Parish litter ranked

Members of the Keep St. Mary Beautiful Committee ranked communities from Amelia to Sorrell on a litter index and were surprised by some of their results, its chairman said.
Over the course of six months, the 21 committee members visited both municipalities and unincorporated areas, ranking them on a scale of one to four. One means no litter, and four is extremely littered, Rodney Grogan, Keep St. Mary Beautiful chairman, said.
The litter index is part of the Keep America Beautiful criteria.
“It’s a component that all communities that participate in the program have to complete this assessment,” Grogan said.
The highest ranked areas were Berwick and the Chitimacha Reservation.
“Berwick was found to be the cleanest community. It wasn’t Renwick (subdivision). It was Golden Farms,” Grogan said.
Grogan said some of the members were surprised by the unincorporated areas.
“We actually found a lot of community pride in the unincorporated areas, Siracusa and Four Corners, specifically,” Grogan said, adding that the “parish is not out there in a lot of cases, and they have no municipal government taking care of it.”
Siracusa received a three, and Four Corners got a two.
The worst rated areas received fours. They were Greenwood because of the scrap iron site; Todd Subdivision and the associated trailer park near Patterson because of abandoned trucks; southern Ricohoc, abandoned trailers; Spanish Trail, between Garden City and Franklin, trash in ditches; Baker Town, abandoned trailers and vehicles; Choupique, abandoned 18-wheelers and trailers; Sorrell, trash and grass in ditches; and St. Joseph, abandoned trailers and cars.
“When we speak, as a mayor, we find a lot of people complain about abandoned vehicles,” Grogan said, adding that it was primarily unincorporated areas such vehicles were seen in, overgrown by grass.
Something has come from the litter index study.
Conrad joined forces and adopted Marcel Boat Landing in Amelia as a part of its environmental program. Grogan said it costs the company $6,000 when they go out to work on the boat landing because they have taken over the painting and general repair along with litter cleanup.
Parish President Paul Naquin said there are plans throughout the parish to help keep St. Mary Parish litter free.
“I am committed to that,” he said.
Every month there is a litter crew that goes into St. Joseph to clean on a Saturday. Also, there is a six-person crew of parish employees who clean along U.S. 90 throughout the week, Naquin said.
“We’ve pinpointed who’s doing the littering. It’s mostly garbage trucks,” he said.
Each municipality, like the unincorporated areas, was ranked.
Morgan City received a two on the strength of its historic district and active leadership. It showed weaknesses on Railroad Avenue and in industrial sites.
Berwick rated a one based on Golden Farms Subdivision and active leadership but was cited for its industrial sites and the parish landfill.
Patterson received a two for its median along U.S. 90 and active leadership, but was cited for a weakness of its scrap iron site.
Franklin and Baldwin both ranked a three on its active community but were cited for its trash and grass in its ditches.