st martin parish president st martin parish president

"We will review the allegations and respond accordingly," Logan wrote in a message to the Daily Advertiser. Recognizing the best in local architecture, planning and design, we are pleased to announce 12 winning projects for The Current In Design Awards 2023. Wanda B. Check out our map of Lafayette drainage projects here. If you materially change the original scope of the contract, then you cant just amend it like that and be in compliance with the bid law. LAFAYETTE, La. Our restaurants offer authentic, renowned, and award winning Cajun cuisine. "We were told that additional modeling had been done and that we would get a chance to review it. Removing the spoil banks could help drainage throughout Lafayette by lowering water levels on the Vermilion by almost 8 inches in a 2- to 10-year storm, similar to the one in May 2014, and by a little over 2 inches in a storm similar to the August 2016 floods, according to a study by the University of Louisiana at Lafayettes Watershed Flood Center. While it may get around the bid law, it shouldnt get around the court of public opinion, he says. P. O. "They didn't listen and unfortunately unless you take someone's money out of their pocket, they won't listen," Boudreaux says. It's whether the law was broken (and, I THINK we can all agree, millions more spent than necessary) in doing so. The same cant be said for us, said Yvonne Romero, a St. Martin Parish resident who attended the meeting. " Cedars said he asked. 314 Elmer St That would mean the public would have a right to access the lake even with the typical shoreline under private ownership. Martin Parish line. 600 Corporate Boulevard / PO Box 1000,Breaux Bridge, LA 70517 The auditors office places the facts out there. Lafayette Consolidated Government may be drawing itself into a lawsuit with St. Martin Parish after quietly removingspoil banks, or makeshift levees,along the Vermilion River without St. Martin Parish's approval. Initially, he said, the landings were built using parish materials and using trusty work crews from the parish jail. Nevertheless, I cannot sit idly by and not articulate about a critical situation.. 1005 Judy Street In May, Cedars wrote in another memorandum that he prepared and submitted a position paper in response to LCG application for a permit from the Corps of Engineers. The spoil banks are makeshift dirt levees, nearly 4,000 feet long, that follow the river's southern bank around the Cypress Island Swamp in St. Martin Parish, isolating the river from the low-lying swampland and preventing floodwaters from dumping out of the river and into the swamp during storms. At this point in time, there is absolutely no articulable, cogent reason most of our community should continue to refuse to wear masks in indoor setting or refuse to even consider receiving a vaccine. . And surreptitiously LCG went out and removed those spoil banks and, in our opinion, has put our citizens at peril, contrary to what they may postulate.". var today = new Date() At 3 oclock as of today, a week ago, we discovered that Lafayette Consolidated Government decided to remove the spoil banks, Cedars said, describing a phone call with Guillory that he said took place two hours after the discovery. 600 Corporate Blvd Louisiana, 70517 Breaux Bridge - USA. Bid law trumps.. Theres a process to this, and the process was definitely not followed, resident Chad Boyer said. 2023 St. Martin Parish Government. Lafayette Consolidated Government quietly removed the spoil banks from the southern shore of the Vermilion River in St. Martin Parish in February despite previous objections from the St. Martin Parish Government, which was not informed when the work was done. Though LCG initially sued St. Martin Parish in Lafayette over the dispute, Wednesday's filing will put the case before 16th Judicial District Court Judge Tony Saleme, of Franklin, unless LCG tries to move the case. You cant sign a contract or pass an ordinance that allows you to ignore public bid law, says one former LCG official. I look forward to continuing our work with all of our neighbors, including St. Martin Parish, to combat flooding on a regional scale. Email Davide Mamone at [email protected]. St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said the parish is expecting an appeal courts ruling on a lawsuit regarding the zoning enforcement in the Lake Martin area. He has also served as the Director of Planning and Zoning of St. Mary Parish. District II Wanda B. The spoil banks removal is the latest in a series of fast-paced measures taken by Mayor-President Josh Guillory's administration to address drainage in Lafayette. Local Workforce Development Board #40 is certified by Louisiana's Governor as a local workforce development board, as