THE ZACHA Y
ADVOCATE&
P R O U D LY O W N E D I N L O U I S I A N A
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THEADVOCATE.COM
1st Year, No. 25
Council recalls initial Parkside vote
Stacy Gill AROUND ZACHARY
SGILL@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Soles to Souls shoe drive saves lives The Zachary Kiwanis Club is hosting a shoe drive to help with its goal of eliminating neonatal tetanus and to put shoes on the feet of people in places like Ghana, Haiti and India. “Your unwanted shoes will also save a baby’s life and the life of its mother,” Kiwanian Al Phillips said. Kiwanis is partnering with Funds2orgs.com, which will pay 40 cents per pound of shoes. The funds will pay to vaccinate mothers in 24 countries against neonatal tetanus, which kills one infant every 11 minutes. Men, women and children are asked to donate pairs of gently worn shoes to the drive. Any kind of shoe will be accepted — flip-flops, sandals, sneakers, cleats, loafers, boots, rubber boots, high heels, slippers and wedges. About 21/2 pairs of shoes fetch $1.80, which is enough to vaccinate a mother and prevent a child’s death, Phillips said. Funds2orgs.com will help redistribute the shoes to microbusinesses in those countries, where otherwise unemployed people can get jobs cleaning and selling the shoes at prices people there can afford. “It’s a win-win for everyone,” Phillips said. On Friday and Saturday, shoes can be dropped off at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church’s gym, 3824 Lee St., 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. or through 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9, by at the Zachary Fire Department, 4525 Main St.
Youth softball registration
Registration for Zachary Youth Softball for girls 8 and younger; 10 and younger; 12 and younger; and 16 and younger began March 30 and will continue through Sunday, April 19, at Zachary Youth Park. Registration forms are available from äSee AROUND, page 5G
INSIDE Police reports ........2H Sports ...................1H
THURSDAY APRIL 2, 2015
Rezoning request for property tabled BY STACY GILL
sgill@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff photo by PATRICK DENNIS
Union troops advance and fire during a re-enactment battle of the siege of Port Hudson on Sunday at the Port Hudson Historic Site near Zachary. In the battle’s 152nd anniversary year, visitors saw a re-enactment church service, duels, artillery demonstration, a gunboat demonstration as well as a re-enactment of the battle with artillery, infantry and cavalry.
REMEMBERING HISTORY
A Union gun crew fires its cannon during a re-enactment battle of the siege of Port Hudson on Sunday near Zachary. Logan Bernard, 6, from Thibodaux, watches troops leave the field after Sunday’s re-enactment battle of the siege of Port Hudson. Logan’s father, Ben Bernard, participated in the re-enactment battle.
After much discussion and debate between the Zachary City Council and property owners of Zachary Parkside Apartments, a planning and zoning matter prompted a revote and was ultimately tabled at the March 24 meeting. The Otey M. Hughes property on La. 964 — a vacant parcel of land adjacent to Zachary Parkside Apartments — appeared first on the agenda as a resubdivision of three lots into one and later as a site plan review item under planning and zoning that required a public hearing. At an earlier March meeting, the site plan review was given a favorable recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Commission, and representatives from Maestri-Murrell Property Management in Baton Rouge, which owns the land, attended the City Council meeting to answer questions and to see the outcome of the site plan review. After a brief discussion, Councilman Tommy Womack made a motion to accept the site plan review, but the motion was denied in a 3-2 vote with council members Ben Cavin, Brandon Noel and Laura O’Brien voting against the measure. “You refused to accept the site plan review, refused the recommendation of planning and zoning, but will you give us a reason as to why you voted no?” Lawrence Maestri asked. “For me, it comes down to the future intended use of the property, and in this case, I think the city’s Master Plan is correct, commercial suburban is a betäSee COUNCIL, page 2G
RUN,JUMP,PLAY: Structure at Zachary park almost finished BY STACY GILL
sgill@theadvocate.com The phone calls are already coming in from parents wanting to know when the new playground structure at Zachary Youth Park will be completed. Except for a canopy over the center of the structure and three for nearby picnic tables, the new addition to the park was finished once contractors poured the landing area March 27. The $110,000 playground structure, modeled after
Zachary Early Learning Center’s structure for prekindergartners, was part of capital outlay funding recently approved by the City Council, Zachary Youth Park Director Shane Hebert said. The thickness of the structure’s landing area made from recycled tires is measured in relation to the fall height or the highest point of the structure, according to contractor Will Stirling, of No Fault Sports. Hebert said the playground equipment meets all requirements set by the American
National Standards Institute. “We can’t keep kids off it,” said park staff member Dianne LeBlanc. “We’ve already had a few children play on it while their moms sat nearby on one of the benches. People are excited about it.” “We wanted to add something for families with children who don’t play baseball or softball or those who have kids too young to play,” Hebert said. Advocate staff photo by STACY GILL Though the Youth Park is considered primarily a base- Workers added a cushioned landing area to the new playground structure at Zachary Youth Park on March 25. All that äSee PLAYGROUND, page 5G remains on the project is the installation of a canopy.