East Carroll Parish School District Superintendent Meagan Brown was in attendance at the Town of Lake Providence regular council meeting last week to address the issue of the town’s park that is located on Jackson Street.
Brown told Mayor Bobby Amacker and the board of aldermen that the school district needed an area to convert into a parking lot to supplement Hamley/Collins Stadium, and the district thought that the city park located on Jackson Street was ideal for the project.
The park is in excess of an acre. Brown told the mayor and board that the property is listed as being valued at $11,368. Alderman Jason Condrey said he believes the property to be worth more than that amount.
Mayor Pro-Tem Karl Magee told the mayor and board that he thought that it was a good idea and he wanted the board to agree to selling the property. Alderwoman Patrica Foster Roberson said that she would second a motion to that effect, but Alderwoman Catherine Middlebrook said that she was not comfortable with the speed that this plan was moving. She asked what would the children have as a park if the town sold the one by the football stadium to the school district.
Brown said that Kendall Thompson, who like Magee is employed by the school district, has an idea and she didn’t want to get ahead of him explaining what he wanted to explore as a potential new location for a park. Thompson, who is also the president of the East Carroll Parish Police Jury, was not present at the meeting. Magee mentioned a location that he thought Thompson was considering, but Brown told him that the property he was referring to was not what had been communicated to her.
City attorney Andy Brister told the board that he needed to see how they could go forward if they desired to do so. Magee asked Brister if the board could vote to have him draw up an ordinance that will agree to sell the park to school district.
It was mentioned that the normal procedure for ordinances was to introduce it at a meeting and then advertise it in the official journal in conjunction with a public hearing to get public input, and only then could the board vote to approve the measure.
Brister said that he was going to explore options to bring back to the board at the next meeting regarding a deal with the school district.
