Abbeville pond used to fight flooding could be utilized for recreation

A retention bond designed to help alleviate flooding around the Franks Alley area of Abbeville may be a source of recreation in the future.
The pond is located off John Hardy Drive near Franks Alley.
The city completed the pond, which takes in water from nearby Young’s Coulee, in 2012. The idea was mentioned then to stock the pond with fish and create a recreation area around the pond.
The Abbeville City Council again discussed the possibility during a recent meeting.
“When we dug the retention pond,” Councilman-at-Large Francis Plaisance said, “the thought was that it would be a good idea to eventually make it into a recreation area.”
The area has enough space to accommodate such a project.
“We can look at putting some RV hookups there for campers,” Plaisance said. “We can put a restroom and a playground.
“And we could stock the pond for fishing.”
The 12-acre pond possesses approximately 6.5 million cubic feet of water storage. The pond is not nearly close to its capacity, as it takes time for water to settle.
City Engineer Gene Sellers told the council there are ways to go about speeding up the process of filling the pond.
“The existing pump that we have that pumps storm water into that pond,” Sellers explained, “will only pump during high storm events. We might be able to re-configure it to pump on low-intensity rains to get more water in. I can also see if we can get some back-flow from the canal. Those are some alternatives. The main thing is to get the water into the pond and the cheapest source is to get storm water.
“We will work to see how we are going to do that.”
How such a project would be funded will also be looked into.
“We are going to see what is out there and try to get some kind of recreation grant,” Plaisance said.
Mayor Mark Piazza suggested designing a plan of what the area would look like.
“You want to show what the vision is,” Piazza said. “If you go to get a grant, you want to show them that this is what you want it to look like.
Vermilion Parish Tourism Commission Executive Director Alison Miller said the project would be a worthwhile investment.
“I think it would be a great selling point for tourism,” Miller said. “We have people who want to come and experience the outdoors, but they don’t have a boat. I think this would be a way to experience fishing closer to Abbeville.
“It is something else we could market for tourism in Abbeville and Vermilion Parish.”
Plaisance agreed.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful area,” he said. “I want us to try to move forward to make that a recreation area.”