The Evangeline Parish Police Jury, Monday, received two offers from local residents to lease Crooked Creek Park. Jury Secretary Treasurer Donald Bergeron said the jury is looking at exploring that option. The parish owned 300 acre park is about 40 years old and contains over 100 camping sites along with a fishing lake and a sandy beach. Bergeron said jurors plan to be cautious of any lease to make sure the taxpayer’s investment is protected. The jury agreed to formally advertise to lease the park and review the bids.
In other business, the police jury approved the following appointments: Sandra Jacobs to replace Mayor Jennifer Vidrine on the Parish Library board and Pam Hall to the Mamou Drainage Board; the following were re -appointed to serve another term: Charles Benny Fontenot and Wendell Brunet to the Vidrine Drainage board; Bryan Bieber and Darrell McGee to the Prairie Mamou Drainage Board; Clem Manuel and Paul Berzas to the Duralde Gravity Drainage Board; Ralph Celestine to the Mamou Drainage Board; Lynn Gooden and Nathaniel Thomas to the Evangeline Parish Communications Board.
Also the jury approved picking up the election day expenses for the following polls that do not meet the minimum voter numbers: Lake Cove, Faubourg, Chauncey Pitre Ag Arena, Veterans Home and Lincoln Road. The state mandates that a poll must have a minimum of 300 registered voters. If not, they should consolidate. The jury did request the state to consider paying the election expenses for Lake Cove under extra ordinary circumstances since the majority of voters are low income and it would cause a hardship for voters to travel to another precinct.
In other action, the jury was notified that the security camera project is completed for the courthouse at a cost of $40,000; sales tax collections for July amounted to $266,692, a drop of $40,000 from the month before; and the Beacon’s Gully Bridge project is finally complete after eight years at a cost of $600,000.