Storm Debris Pickup Announced

Cleanup in the aftermath of a series of severe storms that moved through Bossier Parish earlier this month continues and the parish police jury has authorized some additional assistance for debris removal.

At its June 21 meeting, police jury members approved hiring a pair of independent contractors to aid removing debris from public rights-of-way throughout the parish. Those contractors are scheduled to begin work Monday, July 3.

"We have our grappler truck already working to remove debris, and we've got two contractors who will be working both ends of the parish," said Mark Coutee, Bossier Parish Director of Public Works. "There will be one in the northern part of the parish and one on the south end."

Coutee said damage from the storms was extensive and parish-wide.

"We're responsible for maintenance of close to 700 miles of parish roads and the ditches on both sides of those roads," he said. "There's a lot of area to cover and it's going to take us quite a while to get to all of it. We hope our residents will be patient while we get this cleaned up."

Coutee said parish workers and contractors are prohibited by law from removing debris from private property. But, he said, debris moved to public rights-of-way will be removed as quickly as possible.

Residents are asked to place only storm debris in public areas, and to assist crews by not placing large sections of fallen trees for pickup.