ARNAUDVILLE — Not one, not two, but three dumpsters sit along Hidden Hills Road.
People living in Hidden Hills Subdivision use the dumpsters. Still, there's a problem: residents in the community have requested a temporary restraining order against the St. Landry parish government--- after the Parish ordered the dumpsters to be removed, realizing the dumpster sits on a parish servitude, now the Hidden Hills community is on edge trying to stop the removal of the dumpsters.
Driving down Hidden Hills Roads, you notice these bright aqua-blue dumpsters that sit along the road. Residents living near the subdivision rely on the dumpsters to dispose of their trash.
According to the attorney representing the Hidden Hills Subdivision, the dumpsters have been in this designated area for trash pickup for over 30 years, so why is the change now?
"The traffic has increased in that area along that road," said Parish Attorney Garrett Duplechain.
Parish Attorney Garrett Duplechain, representing the Parish, says the dumpster poses a safety concern. However, Randy Guidry, the attorney representing Hidden Hills, says otherwise.
"They are not on land that the Parish owns, and it is not a lot of land, and it's on the side of the road," said Guidry.
Guidry goes on to say that the request for the TRO was to buy everyone time to figure out what to do with the dumpsters since this is the subdivision's only source for trash pickup.
"The alternative, if you got rid of the dumpsters, there would be 85 trash bins that would have to be drugged through the narrow streets of hidden hills, and you can't get the trash trucks in the back of there, the roads are too narrow," said Guidry.
So we did some digging to find out who the dumpsters belonged to...and according to Executive Director Richard LeBouef from St.Landry Parish Solid Waste, the bins belonged to Bayou State Waste, who is contracted to do residential pickup, but...for Hidden Hills, the subdivision is private, not allowing trash trucks inside the subdivision--thus explaining the dumpsters.
Guidry said that some people in this community are over 65 and are retired, and some couldn't handle the burden of hauling their trash outside the subdivision.
"This was not done to frustrate or antagonize the Parish; my clients didnt even want to seek the TRO. It's just that they were compelled to proceed after hearing the language to remove the dumpsters, which can be very alarming," said Guidry.
In a statement to KATC Director of SLP Solid Waste, Richard LeBouef said:
"Bayou State was instructed not to remove the dumpsters after receiving a cease and desist action from the Hidden Hills Subdivision Attorney."
A court day is scheduled for October 23rd to begin the preliminary litigation.
