EVANGELINE PARISH POLICE JURY MEETING

MAY 12, 2014

      The Evangeline Parish Police Jury, Monday, after receiving objections from property owners during the earlier public hearing , voted to abandon roads where there were no objections. Also one of the proposed abandoned road will continue to be maintained by the parish should property owners remove a gate on Kip Lane.

        Also, the jury agreed to follow its own parish ordinance when it comes to naming parish roads or changing the name of a parish road. That decision was reached following a plea by Evangeline Parish Communications Director Liz Hill and two of her dispatchers. Hill objected to two of the names ,RLT on Chataignier Road and Tee Ed road on Opelousas road. The two new names are either similar to what is in use in another part of the parish or sounds very similar to a current road.

       Hill also reminded the jury that the parish ordinance calls for the property owner to pay $1500 to get a change in the name of a parish road from Rocklin road to Tatman road. The parish ordinance was adopted in 1995 and it details the procedures on the naming of parish roads or changing the name of a parish road.

     The two dispatchers, shared a number of medical emergencies where they had a difficult time understanding where the calls were coming from such as trying to determine if the emergency was on Beaver road or Bieber road.

     Police Juror Kenny Burgess, who has been working in the E.M.S. field for more than 20 years, said “We need to follow our own ordinance.”

    On another issue, the jury agreed to follow the advice of its legal advisor on whether to issue a permit for a Four Wheeler Trail Ride. Jury legal advisor, Marcus Fontenot, said his advice is to not to  issue permits since the ATV’s are not licensed for on the road use. Some jurors were also concerned with liability issues.

    In other business, the police jury:

--called a meeting for May 21 at 6;00pm to review a proposed list of parish asphalt roads that need to be improved as recommended by the parish engineer;

--called a meeting with parish contractors and service professionals such as electricians and plumbers to review the new proposed building code for May 20 at 10:00am;

--received a report from Brenda Hubbard with Acadiana Work Force introduce her team including local Office Director Judy Guillory;