The Washington Parish Council held its regular meeting on March 24 in Council Chambers and addressed a full agenda of ordinances and resolutions. Following the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, the Council approved the minutes of the March 10 regular meeting.
First, the Council heard a quarterly report from Sonnet Ireland, Washington Parish Library Director. Ms. Ireland informed the Council that the library has received a $10,000 grant from Emergency Preparedness which will make the technological side of the library more sound in case of a power outage or other storm damage. There is an additional $5,000 grant that will pay for the summer reading program which she promises will be awesome this year. Two grants totaling $12,000 from the American Library will be used for a ramp at the Enon Branch and to make the other branches more accessible as well as provide two internet "hotspots."
Ireland also shared that the exterior painting is about to begin at the Thomas Branch and planning will soon begin for work at the Angie Branch. She added that the State Park Passes have been so popular that more were needed. The libraries also have "litter kits" for the public.
Next, two ordinances were introduced. The first authorizes the Parish President to engage Pistorius Associates, LLC, as the architect for the design and management of certain construction projects for Washington Parish. The next directs the Washington Parish President to sign and execute documents on behalf of the FY2026-2027 Louisiana Community Development Block Grant Application.
The Council then adopted a resolution to appoint Tim Magee to the Washington Parish Recreation District Board 1, a resolution to appoint Richard Whittington to the Board of Directors of Washington Parish Fire Protection District 6 and appoint Nathan Pierce to the Washington Parish Library Board of Control.
The Washington Parish Government and the City Court of Bogalusa entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement in December 2024, for the purpose of providing the City Court with the necessary justice system resources to respond to opioid overdoses in Washington Parish through the use of the proceeds from the opioid litigation settlement.
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The Council voted to approve a resolution to declare a 2008 Ford Van and a 2015 TEXS utility trailer as surplus movable property as well as an authorization to donate for the sole purpose of transporting persons as part of the Court Addiction Response Team for post-arrest and pre-trial detox and recovery process.
Two resolutions were adopted, with Councilman Reginald McMasters abstaining, to accept the Industrial Tax Exemption Program Applications of Hood Industries and International Paper Company. The Council also voted to declare a John Deere Excavator as surplus movable property and authorize that it be used as trade-in to reduce the price of a new model on the state contract. The final two resolutions adopted by the Council were in support of the Varnado and Bogue Lusa Water Works Districts Infrastructure Improvement Project to provide essential water services to residents and in support of the Washington Parish Bridge to Culvert Program to modernize parish bridges to make them more suitable for modern traffic loads and weather conditions.
In public participation, Sheriff Jason Smith reported that the parish jail currently has 224 inmates with 204 being held in-house in Franklinton. He shared that there has been significant progress in disposal of outdated equipment and general clean-up of the jail and invited Council members to come see the improvements made in the past nine months. Smith also reported the progress at the 911 call center in Sheridan. The radio system has been installed along with servers. Consoles should be installed in the next week and updates to the system completed. The new center will be operational by April 16 or 17.
In the President's report, Public Works Director Alex Sumrall made quite an impression with poster-sized photos of recent litter dumping on parish roads. Since the Council meeting on March 10, an additional 246 bags of litter were picked up, bringing the total to 713 bags in one month in addition to furniture dumped along roads. Sumrall added that ironically there is a free landfill in the center of the parish, yet folks will ride around to find roads to dump trash on and risk getting caught. He emphatically stated, "We can do better!"
There has also been an uptick in stolen road signs with 25 new signs being installed on 11 roads. Signs are ultimately paid for by taxpayers. In other news, Sumrall reported that the Bogalusa Health Unit HVAC system is complete in the conference room and sanitation area. The unit will now have a sanitarian from the state sanitation department on certain days with dates and times forthcoming.
Sumrall recently visited Layton's Bluff in Angie and commended crews for the ditching and work being done on the road. He also thanked crews, Tim Dillon, and Kelvin Brown and his crew for all the work they have done including the Varnado Recreation District. Sumrall ended with continued prayers for Washington Parish's neighbors in Walthall County Mississippi and the Kentwood area after recent weather events. He implores citizens to "ask yourself 'what can I do to make Washington Parish a better place?'"
Parish President Ryan Seal noted that Washington Parish has a frustrating litter problem, but dumped furniture goes beyond what is acceptable. With this in mind he reminded everyone that the Love the Boot litter collection event is scheduled for Saturday, April 5 and noted that the sheriff, LA State Police, and the Environmental Quality agency are getting more diligent about combating litter.
Seal also recognized Tony Raspberry, Plant Manager at Hood Industries, who was in attendance at the meeting. Hood has a Washington Parish workforce of 150 and the parish is grateful to Hood for hiring locals.
The president also commented on the surplus property on the night's agenda and assures that parish government is constantly trying update the fleet of equipment. He congratulated Sheriff Jason Smith and Chief of Corrections Kyle Varnado on winning the cornhole tournament sponsored by You Night, an organization that supports women and cancer. Finally, Seal reminded everyone to be in prayer for the family of a St. Tammany deputy killed in the line of duty as well as the "thin blue line."
Parish Council Chairwoman Kim Wagner commented on how great the landscaping at the Courthouse looks and encourages folks to participate in the April 5 clean up activities. The next meeting will be held on Monday, April 14, 2025
