By Pat Culverhouse
Webster Parish Police Jury members went on record Tuesday in support of funding for upgrades to a pair of parish water systems.
Jurors unanimously approved a resolution for community water enrichment funding from the Office of Community Development for the Gilgal Water System totaling $76,206.
Funds reportedly will be used to replace pumps for the Gilgal system.
A second resolution targeted the Leton Water System request for $77,170 in funds, also from the Office of Community Development for community water enrichment. Those funds reportedly will target water lines in the system.
Jury members also heard a report on last month’s winter storm event from Brian Williams, Director of the Webster Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
Williams said all agencies in the parish worked well together to provide necessary services, including one incident which helped alleviate problems with a traffic jam of 18-wheelers.
“Love’s Truck Stop was running out of fuel and that was causing a stack-up of 18-wheelers. We were able, through Homeland Security, to get a fuel tanker diverted to that location and relieve the situation.”
Angie Chapman, Webster Parish 911 Director, said her agency received no 911 calls related to the weather “…because of pro active law enforcement. We repeatedly heard radio calls from law enforcement that they were out helping someone, so we really had no calls relating to the weather.”
Also during Tuesday’s meeting, jury members approved a resolution for a Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to rebuild a section of parish roadway.
Road committee chairman Steve Ramsey said the grant would target roughly 5.5 miles of Lake Rd., located in Webster Parish. Ramsey said another approximately 10 miles of the road is in Bienville Parish, “…so this is a joint effort.”
Jury President Jim Bonsall said efforts have been ongoing for some time, but have been stepped up over the past nine months to seek the grant.