Parish Mowing Crew Changes Upcoming

Plans to split the Lincoln Parish Police Jury’s road mowing crew into two independent 6-man crews were detailed at last night’s meeting of the jury’s Public Works Committee. The move will allow operation in different areas of the parish simultaneously. Now, the mowing operation consists an eleven-man crew that yearly makes two complete circuits of the 400+ miles of parish roads during the April to November mowing season.

While the new plan will add but one new employee and no new equipment, it is expected that the smaller crews will be more efficient, and will allow more area to be covered at the same time.

To accomplish the change, the two crew-cab pickups will be replaced by two large vans capable of transporting the crews, and the necessary tools and spare parts.

It was noted that delivery of the vans may be as long as six months, so the new plan may not be completely implemented this mowing season.

Road Superintendent Jerry Doss said the new plan came at the behest of several jurors who said during the 2019 election, overgrown roadsides were a significant issue with voters.

Said Doss, “Some of y’all wanted to do something different as part your campaign promises. It was asked of me what can we do, and I said the only thing to do was to split the crews up.” He added, “When the guys are over here in Choudrant mowing, we get people in Simsboro calling and complaining about the grass being high.”

Doss said the crews would start at opposite sides of the parish and work toward each other, then repeat the process.

The Public Property & Buildings Committee meeting saw approval for the renewal of several leases for tenants of the old County Market building that is owned by the parish.

The full jury meeting was mostly routine, with appointments to the boards of three parish agencies, the sale of an adjudicated property, and the relocation of a polling place to I. A. Lewis school.