Parish Council trying to resolve long-standing road hassle

St. Landry Parish Council attorney Lance Pitre of Eunice told the Public Works Committee this week he is taking a stab at working out resolution of a road issue that has languished in district court almost 14 years.
The Mason Joubert Road-Hidden Ridge Subdivision issue, near Washington in the northern part of the parish, predates Pitre’s tenure as the council’s counsel as well as that of most council members.
The developer of the subdivision, and former mayor of Washington, bought 40 acres to develop, but, the owner claims, did not buy the 1,075-foot-long road that connects the subdivision to the nearby state highway.
The owner said he has no problem with getting the litigation over the road heard in court, but the other side allegedly does.
Pitre has told the council previously that he thinks the road qualifies as having been “tacitly dedicated” because of maintenance the parish has performed over the years.
He told committee members he has a meeting scheduled Oct. 9 with the owner and his attorney in an effort a way to resolve the issue, which is clearly what the committee and the private parties seem to want done.
Residents of the subdivision are concerned about safety as the road, which has a 30-foot servitude, deteriorates and also lament that the parish sanitation service trucks will not travel it and they have to take garbage to the nearby highway.