required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Public Law 113-128. Corps of Engineers, leaving a third owner out of the transaction, On Feb. 23 Rigid invoiced LCGs Public Works Department $3.7 million for the work. Why would you do that to your neighbors? Anytime we can be good neighbors and we can help out folks and help anybody in the region and defnitely not hurt anybody, were going to do that, Guillory said. When asked if the project would harm residents of St. Martin Parish, Guillory said, We surely wouldnt bless off on a project that would hurt anybody, but the science is clear. Cedars says he believes, however, more research on how it would impact their region should have been done before LCG moved forward with the project. It has also been corrected to reflect additional reporting confirming that LCG purchased land for the project from two property owners, intentionally leaving a third landowner out of the transaction. Site Map; Accessibility; Facebook (opens in new window/tab) The spoil banks as they appear now, after LCG moved dirt from the St. Martin side of the river to the Lafayette side (above) in February during a 24-hour secret operation that landed it in federal court and facing potential public bid law violations. Box 1280 Cameron, LA 70631 (337) 775-5718 EMAIL www.cameronpj.org. The St. Martin Parish Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to authorize Parish President Chester Cedars to pursue litigation against Lafayette Consolidated Government for removal of spoil. I did not get a formal response, Cedars said. Want to see more results ? It is also my understanding, as Ms Turk mentioned, St Martin has been an obstacle to the removal of the spoil banks and restoring the natural floodway. St. Martin Parish Federal Programs & Technology Annex 625 Corporate Boulevard, Breaux Bridge, LA 70517 337.332.3388. What is clear is that advertising the operation would have put LCGs furtive plans in the public eye, something it had an interest in avoiding. LCG removed about 1,200 feet of the dirt levees without St. Martin Parish's knowledge in a bid to reduce flooding in Lafayette. District I Contact her at (337) 207-4312 or [emailprotected]. St. Martin Parish President brushes off 30-year-old lifeguarding skills during NACo Annual Conference Like any good executive, Parish President Guy Cormier has to delegate to get things done, day in and day out, in St. Martin's Parish, La. St. Martin Parish Library Board of Control Tommy Romero, President,Appointment 1992, Expiration July 2027 Freda Harrison, Vice-President,Appointment 1980, Expiration July 2025 Charlene LeBlanc,Appointment 1989, Expiration July 2023 Georgie Blanchard,Appointment 1998, Expiration January 2027 "We've got to do more to assist if we're gonna keep this structure in place, we've got to do more to assist those rural systems.". St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars has promised to hold responsible Lafayette officials and anyone connected to the secretive spoil levee removal, which he fears may send more flood water . Flood fight:Lafayette, St. Martin parishes are arguing about a strip of dirt by the river. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. Parish President Chester Cedars speaks during a meeting of the St. Martin Parish Council on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. All rights reserved. var year = today.getFullYear() St. Martin Parish President has posted updates about the expected impacts for the parish from Hurricane Ida. Apply for the Job in Project Coordinator at Saint Martinville, LA. And certainly going from $300,000 or $400,000 to $3 [million] or $4 million would be a material change in the contract. If you are a St. Martin Parish resident, take a moment to enjoy our many recreational sites and renew your valued acquaintances. Parish President I am personally pleased that you have devoted time to view this website. This document is available in PDF format. "We believe that we need to proceed as quickly as possible to protect the citizens from being harmed. Cedars would not say exactly what St. Martin Parish's plan is to address LCG's removal of the spoil banks but did say that he plans to give a full report on the situation at the St. Martin Parish Council's next meeting on Tuesday, March 15. The parish seat is Saint Martinville. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. It's uncalled for and unwarranted," Cedars said Thursday. Fifteenth Judicial District Judge Valerie Gotch-Garrett is presiding over the case and St. Martin Parish's request to have it dismissed on the grounds that it should have been filed in the 16th Judicial District, which covers . There was hesitation. "I can give you 14.3 million additional reasons it's not just talk, and that's the $14.3 million we've committed to making this consolidation work. