In the wake of the Bureau of Indian Affairs placing seven parcels of Allen Parish property into a trust, the Allen Parish Police Jury, during its meeting on Monday, April 1, adopted a resolution in support of appealing the decision.
Jacob Dillehay, the parish’s administrator, explained a parcel comes off of the property tax rolls once it is placed in a trust. He said, “Given the current status of the property taxes in Ward 2 and the foreseen loss that we can prevent, the parish moved to appeal those seven decisions.”
Earlier in the meeting, the police jury heard from Kimberly Caldarera on behalf of the Allen Parish Community Healthcare.
According to Caldarera, one of the biggest disparities in rural areas is access to medical care and the Allen Council on Aging provides transportation for medical appointments.
“There has been a major uptick in our parish,” she said. “Our community is using this transportation, which is a good thing. They will take you anywhere you need to be.”
Caldarera then reported the hospital has hired orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brett Cascio as its first provider for the new surgical suite and provided an update on other events such as Lunch and Learns, Farmer’s Market, Allen Parish Track Meet, and Allen Parish Community Health Fair.
“We definitely want the community to participate in what we do in trying to bring the community together,” said Caldarera.
In other business, the jury:
•Voted to move forward on a boat ramp at Carpenters Bridge.
•Voted to change the time of the regular meetings from 6:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
•Approved to pay Mike’s Sandblasting $7,000 to recoat fuel tanks covered by grant money.
•Approved to pay Goldman Equipment $2,529.54 for a John Deere tractor hood for Road District 4.
•Approved to pay Spatco Energy Solutions $17,550.30 for the pedestal to upgrade the Fuelmaster equipment at the airport.
•Approved to pay Martin Truck Center $2,522.50 for repair on dump truck for RD5.
•Approved a joint service agreement with the City of Oakdale for grass cutting, pothole patching, and trash pickup for the month of April 2024.
•Approved a joint service agreement with the Allen Parish School Board for material, labor, and equipment to repair the following bus turnarounds- 3262 Hwy 377, in Fairview; 3393 Hwy 1153, in Oakdale; 141 Ridge Road, in Kinder; at the end of Gospel Lighthouse Road, in Oakdale; at the end of Townson Road, in Fairview; and 549 Ten Mile Road, in Fairview.
•Heard concerns from Todd Taylor regarding the West Allen Parish Water Board.
•Amended the 2024 Equipment Outlay.
•Adopted a resolution to award the Capital Outlay asphalt project to RC Paving, Inc., and to authorize the president to execute any and all contract documents required.
•Awarded the Debris Monitoring Contract to Tetra Tech and the Debris Removal Contract to Ceres Environmental.
•Accepted the resignation of Jay LaFargue from the Ward II Recreation District Park Board.
•Reappointed Sarah Ryland to the Allen Parish Ambulance Board for a five-year term.