Chataignier lawn care discussed

Keeping the grass trimmed and maintained was the topic of main discussion at the Village of Chataignier’s monthly meeting on Monday night.
Chataignier Mayor Jackie Thomas wanted to take time out during her report to inform the council of how good of a job Justin Darbonne had been doing with cutting the grass for the village. Darbonne had been hired at last month’s meeting as a seasonal worker for grass cutting.
Due to that progress, Thomas indicated that the work that Darbonne had done could help lay the groundwork for the village to enforce an ordinance concerning abandoned and neglected properties, possibly after next month’s meeting.
Council member Debra Brown expressed her displeasure with abandoned properties that people see while traveling along the highways that connect Ville Platte, Eunice and Opelousas.
“What people perceive the village to be is important,” Brown said. “We have a lot of abandoned properties that harbor all types of pests. To me its an eyesore.”
Thomas agreed with Brown, and a few of the residents in attendance that echoed Brown’s statement, but reminded them that the village had to handled its business first, before enforcing its residents to do the same.
“The Village of Chataignier needs to take care of what we need to take care of first,” Thomas said. “How can I ask the residents to cut their yards when we are not maintaining our own properties?”
The council also discussed Leo Bayard IV’s desire to build a turtle farm in the village. Bayard, who is already fully licensed to harvest turtles to be shipped overseas, approached the council at last month’s meeting. Bayard apparently originally was planning on building the farm on the back of his property, but has since changed his mind.
“He is now looking for a couple of acres to put his turtle farm on,” Thomas said. “We are just going to wait to hear back from him.”