Parish council rescinds move on mosquito control

Taxpayers in the area will see no significant changes in how their money will be spent, according to parish Chief Administrative Officer Bo LaGrange at Wednesday’s meeting of the St. Mary Parish Council
LaGrange said the two ordinances introduced on Wednesday, including one for the purpose of “maintaining and supporting the St. Mary Parish Public Library and its branches,” and the other for the purpose of helping “defray the expenses of the Criminal Justice System of the Parish of St. Mary,” were largely unchanged from previous years.
Another issue addressed Wednesday was in regards to a legal matter that was brought up at a previous council meeting concerning the control of the mosquito population in the area.
At the last parish council meeting on April 13, Glenn Stokes, representative from Mosquito Control Contractors Inc. (MCCI) addressed the council with his concerns about why the parish was about to enter into a new contract with another company when there was still time left on the existing contract with his company.
After further consideration by legal counsel on the matter, the St. Mary Parish Council voted to rescind the resolution to enter into an agreement with Cajun Mosquito Control.
Legal advisor for St. Mary Parish Eric Duplantis said the decision to put the motion to rescind the previous contract approval up for a vote came about because of further examination of the contract with MCCI.
“The contract (with MCCI) was still legal and still in effect,” Duplantis said. “So to award the contract to someone else was not appropriate. We did not have a full explanation of the facts at the time. The contract with MCCI is still in effect and did not end.”
Other council business included several re-zoning recommendations and subdivision approval recommendations from LaGrange’s office.
There were also several ordinance introductions regarding rezoning efforts and another renaming the former Bunche Branch Library on Fifth Street at the Charles “Butch” Middleton Mentoring Center.” There were also a number of resolutions passed by the council.
One authorized the parish president to execute a contract with a construction company at the industrial park site on the Charenton Canal. Another authorized the president to execute a funding agreement between the parish and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness regarding the Louisiana Severe Storms and Flooding Event.
Under new business, the council received a letter about the passing of Albert Hebert who served on the board of the Water and Sewer Commission No. 2. Hebert’s term was to expire on Jan. 1, 2017.
Another letter to the parish from an official with Cox Communications indicated more changes are coming to customers’ service. The letter indicated that some customers may need more equipment to receive cable programming options. The letter said customers would be notified via notice in local newspapers.