Police Jury takes action on water concerns, Swanson

The Ouachita Parish Police Jury addressed complaints about water concerns Monday night by appointing a liaison between the jury and Greater Ouachita Water Company.

Police Jury President Scotty Robinson will serve as the liaison.

"As a group, what we're looking for is to make sure this doesn't happen again," resident Quentin Henry said. "We want a system of accountability put in place. We elected y'all to represent us, and we trust you to take care of this problems for us."

The action came after a Facebook page called The People vs Greater Ouachita Water Company amassed more than 1,700 members to discuss issues residents had with their water being a brownish color.

"We realize in the Highway 80/Arkansas Road area we've had enormous color and polymer problems in the last months," Greater Ouachita CEO Tommy Sparks said. "We've taken a lot of steps to solve the problems. First of all, I want to apologize to our customers for the water they've gotten. It may be in compliance, but it's not acceptable."

Sparks said the company would be switching to carbon filters, which should improve water quality.

Project Manager Jason Moss said he has been working hard to fix the problem.

"My number one priority has been fixing the water quality," he said. "There was a polymer getting through the filter that was causing the brown water. The first thing we did was discontinue that polymer."

Moss said he also is working to address customer service issues.

"We know there's been some issues with customer service," he said. "I give you my word as the project manager that if the calls come in, I'll address them."

Sparks said members from Greater Ouachita monitor the Facebook page and are glad to address concerns posted there.

"We're checking the Facebook page every day," he said. "The only thing I ask is people give us their service address. We can't check out a complaint if we don't have a service address. If you post it on the Facebook page and don't call us, that's fine. But we've got to have a service address."

Robinson will act as a middleman between the two entities, bringing status reports from the company back to the jury and forwarding complaints onto Greater Ouachita.

The jury also passed a resolution opposing the expansion of the Swanson Center for Youth onto property east of Jackson Street.

"We six jurors represent 154,000 residents in Ouachita," Juror Ollibeth Reddix said. "A juvenile detention facility that is secure care and is put on 10 acres of land right next to your momma, your grandmother or your child is not an acceptable resolution."

Reddix said the choice of land would affect too many families.

"We're not saying we don't want Swanson to improve its facilities, we're saying … do not come across the street and decrease the quality of life of 4,000 people," she said. "It will affect 135 families and nearly 4,000 people directly. We're not talking about across the lane. We're talking about with a little small culvert separating them."

Ouachita Parish Engineer Kevin Crosby announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued a map revision on the flood insurance rate map of Frenchman's Bend Subdivision.

The revision effectively removes all houses within the subdivision from the flood hazard area. Many houses in the area were required to have flood insurance.

Crosby said residents living in the area should contact their insurance agent to see if they qualify for a rate adjustment or are required to have the insurance at all.

The next Police Jury meeting is May 4.

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