Jurors look to stiffen fine for litter bugs

crowley - People who use the side of a rural road for disposal of garbage and white goods will face stiff penalties if one member of the Acadia Parish Police Jury has his way.
Kerry Kilgore wants to raise the current $500 fine on substantially on those who litter.
“I’d like to see us put a ‘2’ on the front of that,” Kilgore said following Wednesday night’s meeting of the police jury’s Legislative Committee.
While no figure was proposed during the committee meeting, a recommendation to increase the violation fine and call a public hearing on the proposed ordinance change is being forwarded to the full jury, which meets Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 5:30 p.m.
“This won’t pertain to people who throw a plastic cup in the back of their pickup and it blows out,” said Kilgore, who chairs the Legislative Committee. “We want to target and raise the fine on people who are deliberately dumping refrigerators, toilets, mattresses, etc. along our roadsides.
“It’s an eyesore,” he added.
Current parish law — Ordinance No. 745 —  stipulates that violators “shall be punished by a fine not more than $500 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both.”
Jurors also will look at a proposal to clarify lease/rental agreements at LeGros Memorial Airport.
Chuck Broussard, chairman of the Airport Committee, explained that the proposal is an effort to “get everyone on the same page so that no one is perceived as getting any special treatment.”
The recommendation to the full jury includes:
• If an individual or business would like to build a hangar at the airport, the jury will lease the property to them at a rate of 10 cents per square foot per year.
• Any individual or business who builds a hangar will have to provide proof of the cost of the building.
• The owner of any hangar measuring 50 feet by 50 feet or larger will receive one year of free rent for every $5,000 spent on the hangar.
• The owner of any hangar measuring 49 feet by 49 feet or smaller will receive one year of free rent for every $2,500 spent on the hangar.
• All new hangars built will require their own water meter and utility pole.
Pertaining to the rent “exemptions,” Broussard pointed out that there will be a maximum of 20 years.
“In other words,” he explained, “if you build a $100,000 hangar, you get 20 years of free rent. If you build a $110,000 hangar, you still get 20 years of free rent.”
Laura Faul, jury secretary-treasurer, added that the water meter and utility pole stipulation is being added because “we have an issue where the parish is paying most of the water and electricity at the airport. We’re trying to get away from that.”
While other “tweaks” to the lease agreement were thrown out during the committee meeting, only those presented by Broussard will be considered when the jury meets on Nov. 9.
The jury’s Road and Bridge Committee is recommending that the jury accept the low bid of $81,337.41 submitted by L&R Construction Co., Inc., of Kaplan  for the bridge replacement project on Charlie Arceneaux Road.
Three bids were received ranging from L&R’s low bid to a high of $99,950.
Michael “Pee Wee” Schexnider, parish road manager, noted that L&R currently is working on the bridge replacement project on Connie Road.
“They should be finished there in a couple of weeks then they’ll move to Charlie Arceneaux,” he said.
That’s contingent on the jury’s approval of the committee’s recommendation.
The regular police jury meeting, usually held on the second Tuesday of each month, was pushed back to Wednesday because of the presidential elections.
Committee meetings, normally on the first Tuesday, were delayed one day because the courthouse was closed on Nov. 1 in observance of All Saints Day.