 were $344,000, compared to $331,000 from February of 2023. The Enterprise Zone Property Listing was approved for the Parish. Mr. Deville was also authorized to sign on behalf of the Parish for the Equipment purchases and the Crooked Creek purchases. He was also asked about the Boat Launch in Whiteville, and he reported that work is still ongoing.
The meeting was then adjourned for the Special Meeting to discuss Solar Panel Farms.
