Monday night’s Concordia Parish Police Jury meeting — in which the license for a proposed charitable bingo hall was denied — may have been seen as a victory by those opposed to the idea, but the issue is still open for the town of Ferriday.

“Monday’s vote does not include the municipalities,” Police Jury Secretary Russell Wagoner said. “They are entities unto themselves.”

“By law, they can bring it to a vote.”

Two businessmen from Tallulah, Darryl Ellerbee and Edwin Moberly, presented the proposal to the town council at their Feb. 12 meeting.

The proposal, if passed, would allow Ellerbee and Moberly to open a bingo hall in which 45 percent of the profits would go to whatever nonprofit charity utilized the hall, 30 percent would go to the house and the remaining 25 percent would go to the Town of Ferriday.

“I feel the community has spoken on this already when we spoke by voting out video poker,” Ferriday First Baptist Church Pastor Wayne Gray said. “I feel that this would be of minimal benefit to the town.”

Ferriday businessman Jerry Johns, whose proposal to the Concordia Parish Police Jury was similar, said that he foresaw the Monday night vote.

“I didn’t even attend the meeting,” he said. “It was a done deal before it even came to a vote.”

“I saw their attitude when I took the proposal to the jury, and I wasn’t going to waste my time.”

Johns said he would not comment on any business connections with Ellerbee and Moberly.