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For the past few months, the City of Abbeville’s parks director position has been vacant.
Denise Mire, the former director, moved to another position in city hall. With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the ability to have sports last fall, city officials did not immediately fill the position.
Now, the city is currently taking applications for the position, one that would oversee operations in the city’s 11 parks.
“Anyone interested in the position can apply at city hall,” Mayor Mark Piazza said Wednesday morning.
Recreation for the city has been handled by Quality Sports Authority (QSA) since 2017. The non-profit organization, based in Erath, agreed to a three-year contract renewal with the city in February of ‘20. The contract does allow for either side to opt out, with a notice of 90 days. The contract pays QSA $75,000 annually.
Abbeville’s Parks and Recreation Board did meet Tuesday night. Part of the discussion included a proposal from QSA that would have the organization take over the duties of parks director.
“The only thing that is on the table right now is the parks director job,” Piazza said.
“At the next city council meeting, the council is going to decide if they want to consider QSA’s proposal to do the parks director job.”
The next council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 2. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the rec building at A.A. Comeaux Park.
The proposal from QSA currently represents the only applicant for the parks director position. Should the council agree to accept QSA’s proposal, it would create a contract for QSA separate from its recreation contract.
“It would be for $25,000 and be a completely different contract,” Piazza explained. “The council will decide if they want to approve that contract. Or they will decide if they want to proceed with the hiring of a parks director.”
Again, in the meantime, anyone interested in the parks director job can apply at Abbeville City Hall.
“The job is still available,” Piazza said, “if people want to apply for it.”

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development staff is preparing to respond in the event of adverse weather. Forecasts call for freezing temperatures with the possibility of wintry precipitation in some areas of the state this coming weekend.
DOTD will have crews out scouting the roadways and bridges and will be prepared to respond, if necessary.
Supply inventories and equipment have been checked, and crews will be available to monitor bridges and elevated sections of roadways when safe to do so in order to perform emergency winter weather operations as necessary. In addition, DOTD will continue to closely monitor upcoming weather situations.
DOTD is prepared to close bridges and elevated sections of roadway that are deemed unsafe when resources and worker safety allows. Motorists are advised to be aware that some bridges and roadways may become unsafe for travel before a closure notice is issued.
Drivers should not be on the roadway during hazardous driving conditions.
For the most up-to-date road status information, DOTD offers motorists various resources:
511 Traveler Information: Travelers can find information regarding road closures by downloading the Louisiana 511 mobile app or by visiting the 511 Traveler Information website at www.511la.org(link is external). This website is updated in real time with changing road conditions.
MyDOTD: Motorists can receive up-to-date information on local projects, lane and road closures, and other DOTD activity by signing up for MyDOTD at www.dotd.la.gov(link is external).
Social Media: Find DOTD on social media for updates and information. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
DOTD urges motorists to stay off the roads during hazardous driving conditions. DOTD will do everything it can to keep Louisiana’s highways and interstate system open in the event of freezing rain, sleet or snow and will prioritize the maintenance and opening of routes based on traffic volumes.
During winter weather conditions, motorists should adhere to the following driving safety tips:
Drive slowly and carefully.
Avoid driving while distracted.
Always allow for extra driving time.
Avoid using cruise control.
Reduce speeds when visibility is low.
Make sure there is plenty of room between vehicles.
Be on the lookout for DOTD crews and other emergency responders and their equipment
Remember that it’s unlawful and unsafe to drive around a road closed barricade for any reason
Also, beware of black ice — a thin, transparent layer of ice accumulation that can be visually hard to detect on bridges, overpasses, off-ramps and in shady spots. As always, DOTD reminds motorists to buckle up and refrain from distracted driving or driving under the influence.

