Parish honors family of Coach Bags

Councilmen Joe Havis and Louis Joseph presented the proclamation to Baglio’s family members, including his brother Freddie Baglio. The proclamation acknowledged Bags’ many achievements throughout his career and the athletes whose lives he touched. The plaque includes many photos of Bags and a biography with gold and purple designs to commemorate his time at LSU.

“Several months ago, Councilman Havis and I got together and coordinated our efforts to decide what the best way was to honor Coach Bags and what he has meant to Independence as a community, what he meant to Independence High School as head football coach and what he meant in the hearts of our students and the football players that he molded and steered in the right direction,” Joseph said. “Even when those kids left high school, they would call and come back to check on Coach Bags.”

Freddie handed the proclamation off to current head coach at Independence High, Sam Messina, to have it placed on the school’s walls, and he thanked the parish council for the distinction of the proclamation.

Council hears from Scenic Rivers

Later that night, the council passed an adoption of a resolution to foster an economic development between Tangipahoa Parish and the Scenic Rivers Development Alliance.

The alliance is compromised of Pike, Franklin, Amite, Wilkinson and Walthall counties in Mississippi as well as the city of McComb. Scenic Rivers director Joseph Parker presented to the council the history of the alliance and how development with the neighboring parish of Tangipahoa could benefit both sides.

“The alliance started as an idea that was created in 2007, 2008 when the national recession was taking place and the people of southwest Mississippi were trying to figure out, ‘What can we do to feel relevant again?’ Fast forward from 2008 to 2012, we had an inter-local agreement pass between a couple of the counties and cities there that said we can work together in an economic development fashion,” Parker said.

He added the alliance had legislation passed as recently as 2018. He said many citizens in their counties and Tangipahoo Parish cross each other’s borders, as Mississippians visit Hammond or Amite and Louisianans frequent Percy Quinn State Park in McComb.

Due to similarities in demographics, he added that opening the door to more formal communication across state lines and bridging the gap would further the alliance’s goal of improving economic development in Tangi and southwest Mississippi.

Parish council members and Parish President Robby Miller expressed their optimism on working together in the future for the betterment of the parish and Mississippi’s southwest counties.

In other business, another resolution adopted authorized the parish president as the designated authority to execute any and all documents in regards to the Amite Pedestrians Improvement Project.

Miller only had one agenda item to report, which was to seek approval to purchase a John Deere 75P excavator for roads and bridges, off state contract, which the council approved.

They also adopted several ordinances, including one to establish a 15 mph speed limit on Gasline Road, to authorize the sale of land to be surplussed to the Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 1, to amend and enact definitions and criteria for solid waste facility sites’ transfer stations and to grant a variance of regarding density for Michael Petitto. The variance was approved in a 9-0 vote with Councilman Lionell Wells abstaining.

Appointments to Keep Tangipahoa Beautiful included Steve Nelson, Linda Wicker, Jeanette Patanella, Vic Couvillion, Carolyn Howard, Dennis Pevey and Trey Hawkins.

The council also tabled a presentation from the Capital Area Finance Authority due to traffic issues keeping the presenters from attending until the next meeting.