The Jeff Davis Parish Police Jury is taking action to address an old rice dryer that is considered unsafe and unsightly after a resident raised concerns about the property.

The old rice dryer, located near the intersection of Wilbert D. Rochelle Avenue and South Market Street in Jennings, has been abandoned and unused for years.

The property was jointly adjudicated to the city and parish after the property owner, who is identified on tax rolls as Dorothy and Dale Hughes II, stopped paying taxes in 2019. Previous owners are listed as John E. and Cheryl B. Fell III and Riviana Foods, Inc. in 2010.

The Police Jury owns 80 percent of the property while the city owns 20 percent.

“The old rice driver has been a problem way before it was adjudicated,” concerned resident Carolyn Baker said. “If you pass you will notice it is all chopped up and leaning. It really needs to go because it’s an eyesore.”

Juveniles and other individuals have been climbing and cutting the tin, metal and other materials from the structure to be sold as scrap.

“If you pass you will notice it is all chopped up and leaning,” she said. “It really needs to go because it is an eyesore, if not the whole dryer at least that part.”

Baker said the rice dryer has been an issue since 2015 and before it was adjudicated in 2019 to the parish and city after the owner failed to pay taxes.

“It started with the tall grass, then the vandalism and now it’s falling apart,” she said. “It’s unsafe and an eyesore.”

Police Juror Marcus Peterson asked that the Police Jury secure the property to stop all access to the structure. He also asked that crews remove a dilapidated and rusted out shaft that has fallen down over the years.

“We need to secure it to lock it down including all the access through the windows on the first floor so that nobody will be able to get into it again until we decide what we are going to do with it,” Peterson said.

Police Jury attorney David Bruchhaus said the parish cannot sell the property until after the taxes have not been paid for five years. However, he said the Police Jury and the city have authority to do something with the property if it is deemed unsafe and unsightly.

Bruchhaus said he will research to see whether or not the Police Jury can potentially put out for a public bid to have the structure torn down for the materials as scrap at no cost to the parish.