DELCAMBRE — The Town of Delcambre approved Emergency Management hazard Mitigation Plan for Iberia Parish and Vermilion Parish.
The twin parish town had the benefit last night to decide to adopt two Emergency Mitigation plans that will only benefit them in the long run if the town were to suffer a major natural disaster. Prescott Marshall from Iberia Parish and Homer Stelly from Vermilion Parish presented the board with the smart decision to include both plans, in which the board agreed to do.
In order for any community or parish to be eligible for hazard mitigation funding, FEMA requires that Iberia Parish provides a hazard mitigation plan and contract in place. Marshall told the board that he and Stelly both recommended to adopt both. “It can only help to adopt both, that way if Delcambre is in a disaster, the town would be eligible for mitigation funding, possibly from both parishes,” Marshall said.
Vermilion had a higher percentage for reimbursement for hurricane Delta than Iberia Parish did, who only had 75%. “It’s conceivable that if Iberia Parish gets hit harder during a storm than Vermilion, Iberia would be the parish with a great opportunity based on the parish wide implications to receive funding,” said Marshall, “by adopting both, you can basically jump on any train that will get you the best payoff after a disaster.”
This plan does not require anything from the town of Delcambre, aside from approving the motion to adopt, instead, it allows the town to have a wider range of help when it comes down to decreasing hazards. An example of that would be if the town wanted to move their fire station, they could receive help to do so pending approval.
Overall it is a wise decision since it requires nothing more than a signature. Mayor Blakely and the board all agreed.
The board also introduced an ordinance for the Fire Department to be allowed to investigate their own fire until it is out of range and the Fire Marshall is needed. Delcambre Fire Chief Brock Benoit said that there was never an ordinance stating that the fire department can investigate their own incidents. “With the rating that the Fire Department has this year, allowing the department to investigate these incidents will only help the Department achieve a higher rating, which is important for many reasons, but also a personal goal for me,” Benoit said.
Having an ordinance can allow even a half of a point to achieve a better rating. As fire officers, being able to determine what the fire was caused by, Benoit and his Assistant Chief has the credentials to do so, and if ever they need further assistance, for example a suspected arson fire, then the Fire Marshal will be contacted to complete the investigation.
“Anything that we cannot be sure of, we already contact the Fire Marshal anyway, so having the ordinance in place will basically just help us meet this criteria for a better rating,” Benoit said.
Having a rating of 7 several years ago, Benoit is now at a class 4 rating. A lower rating will also allow for insurance premiums to decrease. “We are wanting to cover every item that came up on that rating list as possible and it is our goal to get at least a class 3 rating or below,” he said, “The ratings are based on how much your fire department could protect your town.”
ISO stands for the Insurance Services Office. ISO collects information on municipal fire departments and then assigns them with a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 generally represents superior fire protection services, while Class 10 represents a service level that doesn’t meet ISO’s minimum fire protection criteria.
Fire departments are evaluated in about 75 different areas that fall into four general categories, weighted accordingly; fire department (40%), water supply (35%), fire safety control (16%) and emergency communications (9%). Fire department includes things such as the number of stations, number, type and age of apparatus, staffing levels, training, hose and equipment, vehicle maintenance, etc.
Water supply evaluates water flow, hydrant locations and condition, operation and maintenance of the water systems, and since the water meter project, the department was able to earn a point or two since the installation of those meters and updating of the water system.
Fire safety control encompasses prevention programs such as code enforcement, plan review, business inspections and public education programs. The final category, emergency communications, evaluates the department’s dispatchers and dispatch center operations. Every 5 years or so, the departments are re-evaluated.
The board agreed to adopt the fire ordinance.

The Abbeville Lady Wildcats got the win they needed on Tuesday at home.
Now, they needs to close out the regular season with another victory.
The Lady Wildcats (11-9) have a power ranking of No. 18 in Class 3A. The top 32 make the playoffs and the top 16 earn a first-round playoff home game.
With the 42-29 win over Crowley, the Lady Wildcats are two slots away from reaching the No. 16 power ranking.
The problem with trying to climb to notches is that the Lady Wildcats only have one game remaining in the regular season.
Abbeville will travel to Lafayette on Thursday to play David Thibodaux (4-19) to close out the regular season.
“I am not sure if a win would help us climb to No. 16,” said AHS head coach Ashly Boudreaux. “We will see.”
There is a chance the Lady Wildcats could play Crowley, who is No. 17, again in the first round.
Other teams the Lady Wildcats could play in the first round are No. 16 Westlake (11-7), No. 15 St. James (9-4) or No. 14 Pine Prairie (14-7).
In Tuesday’s game, the Lady Wildcats moved ahead of Crowley in the fourth period by scoring 16 points. Alissa Richard nailed two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth period to secure the win. She led the team with 11 points.
Gloryyona Walker made 10 and Karmen Williams tacked on eight for AHS. She scored four in the fourth quarter.
JaLearreira Soelv canned two three pointers for six points.
Taylor Perkins led Crowley with 18 points.

Crowley.....48
Abbeville...41

The Abbeville Wildcats almost pulled off the upset against Crowley on Tuesday.
Abbeville did manage to outscored Crowley 22-15 in the first half, but then things went cold in the third period.
The Wildcats could only score five third-quarter points while Crowley made 17. That bad third quarter cost the Wildcats the game.