OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) -- The new year brings a list of goals to for the St. Landry Parish government.
St. Landry Parish Jessie Bellard said the list of to-do's revisits the effort to repair roadways, improve drainage across the parish and address crime, specifically among juveniles, and the issue of overspending at the parish jail. He also wants to look at the construction of a juvenile detention center.
Bellard said juvenile crime is a serious issue.
"We have a board set up with nine parishes," Bellard said. "Governor Landry has really stepped up and made some things available to the districts, thank God. And one of our main goals for this year is to find a location to build a facility within a nine-parish region."
Continuing the focus on youth, Bellard wants to provide another outlet for their entertainment in the form of a new sports complex.
Bellard said the state has provided the parish with some money to buy the old Indian Hills Country Club.
"Our master plan for that is going to be a sports complex," he said. "We feel that if you can put these kids doing things outside of just walking the streets, that it gives them structure, give them some type of chance to get where they need to be."
He said there will always be the goal of helping the people of the parish through the challenges that can come at any moment.
"Every single day, some stuff comes up that we got to see about might not be on my priority list," Bellard said. "But on any day, it could be a priority for that day in Conroe, things every single day and a problem that we've got to provide a solution for and we try to do our best with that."
