Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Acadiana Advocate, The Daily Advertiser, Baton Rouge Business Report, Louisiana Illuminator and Gambit. Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. There can be a myriad of violations, says Shaye, who declined to comment on whether her office has been alerted to LCGs contracts. After St. Martin Parish government held a special meeting Tuesday, Guillory said its come to his attention that the St. Martin Parish Council has given authorization to take legal action. Cedars said it is the parishs stance that it has rights to the road because it has maintained it for decades. Thank you for the well written synopsis of this million dollar project. Phone number 337 332 2105. My office and the St. Martin Parish Council recognize that business is the bulwark of our local economy, and we stand ready and willing to assist you in your ventures. St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars gave a blistering rebuttal to the claims of a local businessman who said a new ordinance was targeting his business, citing more than a year's worth of meetings, correspondence and inspections with the owner as the parish sought to get the owner to comply with its zoning ordinance. 600 Corporate Boulevard / PO Box 1000,Breaux Bridge, LA 70517 Chester Cedars, the St. Martin Parish President, speaks at a Parish Council meeting, at which the council voted to pursue litigation against Lafayette Parish for the removal of a spoil bank along the Vermilion River in St. Martin Parish. Log In / Sign Up. St. Martin Parish Government officials and community members are now angry, as they say LCG removed the spoil banks without any warning and without permits. 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. in Breaux Bridge, will host a groundbreaking ceremony today, Tuesday, July 30 at 11:00 a.m. to celebrate the start of an $11.2 million expansion and renovation project. St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said Tuesday evening that the administration is looking to fund several ambitious initiatives using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act: Water system consolidation $1 million Broadband expansion $3 million Water infrastructure in Water Works District 5 and along Highway 94 $3.8 million Dozens of projects have been OKd by the councils with scant scrutiny, even as the administration lost expropriation cases in court. "This is the most incredible, unprofessional thing that I think one governmental jurisdiction can do to the other. Tel: 337.342.2993 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. You had a 12 feet levee, and youre reducing it to 6 feet. Bayou Vermilion Flood Control alone was allocated $22 million from the states windfall of one-time money. Corps of Engineers, LCG quietly purchased an undivided interest in a 41-acre tract from both the Guilliot family and Blanchet Land Company for $42,000 each (leaving a third owner out of the transaction), and it had to be only hours before Rigid was working the site (the sale was not recorded with the St. Martin Parish Clerk of Court until March 9). Executive Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Lt. Col. Billy Guidry briefed members of the St. Martin Parish Council on projections so far for this years spring water levels in the parish. LCG did not turn over any evidence that the costs were negotiated within the percentages allowed by the contract, that a 5 percent retainage was withheld or that a new performance bond was posted by Rigid. Since then, nothing has been done. Login & subscribe to unlock. of our parish leaders are excited about the decision of Ochsner and Trax Development to locate this PPE facility in our parish," said St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars. Receive the digital, interactive PDF of the newspaper in your inbox. 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 eventually asked council members to adopt three measures. You have to go out and re-bid it, says former Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera. 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. Otherwise, St. Martin Parish will most assuredly oppose any attempt to remove the spoil banks.. 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 0:36. Years ago, when there was a tax sale in the city, the property was adjudicated to the city and the parish, Parish Legal Counsel Allan Durand said. Im not frustrated as much as Im appalled, Cedars said. Tel: 337.394.4436, District II In our last feature, we exposed the fact that St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars barely let the ink get dry from him going on a 19-minute masterful performance to convince the St. Martin Parish Council (SMPC) to approve an ordinance to ban the importing of vegetative debris from other parishes into St. Martin Parish before he sued . A public records request for electronic communication between Fortier and LCG officials is pending. LCG letter:Army Corps inspection finds no permit was needed for Lafayette spoil banks removal. One former public official is willing to give LCG the benefit of the doubt on the contract amendment. The operation was done just weeks after Lafayette's City Council voted on Feb. 2 to offer $500,000 as a match to $1.5 million in state funds to get the spoil banks removed. It's whether the law was broken (and, I THINK we can all agree, millions more spent than necessary) in doing so. 120 East Refinery Street The Daily Iberian 124 E Main St, New Iberia, LA 70560 | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | The DAILY IBERIAN & ACADIANA LIFESTYLE are owned by Wick Communications. Nothing was given to us to review. 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. The spoil banks, left behind from the last time the Vermilion River was dredged decades ago, run along the rivers southern bank around the swamp in St. Martin Parish, just east of the border with Lafayette Parish. St. Martin Parish. Check out our map of Lafayette drainage projects here. Guy Cormier is the president of St. Martin Parish, and was a Police Juror back in 1999 when the change was adopted for good. Rigids $390,000 bid last year for the 2021 LCG as-needed excavation and disposal contract for work throughout the Lafayette City-Parish (the contract does not allow for work outside of the parish) was the lowest among five bids; four other contractors sent bids that ranged from $568,000 to $1.1 million. 