Road petition gains some serious ground

A petition that could force the Livingston Parish Council to stop paving private drives and parking lots with parish road money is gaining some serious ground. Earl Price of Richard Price Contracting and Scott Jones of Jones Signs are proposing stricter standards for the types of roadways that can be overlayed. Currently, parish ordinances require only that a road have two buildings with addresses on it for the council to declare it a parish road. As of this week, the businessmen and others had gathered between 3,500 to 4,000 signatures from registered voters who want the council to revise the ordinance governing the paving program. About 7,500 signatures — 10% of the parish’s registered voters — are needed by Aug. 10. Should the petition prove successful, the council would be forced to either adopt the changes or put it to a vote of the people in the next general election. Jones says convincing Livingston Parish residents to sign the petition isn’t the biggest challenge. “They’re knowledgeable about the issues and they want change,” he says. “The most difficult thing is getting the petition to the people for them to sign.” Nine businesses are gathering signatures on a daily basis. So far, Parish President Mike Grimmer and councilmen Cindy Wale, Marshall Harris, A.C. “Buddy” Mincey and Thomas Watson are among the signers. For more information about the effort, click here. — Penny Font