LAFAYETTE PARISH, La. (KLFY)–Billie Goodman, a longtime homeowner on Crooked Creek is seeking help in an ongoing problem she said she has been battling in her yard with standing water. 

“It’s very unsanitary. The smell I mean, we have neighbors that walk in the neighborhood and they kind of look at me like what you’re going to do about this and I’m like, I have reached out to people. I have tried getting in touch with somebody to see about this. I don’t like it. I know my neighbors don’t like it. So I just need some kind of solution,” Goodman said. 

Goodman said sidewalks were installed on the first block of the subdivision on one side. Lafayette Consolidated Government Officials said a grant the Department of Transportation and Development received to improve the health of kids and the community by making walking and bicycling to school safer, easier and more enjoyable were the reason for the installation of the sidewalks along Crooked Creek. It is also near Ossun Elementary School which was one of the many schools who benefited from the project. The school is also near Goodman’s home. 

“We didn’t have a problem with the drainage system until it came with the sidewalks. On one side of my street there’s drainage, but on my side, there’s no drainage,” said Goodman. 

Several issues she mentioned with the standing water becoming mosquito infested, snakes and causing a green fungus to grow and create a foul smell. 

“After the rain, it just sits there and the drainage is very poor. Now that is the summertime we encountered a couple of snakes that my grandson ran into while cutting the yard and after a while, when the water sits there, it starts to make a green fungus, and mosquitoes start to become a problem,” Goodman said.  “On several occasions I have reached out to LCG. They came to look at it. No solution and I’ve been fighting this for about a year, a year and a half.”

Goodman shared how the drainage system in front of her home that has been there for years but suggests relief would come if one was placed on the side of her yard where the water won’t sit and cause problems.

“I just don’t think it’s safe. It’s a hazard. The water after it sits for four or five days without being drained, it starts to smell and it’s very nasty. It’s just unsafe,” Goodman said. 

News 10 reached out to Parish councilman Bryan Tabor of District 1 but he was out of town and couldn’t look back on records. He mentioned he had no recollection of anyone who has contacted him about drainage issues and referenced speaking with public works.

News 10 learned Goodman submitted a service request in February. LCG officials informed News 10 the drainage team is aware of Goodman’s concerns and plans to install a culvert. However, they could not provide a set time as to when they will do so. 

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