April 2016 Vision West Newsletter
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VISION WEST West Baton Rouge Parish - Community, Growth, Possibilities A quarterly publication for West Baton Rouge residents by your public agencies • April, 2016 Calendar Hwy. 190 change to ease merging on old bridge of Events May 1 - Golf lesson series begins. See pg. 3 May 1 - Splash pads open for summer until Labor Day May 2 – La. Tourism Awareness Week kick off in WBR! see pg. 6 May 7 - Aug. 6 – La. State Capitol exhibit, WBR Museum May 7 - Sept. 4 – Huey Long & Prohibition exhibit, WBR Museum May 12 – Port Allen High graduation May 13 – Brusly High graduation May 19 – Last day of school for WBR public schools Merging onto the old Mississippi River Bridge from La. recommendation to DOTD because the old bridge is getting May 18 – Lecture on artist Hwy. 1 will soon be easier and more safe as the Louisiana a lot more use, due to the consistent traffic congestion at Angela Gregory, noon Department of Transportation & Development is planning to the new Mississippi River Bridge,” said Parish President May 26 – Sculpture workshop, install temporary cones to force traffic entering the bridge Riley “PeeWee” Berthelot. He added that pushing for WBR Museum from U.S. Hwy 190 into the left lane. This will provide a solutions to the traffic congestion continues to be the dedicated lane allowing traffic from La. Hwy. 1 to flow top priority of parish and local officials. The photo above May 28 – Family Day at onto the bridge without stopping to merge into the Hwy. shows how the right lane of U.S. Hwy. 190 will be striped William & Lee Park 190 traffic. The testing is expected to begin soon, and if to force traffic to merge to the left lane. The test cones are June & July – Summer and successful, the re-striping will be scheduled. “We made the expected to be installed by this summer. swim camps. See pg. 3 June 25 - Aug. 14 – $900,000 road overlay program to begin soon Prohibition in America exhibit, WBR Museum A road overlay program including 17 roads and Maxine Street, South Mulatto Bend, Northwest Drive and totalling $915,000 is expected to begin by June. Investment Drive. July 4 – 4th Fest, Old Ferry The roads to be included in the project are: Higdon “The parish has dedicated excess funds to keeping Landing Park, Port Allen Road, Lone Oak Drive, Missouri Drive, Lafitte Court, our roads in good condition,” noted Parish President Riley July 18 – Juneteenth Auguste Street, Willow Glenn Avenue, Shelter Court, “Pee-Wee” Berthelot. “We are also working to develop Celebration, William & Lee Park Golden Ridge Drive, Hollywood Court, Levert Avenue, some new connector roads to help traffic flow, but we Hilda Court, Evergreen Drive, Beauregard Boulevard, have to work through right-of-way and other issues before determining if the roads would be viable.” GOVERNMENT MEETINGS WBR PARISH COUNCIL - Meets 2nd & 4th TOWN OF ADDIS - Meets on 1st Wednesday Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Parish of each month at 6 p.m. at Addis Town Hall. Council Building, 225-383-4755, www.wbrcouncil.org Phone: 225-687-4844, www.addisla.org WBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD - CITY OF PORT ALLEN - Committee meetings Committee meetings on 2nd Tuesday of each month on 1st Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Town at 5 p.m. School Board meetings on 3rd Wednesday of council meetings on 2nd Wednesday of each month at each month at 5 p.m. at the School Board office, 5:30 p.m., 225-346-5670, www.portallen.org 225-343-8309, www.wbrschools.net Local Patron Postal TOWN OF BRUSLY - Committee meetings on Permit No. 142 No. Permit WBR PLANNING & ZONING 1st Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Town Council 39402 ,MS Hattiesburg, COMMISSION - Meets on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays meetings on 2nd Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m., PAID of each month at 5:30 p.m. at the Council meeting room 225-749-2909, www.bruslyla.com Postage U.S. in the Parish Council Building. Standard Presorted Natural gas line to serve south end of parish Installation of a new natural gas line to serve the southern section of West Baton Rouge from the Intracoastal Waterway to Addis will soon begin. The project calls for bringing the line from the natural gas facility in Port Allen, boring under the Intracoastal with an 8-inch line, and looping it through the south- ern area of the parish. “The new line will enable us to meet the demand from new development and also maintain pressure for businesses on North Line Road,” said Utilities Director Daryl Babin. Rivault Park transformation complete, getting rave reviews