- With a new sales tax on the ballot, and a flood of concerns coming in about road conditions, particularly in the unincorporated parts of the parish, a Town Hall meeting with President M. Larry Richard and other representatives has been scheduled to discuss these concerns.
- The Town Hall meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 2 at the Mon Ami Dance Hall in Grand Marais from 6:00-7:30 p.m. All are welcome.
“Lemme tell ya, you ride these roads up and down everyday…it’s not nice it-it’s, it’s bad.”
What once was new…
“We moved in here in 1988.”
…is now in need of some upgrades.
“I hate to say it, but some of our gravel roads are better than our paved roads.”
Grand Marais resident Bobby Muffoletto remembers when the road by his house used to be gravel. “The parish came in and wanted to blacktop it and I said ‘well sure’…It’s only gonna make my value go up.”
Now after 36 years,he’s noticing the wear and tear.
“Well it’s good," explained Muffoletto, "but then you have so much traffic here, sometimes you have big trucks, you got tractors with the sugar industry…”
Relying on limestone fillings now and then, residents in unincorporated parts of the parish say they’re struggling with the road conditions.
“Every vehicle that pass over here…threw limestone in my yard.” For Muffoletto, the limestone fillings seems to cause more problems than solutions. “People on four-wheelers pass, them kids get here they throw ‘em. I’ve had ‘em inside my fence when I’m cutting my grass, that’s all I ever hear ‘ping, ping,’ ya know.”
With the April 27th election fast-approaching, the parish government is looking to pass a new, dedicated sales tax, aimed to fix the roads.
District 10 Representative Brock Pellerin says residents have an opportunity to learn about this tax while also voicing their concerns. “The sales tax will be a 3/4 of a cent sales tax, collected in the unincorporated areas of the parish, only in the unincorporated areas of the parish.”
“The town halls are informative meeting; what we’re trying to do is get all the information we have out to the public. They can take all that information they gather at the meetings, and make an informed decision about the proposed road tax.”
The next town hall meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 2 at the Mon Ami Dance Hall in Grand Marais from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Another town hall meeting is also being on Thursday, April 11 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Sugarland Elementary School in New Iberia. All are welcome.
