A new ordinance designed to police the use of Red River Parish roads by the gas exploration industry and other firms moving heavy equipment has been enacted.  The Red River Parish Police Jury Wednesday morning adopted that ordinance.

There were two people who phoned into the meeting and one asked a question about a part of the proposed ordinance.  Members of the jury and Road Weight Enforcement Officer Harold Woodard looked through the proposal and found the section in question.  Woodard said, “It is a DOTD (state transportation department) regulation in the manual.  We took that part straight from the state and included it in our ordinance.

Other than that, there was no comment before the vote.  Jurors Shawn Beard, Brandon Hillman, Ben Taylor, Jessie Davis and Tray Murray voted yes.  John “June Bug” Moore and William Brown were absent.

The Police Jury has been working for nearly a year to put in place effective measures that would require the natural gas exploration and development industry, as well as other interests moving large, heavy loads on parish roads, to compensate the parish for damage their vehicles cause.

The process has included the hiring of Woodard as enforcement officer and drawing up and enacting the ordinance that was adopted on Wednesday.