Dove "pardons" the nutria at Rougarou
October 24, 2018
Margie Lee
October 24, 2018
A workshop held last week to gather public input on programs and services provided by a high-profile Houma recreation district drew an audience of two adults and one toddler.
Describing the turnout as “discouraging,” Recreation District 2-3 board member Chris Chaisson said the primary modes of publicity were Facebook posts and a newspaper advertisement.
“We need the public to come, because we need the public to tell us what they want,” said Joesph Furr, landscape architect and owner of Joesph Furr Design Studio, who was hired to aid completion of the Bayou Country Sports Park on La. 311, a project whose incomplete state has drawn public criticism. “If they don’t tell us what they want, then we just kind of have to do what we think they want.”
The attendees were a houma mother and her 1-year-old and a bird-watching advocate from Morgan City affiliate with a local birding club.
The meeting was held in the Lisa Park Gym/
Shawna Fairchild and her son, Greyson Jones, walked around rows of empty tables eventually finding a basketball in a corner to keep Greyson occupied. The two rolled the ball back and forth as they waited for the meeting to begin.
On the tables, which encircled the room, were layouts of public parks throughout Terrebonne Parish. Each listed the features, current intended uses, and a space to fill out suggestions from the public.
Fairchild said she wasn’t sure which district she was in, but expressed concern that football was underrepresented in the parks, “we don’t have anything for football. Every sport should be equal represented,” she said.
She said recently a TPR jamboree was cancelled at South Terrebonne because the school didn’t want them on the field. TPR is the Terrebonne Parish Recreation Department, which is a separate entity from any of the parish’s recreation districts.
“I don’t know the logistics or the politics behind it,” she said. “But if we had our own park for football we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”
Once the meeting began, Furr gave his presentation to the small crowd.
Showing off many successful parks, Furr emphasised “greenspace.”
“This is a multi-purposed space with plant life which can be used as a walking path, a congregational area or even just for people to sit and eat lunch,” he said.
While each example used a different method to draw people to the park, Furr said the goal was to maximize the usage of the space and the duration of its usefulness.
Aside from sports, some of the ideas discussed included areas for nature viewing, outdoor chess tables, dog parks, wine tasting, community gardens, tennis, rugby, and even quidditch.
“If you design it right, and you build it right, and you maintain it right, you can have great parks,” said Furr.
The second half of the presentation was taken up by a timeline and explanation of the construction of the Bayou Country Sports Park.
In 2012, Furr’s company was retained by the parish to create a master plan for the park, and they have been involved since.
According to Furr, with the exception of minor changes – such as the location of roads – the construction has followed the original master plan. This was until, in 2017, the state pulled funding.
“We finished the ball fields late in 2016. Early in 2017 the roads and sewers complete, and because we didn’t have any more money – because the state took the money away from us – that’s where it stopped,” said Furr. “All of 2017 we had a project ready to go, but we had no money.”
Michael Bergeron, chairman of Rec 2-3, said that full implementation of the master plan cannot be finished on current resources.
Furr explained that plans were made for necessary tasks like moving dirt and laying pipes which must be done in sequential order over 3 years. Part of the funding was received the first year, but the rest never arrived.
“They told us they were going to give it to us until the governor came in and cut the budget,” said Furr.
Bergeron explained that the governor took all recreation funds out of capital outlay. While the parish still received funds, Bergeron said the money has to be spent on levees and lock systems.
“If we didn’t have to protect or property and our very existence with levees and locks and things like that, there would be alot more money to put in to these sorts of projects,” said Bergeron. “It’s just a reality, and we are behind the curve.”
He then said the Rec district is supported by a 5-mill property tax, which he said he thinks renews in 2020, and about $600,000 is spent on operating costs.
When asked about possibly increasing the millage Bergeron said he would not ask for more taxes, instead he would show what they intended to build with what they had.
“And that’s it,” he said. “If the voters see fit to give the Rec District more money we have to say ‘look, these are what our plans are. This is what we can build with the existing dollars that we have.'”
