Avoyelles Police Jury awards contracts for Parish Barn projects

After over a year of discussion and planning, the Avoylles Parish Police Jury took the step from dream to reality at its Aug. 11 meeting, awarding contracts totaling over $2 million for improvements to the Parish Barn administrative building and solid waste yard were awarded to M.D. Descant Construction of Bunkie.

The two projects are part of what has been dubbed "Phase I" of the parish's long-term solid waste management plan. This part of the plan improves access to the solid waste yard, makes storing and disposing improvements and replaces the old administrative building.

"Phase II," if the Police Jury decides to implement that phase, would construct a waste transfer station at the Parish Barn site. This would allow the Police Jury to either collect or hire a contractor to collect household waste parishwide and dump it into large trailers that would then be hauled to a landfill by another contracted vendor.

A key element to "Phase II" would be to secure a long-term contract with a landfill, preferably a government-owned site like the St. Landry landfill.

The construction of the administrative building will cost $698,000. The solid waste yard improvements will cost a little over $1.3 million.

In another matter, the Police Jury established a "No Wake" zone at a section of the Spring Bayou complex between Little River and Bay Sec. The private non-profit Spring Bayou Restoration Team has agreed to pay to install "No Wake Zone" signs and buoys to mark the site.

The decision was made for safety reasons due to a blind curve. That, combined with boaters operating at high speeds, created the potential for tragic accidents.

In other business, the Police Jury approved allowing the Avoyelles School Board to install an internet access point, or "hotspot," at the parish-owned LSU AgCenter building in Mansura.

The access points are to ensure students can participate in academic instruction if they do not have internet access at home.

The school district has provided Chromebooks to all students. About 40 percent have chosen the "virtual option" while the other 60 percent will be divided into two groups who attend school two days and participate remotely for two days.

The AgCenter building could be a site where students can go to sit outside, sit in cars or possibly sit inside -- maintaining proper distances and following other COVID protocols -- if they do not have internet access at home.