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. Those spoils banks were keeping areas in St. Martin Parish from flooding, parish leaders say. Cormier: "Starting in, I guess, 1990, the parish Police Jury had tried in three attempts to at least bring it to a study. LCG did not turn over any construction plans for the project, saying it had no known documents responsive to our request for them. Lafayette Parish residents deserve to know and understand this issue. district5@intmartinschools.org, District VI Breaux Bridge, LA 70517 St. Martinville, LA 70582 . Cedars also mentions questions he frequently receives about the local government imposing crowd limitations or a potential lockdown. "We had requested, and were told, that we would get a chance to review all of LCG's models upon which this proposed project was going to be based. Rigids quote for the St. Martin work also tacked on $1.2 million for Barges/Temporary Barges, Cranes, and Rigging, $30,000 for patrol boats and $117,000 to have a mechanic on standby for the 24-hour job. Second, a public investigation on the regulations allegedly violated during the removal, including those ruled by FEMA and the Environmental Protection Agency. Some members of the St. Landry Parish School Board say they are in favor of changes to the student dress code. Over the summer, LCG requested a permit from the U.S. It's uncalled for and unwarranted," Cedars said Thursday. When you did not have a permit, Romero added. [citation needed] From 2000 to 2004, Angelle was the first parish president of St. Martin Parish and the vice president from 1998 to 2000 of the Huval Companies in Lafayette, Louisiana. Sign up for our free newsletter. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Patrol boats, barges, cranes, ramps and an on-call mechanic were among the charges billed to Lafayette Consolidated Government for a February operation to dig up spoil bank levees on the Vermilion River. Candidly, the government will impose nothing. I trust that my fellow elected officials in St. Martin Parish want for their constituents the same thing that I want for mine, which is to do all we can to protect life and property. Romero said that she saw the first equipment coming to St. Martinville in February, but she thought LCG had permission to do the work. Redditt, who was first hired by the St. All 10th & 11th graders must bring their fully charged Chromebooks to school on Tuesday for testing. ST. MARTINVILLE Parish President Chester Cedars said that he expects the parish should be getting an appellate ruling soon on its lawsuit against a business owner on Lake Martin. Army Corps inspection finds no permit was needed for Lafayette spoil banks removal, removed a March lawsuit by LCG against St. Martin Parish, St. Martin Parish wants Lafayettes lawsuit thrown out for being in Lafayette, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Cedars is accusing Lafayette Consolidated Government of removing spoil banks along the. 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. (KLFY) A feud over spoil banks, levees of dirt and debris formed on either side of a river is reaching new heights and creating a major controversy between two Acadiana parishes. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. He has also served as the Director of Planning and Zoning of St. Mary Parish. As for rural communities dealing with water issues in the rest of the parish, there is no word from the parish government yet as to when improvement efforts will be underway. The $3.7 million project, now the subject of a barbed lawsuit with St. Martin Parish in federal court, was top secret and never competitively bid. The suit aimed to stop LCGs clampdown on panhandling which district and appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court have repeatedly found to be protected speech under the First Amendment. Get it first. Steve Fuselier St. Martin Parish residents who live near the area where the spoil bank once stood agree this may not benefit them. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. P.O. "Not . Serious allegations from St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars, against LCG over flood control. of our parish leaders are excited about the decision of Ochsner and Trax Development to locate this PPE facility in our parish," said St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars. The high water mark is at Rookery Road, where the levee used to be, Cedars said. "I have memories growing up, we'd drink out of the hose outside, could never do that anymore, and neither can our kids," 52-year-old Boudreaux says. and last updated 8:09 PM, Feb 27, 2023. U.S. President; U.S. St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars has vowed to sue everyone involved in the clandestine removal of spoil banks in his parish. Why? Why would you do that? "We need clean water, that's the very first thing we need because this is not a third-world country, this is America and we shouldn't have third-world water going through our pipes.". Vice President Lorem ipsum dolor consecteture adiciping. Both local and state officials have been in support of St. Martin Hospital and its expansion efforts since . ------------------------------------------------------------Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere. (KLFY) St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars has signed new guidelines for COVID-19 for parish-owned and operated facilities, effective immediately. Interim St. Martin Parish Chester Cedars won the president seat with 73 percent of the vote tonight. Local experts say they are, however, typically for more focused projects, like ditch cleaning, small drainage projects, water line maintenance, asphalt overlays those with set costs and typically make changes in the thousands of dollars, not millions. Email Davide Mamone at dmamone@theadvocate.com. Box 993 The auditors office places the facts out there. 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