Photograph: Parish President Promotes Successes. (Photograph by Freddie Herpin.)
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Although at times it might seem personal between him and Parish Council members, parish president Jessie Bellard says it’s best to ignore their arguments that sometimes become published reports.
“Sometimes we’re going to fuss and fight and disagree on how things are going to happen, but despite what you might read in the newspapers, we all want what’s best for this parish. That’s the name of the game,” Bellard said during his annual State of The Parish Address Tuesday night.
Bellard told his audience that his reputation for working long hours is something that he doesn’t consider to be a detriment.
“When you love what you do every day, then it’s really not a job,” Bellard said as a small crowd watched at the Delta Grand Theater and others viewed the live stream feed on social media.
While funding for roads and bridges is a significant concern, Bellard said that he wants to continue additionally providing money for events such as the Bar-b-Que Festival which will be held in June, the Halloween Haunted House at the Courthouse and a newly designed Mardi Gras celebration in downtown Opelousas.
What Bellard did emphasize during the 90-minute event is the attempt by his administration to bring more federal and state funding into St. Landry.
Bellard mentioned that there will soon be $3.54 million in federal funding available to the parish for runway rehabilitation, runway obstruction removal and perimeter fencing to prevent unauthorized facility access.
For a second straight year Bellard said he and other representatives from St. Landry visited Washington, D.C. where they met with federal officials in order to obtain funding for roads and other projects.
Bellard said the annual trip is important, since federal lawmakers need to become aware of what the parish needs for improving infrastructure.
Federal money is available to parishes, but in order to get the revenues, parishes need to become aggressive, said Bellard.
St. Landry, Bellard added, could also become eligible for $5 million in federal funding for roads after lobbying from local state lawmakers Dustin Miller and Gerald Boudreaux.
There’s potentially another $40 million available for similar projects, but it’s not certain at this point whether St. Landry can obtain the entire amount, said Bellard.
A $1 million state-funded project to clean areas of bayous Mallet and Carron has been approved, Bellard said.
Bellard said the project which includes much of Council District 4, has been pushed by District 11 Council member Timothy LeJeune.
His initiative for removing parish debris and upgrading non-paved roads continued throughout 2022, Bellard said.
The presentation by Bellard included statistics which indicate that 68 roads have undergone culvert cleaning, along with 239 miles of debris removal, 92 roads where culverts were installed and 408.7 miles of grading.
Bellard noted that the biggest ongoing expense for the parish has been the costs for housing inmates.
The parish Bellard said, is spending about $100,000 monthly to pay for inmate expenses. Those costs have been driven upward since parish jail overcrowding has forced the administration to locate prisoners in other facilities.
Those costs, now paid for with one-time American Rescue Act funding, could be reduced as the parish oversees the construction of a trusty dormitory what will accommodate as many as 67 prisoners, Bellard added.
