OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) -- In the midst of struggling infrastructure and schools in need of repair, News 10 sat down with residents in the city of Opelousas who said it will take the best efforts of a unified and informed community to finally see progress.

"Although those conditions are egregious, they are the result of decisions made by adults," Shauna Sias, community activist, said.

As a city-wide boil advisory continues in Opelousas, it has also forced several schools to close, leading to several complaints from residents.

With the question of what needs to be done surfacing to see progress in rebuilding schools and modernizing waterlines, both Sias and her brother Rod Sias said the only way is through bonds and millages that require taxpayer funding.

"It has to be a shared responsibility with the community," Rod Sias, community activist, said. "They all entail the community paying a little bit more, sacrificing a little more for the greater good of the community."

However, Sias said the opportunities continue to be turned down, noting the public elected to decline the city-wide millage proposed in November's elections as well as a bond proposed to build new schools in March of 2022.

"That would have given new schools, it would have given teacher pay raises, it would have actually given the children something," Shauna Sias said. "People elected to either not vote or vote no."

"The only thing I've seen is people saying no we're not doing this, then when something happens, they complain," Rod Sias said.

As these opportunities continue to present themselves, Rod Sias said residents have to come together and make informed decisions at the polls in order to see any progress.

"The first step is for people to acknowledge that there is a real problem," Rod Sias said. "The best interest for everyone is to have clean water, to have adequate sewer, to have 21st century schools."

And with the priority of taking care of future generations in both the city and the parish, both Shauna and Rod Sias hope to finally see everyone come together.

"We are St. Landry Parish, and we are Opelousas proud," Shauna Sias said. "We need to start moving in the direction to be proud of something."

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