The $350,000 upgrade of Rivault Park by the West Baton Rouge Parish Council is complete, and is drawing rave reviews from residents. The project included flipping the direction of base- ball field #1 in order to create a state-of-the-art playing field for ages 13 and 14, with proper irrigation. Other improvements included new dugouts for all three ball fields, new fencing, new backstops, batting cages, new bleachers, and a new lighting system. In addition, a new south parking lot was created that eliminates parking on the service road and along the roads in The Oaks subdivision. The walking track is presently being reconnected, and other cosmetic improvements are being made. Playground equipment at the site had been upgraded last year. Flipping baseball field #1 required the demolition of Above is the the snackbar near La. Hwy. 1 at the park site. It was in new field at poor condition, and the re-aligned field makes the main Rivault Park, concession stand accessible to everyone. and at right is “This was the first major improvement project at the new south Rivault Park in many years,” noted Recreation Director end parking lot. Anatole Vincent. “This park is now a premium facility that West Baton Rouge residents can take pride in for many years to come.” WEST BATON ROUGE LIBRARY Spring Art Show a huge success If you haven’t seen the great works of art on exhibit at the 21st Annual Spring Art Show, be sure to get to the West Baton Rouge Library by May 5, when the show ends. A total of 63 works were entered by adult artists from Iberville, Pointe Coupee, and West Baton Rouge Parishes. They were judged by Cheri Fry, a contemporary artist from Denham Springs who has won national and international awards for oil and watercolor. Bing Zheng of Port Allen took home the Easterly Prize for Best of Show for his painting, “Or- chid.” First Place winners in different categories are: Professional – Betty LaBauve for “Bossy,” Non- Professional – Andrea Fleming for “Study of Girl with Pillow,” and Art Student – Bonnie Kleinpeter for “Cool Dude.” For information on other programs at the Library, call 225-342-7920 or visit www.wbrpl.com. Bing Zheng of Port Allen is shown with his painting, “Orchid,” which won Best of Show at the Spring Art Show. ABOUT THIS VISION WEST is published quarterly as a cooperative endeavor of West Baton Rouge Parish government agencies to educate residents about projects, activities and services in the parish. It is produced by Peacock Communications, LLC. PUBLICATION: Comments can be sent to: [email protected], or call 225-929-9661. Page 2 | Vision WEST | April, 2016 WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH GOVERNMENT Splash pads open May 1 Register now for summer camps! Looking for some cool West Baton Rouge Recreation Department Summer Camp summer fun? The splash pads Open to ages 5-12, Registration fee $10 per session operated by the West Baton Rouge Recreation Department will open SESSIONS: on May 1. Hours are 8 a.m. until June 7-9 & June 14-16 8 p.m. daily through Labor Day. at the West Baton Rouge Community Center in Port Allen The pads are closed on Monday mornings for maintenance. June 21-23 & June 28-30 at the Addis VFW Hall July 12-14 and July 19-21 at the Erwinville Community Center Swim Camps are from 8-3:30 p.m. Lunch and a snack are provided. lessons The camps include offered fun activities, games, sports, arts and crafts, for ages on-site shows, field trips and splash days! 3-12 Register for the summer camp at the West Baton Rouge Recreation Swimming lessons will be offered at Williams and Lee Pool in Port Department office in the West Baton Rouge Community Center at Allen under an agreement with the WBR Recreation Department 749 N. Jefferson Avenue in Port Allen. and the YMCA. The fee is $10 per child. Register now because the number of participants is limited. WBR Parks & Recreation sponsors Swimming lesson sessions are: Session 1 - May 31-June 10 Session 3 – June 28-July 8 golfing and lessons! Session 2 – June 14-24 Session 4 - July 12-July 22 The West Baton Rouge Council is partnering with Each session is 30 minutes long, and the sessions are age 3-5 the Westside Golf Club to offer free rounds of golf every from 10 to 10:30 a.m., age 6-9 from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m., and age 10- Tuesday and Sunday for WBR residents. 12 from 11:30 to noon. In addition, complimentary golf lessons are being For more information or to register a child for the swimming offered in a six-session class beginning Sunday, May lessons, call WBR Parks & Recreation office at 225.336.2423 or 1. Golf clubs, balls and instructors will be provided for Dow Westside YMCA at 225.687.1123.