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VIDALIA, La. — The Concordia Parish Police Jury on Monday approved the adoption of private roadways to make them public, affecting some 20 to 30 households in the parish.

Residents of the area came to the meeting Monday to express their support of the parish adopting Mallard, East and West Cottondale roads, made up of about a mile of gravel road in one subdivision of the parish. Until recent years they were well-maintained but have since fallen into terrible shape, residents said.

“At times, it has gotten to be impassable,” said David Moss, an East Cottondale Road resident. “We’ve had neighbors and residents use their own equipment just to make it passable. The school buses come down, the trash truck and the mail truck. An ambulance had trouble at one time and we literally had to get a wrecker for an ambulance that bottomed out.”

Moss said he had been in touch with Police Jury President Cornell Lewis about the condition of the roadways in the past and before their adoption, the parish worked cooperatively with the landowner to do some improvements.

“We just can’t afford to do it ourselves,” Moss said. “We have one man with a piece of equipment that helps but that is about all we have.”

Others echoed Moss in his desire for the parish to adopt the roads, including Greggory Green, another East Cottondale resident. They said the owner, Paul Glenn Green of Paul Green Real Estate, was also in favor of the roads becoming public.

“It would be a benefit to us as a parish,” Lewis said. “There are a couple of areas down there where we could have drainage easements that would help. It would be a benefit to us to adopt them.”

A motion to do so was approved unanimously on Monday.

In other matters on Monday, the police jury:

Approved the reappointment of Bobby Sheppard, Jack Crane and Concordia Parish Sheriff David Hedrick to another six-year term on the Concordia Parish Communication District board.

Approved the reappointment of Martin Hammett Jr. to another three-year term as a member of the Concordia Parish Airport Authority.

Approved hold harmless requests to assist the Town of Ferriday with cleaning out a canal on Harp Street and Ferriday Lower Elementary with weed mitigation on the asphalt track.

Approved occupational licenses for Jemarlon Franklin of JF Construction at 148 Adams Road in Jonesville and Brady Fields of United Hands Counseling Center at 109 Doty Road in Ferriday.

Discussed ordinance violations, including debris at 353 and 367 Bayou Drive and overgrown grass in Macon Ridge Community Development in Ferriday.