Big crowd comes out to support Patterson Scout hut

PATTERSON — The City Council meeting room was packed with Boy Scouts, leaders and supporters Tuesday evening to hear the city cultural committee’s preliminary plans for Morey Park and also to express concern over talk of Troop 41’s Scout hut being left out of those plans.
The Scout hut has been in its current location at Morey Park on Main Street in Patterson since 1957 after the original hut, built in 1942, burned.
Lower Atchafalaya Cultural and Main Street Committee Chairwoman Dawn Rentrop said the drawing the committee presented before the City Council on Tuesday is a preliminary proposal for what the committee is suggesting to be included at Morey Park.
The council took no action Tuesday on the proposed plans.
The preliminary plans to renovate the park presented Tuesday don’t include the Scout hut on the property.
The plans do include a “large pavilion” at the back of the park near the Lower Atchafalaya River that could be used for dances and family reunions, Rentrop said.
An amphitheater and additional parking are also part of the proposed plans, Patterson Community Development and Affairs Director Ryan Aucoin said.
Cultural committee member David Bourdier said the committee has worked on the plans to improve Morey Park for at least a year, and the plan has changed almost every month. Bourdier was a Boy Scout and has been involved with scouting 45 years, he said. Bourdier’s son is an Eagle Scout and his grandson is set to do a project for the city to earn the rank of Eagle Scout this summer, he said.
Therefore, Bourdier said he leans toward siding with the Scouts, but also wants a “beautiful facility” at Morey Park for everyone. The city council will ultimately make the final decision on plans for the park, Bourdier said.
“There’s nothing in concrete,” Bourdier said referring to the plans. The drawing the committee presented to the city council Tuesday could change, Bourdier said.
Sherrel Allemond, a committee board member for Troop 41 whose son is in the troop, said the Scout hut is the boys’ home where they make friends, feel safe and do things for the community. Allemond said the troop agrees that the community would benefit from upgrading the park, but doesn’t want the Scout hut to be left out of those plans.
Pauline Bellard, a former leader in Troop 41 whose son is a former troop member, questioned whether the cultural committee considered that the hut was part of the culture in the community. Bellard asked city officials “to keep the children in mind” when planning for improvements to the park.
Gary McGoffin, Evangeline Area Council president for the Boy Scouts of America, said the Scouts realize the Scout hut will have to be moved. They can make arrangements to lift the hut and move it away from the center of the park, but it can still serve the youth at the park, McGoffin said.
In addition to Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and other scouting affiliated groups that use the Scout hut, McGoffin and other Scout leaders would welcome other groups to also use the facility, he said.
Boy Scouts have embraced the Atchafalaya Basin and River and are building a $40 million Swamp Base high adventure facility near Catahoula, he said.
McGoffin is interested in the development the City of Patterson is planning at Morey Park along the Lower Atchafalaya River because he sees an opportunity for scouting to partner with the community in the development of the property, he said. Boy Scouts would be “a natural fit” to help provide youth activities on that property, McGoffin said.
Attorney Patrick Skiles, hired by the City of Patterson, said the Boy Scouts’ legal status relating to the Scout hut is as a “precarious possessor.” That term means the possessor has possession over an item with the permission of or on behalf of the owner and doesn’t have “legal standing” to obtain ownership of the property, Skiles said.
Skiles believes the city is within its legal rights to have the hut removed if city officials choose to do so, he said. Skiles referenced the city ordinance that gave the Boy Scouts permission to build the hut in 1942 in its current location, and the ordinance stated that the city could remove the hut by providing a 90-day notice to the Scouts, he said.
Skiles believes that, legally, the Boy Scouts have not acquired ownership of the land where the hut sits through their use of the hut, he said.
Henry “Bo” LaGrange, a former member of Troop 41 and an Eagle Scout, asked the city council to keep an open mind about including the Scout hut in the park plans. Over the past few months, his brother, Jeff LaGrange, attended the cultural committee meetings relating to the Morey Park plans and acted as a “point person” to represent the Boy Scouts and leaders, he said.
Jeff LaGrange was eventually notified “at the 11th hour” that a plan was going to be presented without the Scout hut included, Bo LaGrange said.
“I think that’s what prompted this discussion here today,” Bo LaGrange said.
Bo LaGrange asked the council to consider the other plans that did reflect the Scout hut as being included in the park.
Leo Grizzaffi Jr., assistant scoutmaster of Troop 49 in Morgan City, said the Scouts don’t want to own the land where the hut is but do want to preserve the history of the hut. Grizzaffi suggested the city look at providing another location where the Scout hut could be moved.
The City of Patterson recently filed a lawsuit against the now-defunct Patterson Pavilion & Amusement Co., which owned the property where the hut now sits in the 1920s, in order to try to acquire ownership of the property that city officials say the city has maintained for at least 70 years.
Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan hopes a ruling will be issued in the next month so the council will be able to decide whether to accept the cultural committee’s plans, he said.
Grogan said this morning that the city isn’t currently in violation of any law having the Scout hut located at Morey Park because of its past agreement with the Scouts.
Scout leaders have offered the facility to be used by other groups, Grogan said. However, once the land where the Scout hut sits is declared city property, the city could have legal issues if a group whose beliefs don’t align with those of the Boy Scouts wants to use the facility, Grogan said this morning.
If the city council decides to remove the Scout hut from the park, Grogan said the city will work with the Scouts to give them the time necessary to move the hut.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council passed a resolution to tear down the Golino house on Main Street, which the City of Patterson purchased in order to expand Morey Park. The city council then approved selling the contents of the house to the highest bidder. The process to clear that property will take about six months, Grogan said.
In other business, the council:
—Adopted the city’s 2015-16 fiscal year budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. City Accountant Reginald Weary made budget cuts in each department compared to the 2014-15 fiscal year, but wasn’t able to make the 5 percent cuts Grogan asked for, he said. Weary projected the city’s expenditures to total about $9.4 million for 2015-16.
—Approved appointing The Daily Review as official journal.
—Approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a maintenance agreement that includes mowing and litter pickup with Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Office of Engineering for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016.
—Voted to have the planning and zoning committee review a proposed amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance pertaining to mobile homes.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.