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Just $4,800 was spent on tree clearing and $260,000 on excavation and fill. Rigid billed $1.9 million for expedited mobilization, a sum that, according to the original contracts terms, should have been included in the contract pricing. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Turnarounds of days, rather than weeks, is atypical, according to sources. No records of such documentation have been produced in our records requests, besides the half-page bid table pricing the rush-ordered work. Romero said that she saw the first equipment coming to St. Martinville in February, but she thought LCG had permission to do the work. In the midst of French culture, exploration, and settlement during the late eighteenth century, St. Mary bears the distinction of being a primarily Anglo-Protestant settlement in the midst of French-Catholic Acadiana. Aside from the limestone used for a parking lot at the lake, which is viewed as an extension of Rookery Road, the parish cannot use resources to repair or expand improvements on private property. The contract also requires LCG to give written instructions to the contractor increasing the quantity of work and/or change orders. "This is the most incredible, unprofessional thing that I think one governmental jurisdiction can do to the other. Third, an investigation by the congressional delegation on what happened, in order, Cedars said, that we are not going to let it happen again.. All 10th & 11th graders must bring their fully charged Chromebooks to school on Tuesday for testing. I dont see anything else MP Guillory could have done more reasonable to finally get something accomplished to protect the interest of Lafayette residents at risk of flooding, due to changes in the landscape, beyond their control. Cedars said studies have differed on the impact and risks of removing the makeshift levees and that he found out about LCG's quiet removal of the spoil banks Tuesday afternoon, weeks after the work had been done. 625 Corporate Boulevard, Breaux Bridge, LA 70517 Instead, the caper was appended to a $390,000 contract awarded in December to Rigid Constructors LLC, the lowest bidder for as-needed excavation work. Wick Communications. The property around the lake is privately owned. "Let me just say this, St. Martin Parish is not gonna sit on their ass and allow this to go unremediated.". Rigid CEO Cody Fortier, Rigid itself and Fortiers CF LLC each made $2,500 donations to the mayor-presidents campaign, The contract was awarded for one year, with options to renew for two additional one-year terms, soon after the as-needed contract was awarded in December, one for $9.3 million for the Bayou Vermilion Flood Control project paid via wire transfer to Rigid on May 9, with LCG paying via wire transfer only 11 times out of 35,000 payments, Rigid-half-page-quote-for-spoil-banks-removal.pdf, On Feb. 18 LCG filed with the Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Amendment #1, before obtaining permits from either St. Martin Parish or the U.S. But I did get an email response Sunday night thanking me for the proposal and saying they hope to speak again soon.. This Tuesday (March 7th) is ACT Testing Day on our high school campuses. Russel C. Foti You have permission to edit this article. 'Did you remove them?' St. Martin Parish Federal Programs & Technology Annex 625 Corporate Boulevard, Breaux Bridge, LA 70517 337.332.3388. LCGs drainage projects are already costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in city-parish legal fees, plus millions in re-mobilization costs. Guillory, Nepveaux, Logan, and Fortier, in my view are all heros. "We tried to be civil, we did, we tried to go over there and ask them good questions to try to get the solutions rolling voluntarily, but they didn't listen, so what's the next step?". St. Martinville, LA 70582 . As for the spoil banks, theyve stood by the merits of the project and accused St. Martin Parish of trying to obstruct it. What are spoil banks? Over the summer, LCG requested a permit from the U.S. Not only could the millions spent digging ponds and removing spoil banks be money down the drain, but the city and/or parish could be on the hook for property owners legal fees and millions in penalties to restore lands to their original conditions. Executed and paid for in days, the spoil banks operation is emblematic of the quick pace of government the Guillory administration has bragged about but has nonetheless landed it in legal trouble. Over the last 25+ years various government agencies have spent many hundreds of millions of dollars on flooded homes, many of which could have been avoided by simply restoring the spoil banks to its original level, along with spot dredging and maintaining the required natural depth of the river.