Photograph: Opelousas resident David Smith told the City Council and the Mayor he has complained for three years about a water leak on his property. (Photograph by Freddie Herpin.)
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Several Opelousas citizens expressed their displeasure before city officials Tuesday night as they described yards soaked with water and in some cases extended waits for overseeing the connection of commercial sewer lines.
Most of the complaints presented before a monthly Opelousas Board of Alderman meeting were related to the response time from city workers who have been assigned the tasks of addressing the prevalence of water leaks.
Several members of the Board also noted that they have submitted multiple work orders in connection with same water leak complaints. However many of their requests, some members of the Board said, have apparently been left unattended.
“Right now I have 12 water leaks in my district. When I last checked, some of those orders were taken out of the system. I want to know what’s going on with the water leaks. Some of (the leaks) are three years old,” said Alderwoman Delita Rubin Broussard.
Newly-appointed Public Works Director Travis Van Wright said the orders that Broussard and other members of the Board noted, have already been documented.
Van Wright said some orders have been removed from the work order system since they have been recorded several times.
Several Opelousas residents however said they still aren’t happy with the progress of removing water off their property.
Resident David Smith said that he has complained for three years about a water leak that has moved from the street in front of his house onto his property. Water is now so widespread Smith said, that he is unable to use a portion of his property for normal family use.
“I don’t understand why it is taking so long for a problem that is affecting my yard. I’ve talked to the mayor. He and I are friends and this is nothing personal. I just want to see about getting my leak fixed. I’m tired of talking to the same people about this all of the time and getting the same dumb answer,” said Smith.
Smith also wanted to ascertain whether the city had a priority list to determine the order of repairing leaks.
Kendra Seria, who also spoke during the meeting, described a similar situation that has infiltrated her residence.
“The water is everywhere. I called in a complaint and the person that I talked to was so rude to me. I’ve stopped calling. If I contact a department head or a supervisor, I shouldn’t have to put up with someone that has an attitude,” Seria said.
Gloria Romar, another resident, said she has waited about five years to repair a leak that is now seeping onto her property.
“No one seems to care or want to do anything. Those holes are horrible and they’re getting worse and worse,” Romar said.
Alderwoman Chasity Davis-Warren said the water leak in District E is horrible.
“What I want to be able to do is speed the process up,” Davis-Warren said.
Oliver Thierry said he has tried to open a business on West Vine Street but he has had difficulty getting sewer and water connections.
Thierry said he has waited several years for the city to respond to his requests, but no action has been taken.
“This is why you are having all this frustration that you see here. People like me want to have a business and have people come there to spend money,” said Thierry.
Van Wright told the Board that he is doing the best job that he can with the manpower available.
“I go out and address each leak. We have one crew and it’s hard for us to triage who is first and who is going to wait. If you can get calls out to me, then I’m coming out there. I don’t want anyone here to believe that we’re not working,” Van Wright said.
