City Of Youngsville Still Wants Ownership of Lafayette Parish’s Foster Park

Tuesday night, Lafayette City-Parish council voted down an ordinance that would turn ownership of Foster Park from Lafayette Parish to the city of Youngsville. Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel along with city of Youngsville Mayor Wilson Viator joined “Mornings with Ken and Bernie” for our weekly “Lafayette Live” segment to discuss LCG's Foster Park and why both men feel it will be beneficial to turn ownership of the park over from Parish to city.

With the expansion in land size and population of the cities in Lafayette Parish, several Lafayette Parish parks now fall within the city limits of towns in the Parish. For this reason, cities within the parish have sought to gain ownership of the properties.

Foster Park was originally owned by Young Industry who then leased the property to the city of Youngsville. Youngsville, at the time, could not afford upkeep of the property, so the lease was turned over to Lafayette Parish, however, a recently passed one cent parks and recreation tax has led Youngsville to once again seek ownership of the park.

By doing this, we'll release Young Industry from the lease, with the agreement that they'll donate about a third of the property to the school board, which would allow the school board to expand Green T. Lindon. - Wilson Viator, Youngsville Mayor

Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel believes turning the park over to the city of Youngsville would benefit both parties.

It's an opportunity for Parish government to reduce its responsibilities and liabilities at a time when we know the money is getting harder and harder to deal with. Joey Durel, Lafayette City-Parish President

To hear the full audio, click the play button below: