Parks Commission Is Reactivated

 Parks Commission Is Reactivated

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

Oversight for the two Opelousas parks areas was reestablished last week as the Board of Aldermen appointed six members and a chairman for a Parks And Recreation Commission that has been inactive since 2019.

It’s still unclear how much responsibility the Commission will have over the operation of the North and South parks.

City Attorney Travis Broussard said during a meeting several months ago that he feels the Commission should be limited to an advisory capacity.

That opinion conflicts somewhat with the original authority of the Commission, which according to initial by-laws, wielded more power over decisions for both parks.

A two-parks master plan approved by the Board of Aldermen about 25 years ago, details a parks usage vision that included a nine-hole golf course for North City Park.

Over the past two years South City Park has undergone a major transition from a municipal park to an area that includes a pickleball court, an $8 million project funded primarily by the Opelousas Downtown Development District and a proposed $4.6 million community center that replace the former swimming pool and poolhouse area that was demolished without Board approval.

Each Board member and Mayor Julius Alsandor, who selected the chairperson, was allowed to make one appointment to the Commission.

The new Commission members are as follows:

Kersten Major – Marvin Richard

Ronald Milburn – John Guilbeaux

Stephen Picou – Delita Broussard

Adrian Giron – Charles Cummings

Al Perry Arvie – Sherell Roberts

Charmin Newman – Chasity Davis-Warren

Keith Washington – Julius Alsandor