Bayou Camps Concern SLPSS
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
How to enforce land Issues that often feature illegal target shooting, mud riding and blighted or abandoned camps leased on acres of St. Landry Parish School Board-owned property along Bayou Courtableau is drawing the attention of District officials.
Potential management and liability problems regarding the use of properties located south of U.S. 190 will require a land survey and overall risk assessment, Executive Committee members concluded following a lengthy discussion during a Tuesday night meeting.
Committee members were also introduced to Gerard Guidroz, who indicated that he is interested in negotiating a contract with the District that would include developing plans for removing much of the debris left by former camp owners and managing or overseeing proper land usage.
The District receives annual rental payments from individuals who normally use the properties for recreational purposes.
For several years Don Leger contracted with the District to manage the camp properties, but operations facilitator Chase Taylor told the Committee that Leger is no longer performing that role.
Taylor and Guidroz said there are apparently non-paying squatters who occupy some of the land along the levee, while other individuals are attempting to live permanently on the properties in potential violation of agreements with the District.
Guidroz said during hunting season last year, persons erected makeshift shooting ranges, while persons will also hunt on the acreage without permission.
Photographs provided to committee members showed crater-like potholes in parts of wooded areas that Guidroz said are caused due to mud-riding events.
“People told me that no one ever comes out here, so they are using their ATV’s, trucks, and four-wheelers to tear up the property,” Guidroz said.
Board member Bianca Vedell said the District needs to compile an accurate list of property owners and how much they are paying for renting properties..
Guidroz said that task might get complicated, since rents are calculated differently, depending upon the size of the properties and how much frontage is involved.
Superintendent Milton Batiste III said Leger had been in charge of collecting rental revenues, but now that money is paid at the Central Office.
Raymond Cassimere, another board member, said it’s obvious that the Board needs to develop a transitional approach for management.
“There are a lot of things that need to be studied. We need to show that (the Board) can be good stewards of the land,” Cassimere added.
