Donna Masson with the Natchitoches Parish Veterans Park brought some concerns about a construction company to the Parish Council at its Dec. 16 meeting. The company did work in the vicinity of the park and they came into the park and did some damage.
She asked that two large high voltage containers that were placed on the property be removed. The containers were put a third of the way into the park and takes up space in the park where Veterans Day programs are held. This will hinder programs as people can’t be placed around these dangerous containers.
Masson said that 37 bricks in the park were damaged ($200 for each brick to get engraved and replaced with the brick mason charging $30 per brick for the replacement plus $300 for supplies and additional costs for landscaping). The local chapter of Master Gardeners has offered to volunteer their time to help repair the gardens. The grand total for all the repairs is $9,036. The bricks were paid for by families in memory of loved ones and the broken or scarred bricks will have to be removed and replaced. Additional costs include the brick mason to do the work, and landscaping that was messed up throughout the construction process. There’s also cracked concrete around the bricks from where the contractors drove vehicles over it.
The question Masson posed to the Council is who is responsible for the damages. Salter said he spoke to the engineer from the project who said he’d be happy to take care of his part of the damages. Salter has also looked into moving the movement of the high voltage containers. The parish still has retainage on the contractor, so there’s some negotiating room.
Salter asked Masson for a bill for all the repairs and said the parish government would continue to work to put the park to rights.
