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VIDALIA, La. — Officials of the Concordia Parish Police Jury on Monday promised to “do better” at communicating and fulfilling the needs of other boards serving the parish after concerns about a lack of equipment needed for sewer repairs.

Concordia Parish Police Juror Cornell Lewis, who was a member of the Concordia Sewer District before being elected to his police jury seat, asked the sewer board for updates on several issues during the meeting on Monday.

Lewis said sinkholes were forming on Terry Circle Drive, Concordia Park, and Leroy Williams Road because of sewer issues.

Representatives of the sewer district Eddie Nugent and Chris White came to the meeting to address these updates and said that they had performed smoke tests to identify and the issues but had to work with an outside company to make repairs because “we have no equipment.”

Smoke testing is commonly used to identify leaks and defects in sewer pipes and systems.

To perform a smoke test, the residents and local authorities are contacted and Louisiana Rural Water Association comes in to assist. A manhole is opened up and non-toxic smoke is released and moved through the line with a blower to determine where the smoke exits to locate the defect. If it’s on a landowner’s property, the responsibility of repairing it falls on the landowner. But the parish has to fix it if the leak is on parish property.

Police juror Kenny Simpson asked why hadn’t the sewer board sent a letter to the police jury if it needed help or equipment to fix issues, to which they said, “We still have letters we sent to the board two or three years ago that haven’t been touched.”

“This administration is trying to do better,” police jury member Genesia Allen said, before asking the sewer board to resubmit their needs.

In other matters during Monday’s meeting of the Concordia Parish Police Jury, the board adopted its annual tax levy, which has not changed from this fiscal year.

Each year the police jury has the option to roll forward its millage rates, but this year decided not to do so.

The approved tax levies included 2.27 mills for general alimony; 8.41 for the library fund; 1.77 mills for the public health unit fund; 10 mills for drainage work, buildings and facilities; and four mills for Concordia Council on Aging.

The police jury also opened a single bid for leasing two tracks of Black Lake. Track one was bid at a rate of $27,500 annually or $137,500 for five years and track two at a rate of $7,500 annually or $37,500 for five years.

The police jury also approved advertising a public hearing date regarding a new floodplain ordinance and approved travel to the Police Jury Association of Louisiana 2024 Annual Conference on July 31 through Aug. 2 in Lafayette.