In other action

Thursday

The following is a rundown of action taken the Terrebonne Parish Council at its regular meeting Wednesday. All council members attended. All decisions were unanimous, unless otherwise noted.

Action: Proclaimed D.K. Lee, president of Rotary International, as an Honorary Cajun and Honorary Houma-Terrebonne Citizen.Notes: The South Korean businessman and Rotary official will visit Houma later this month.

Action: Commended the Louisiana National Guard and all volunteers for their invaluable services during and after hurricanes Gustav and Ike and for holding the flag-raising ceremony last month at the temporary emergency operations center in Gray.

Action: Agreed to waive rental fees at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center for an Oct. 22 meeting sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.Notes: Similar to the after-action review meeting Terrebonne officials already held, the state government and disaster-response agencies in a six-parish area will review hurricane plans and actions relating to September’s hurricanes. Officials will review response for Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. John, St. Charles and St. James parishes. Pam Roussel, with the Governor’s office, said the meeting is not open to the public.

Action: Agreed to waive rental fees at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center for a “kick-off” meeting set for 1 p.m. Monday. FEMA and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness are sponsoring the meeting.Notes: It is designed to help Terrebonne Parish government staff and administrators apply for disaster aid that will help pay for emergency work and supplies related to the hurricanes. This meeting is not open to the public, FEMA officials said.

Action: Agreed to let Parish President Michel Claudet proceed with emergency repairs to the Ward 7 levee in Chauvin and contract with Shaw Coastal Inc. to provide professional servicesNotes: State Transportation Department officials agreed to pay a portion of the emergency work, which does not yet have a price tag, according to council documents.

Action: Sybil Guidry, a parish Tree Board member, announced a workshop on proper tree care and planting. It runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 28 in the council meeting room on the second floor of the Government Tower, 8026 Main St., Houma.

Action: Reviewed and accepted bids received for purchasing two sets of government-backed bonds.Notes: Government bonds are similar to an IOU. They’re paid back using taxpayer money. The parish’s bond attorney, Jerry Osborne with Foley & Judell, said the parish government’s ability to sell bonds right now is impressive given two factors: the national economy and stock market is struggling and national bond buyers see Terrebonne as hurricane-prone. Parish government’s bond rating of AA- helped at a time when few public entities have been able to sell bonds, Osborne said.

Action: Accepted the sole bid from New Orleans-based Morgan Keegan and Company to purchase $9.8 million in bonds for capital improvements.Notes: The company offered a 5.7 percent interest rate, which will be paid back using sales-tax money. The bond sales would pay for a number of large-scale, long-term projects and about half a million has to be set aside for savings. The sale had to be pushed back because hurricanes Gustav and Ike interfered with the original sale, set for late August. Al Levron, parish capital-projects administrator, said money collected from the sale is earmarked for: $2.5 million to extend Westside Boulevard to Martin Luther King Boulevard; $1.7 million for the Industrial Boulevard and Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center levee; $1.7 million for Bayou LaCarpe drainage improvements; $500,000 for work on the 4-1 levee in Pointe-aux-Chenes; $500,000 for a bulkhead at the Bonanza pump station in Bayou Cane; $400,000 for dredging in Bayou Terrebonne from Southland Mall to Coteau Road; $1 million for channel improvements in the 1-1B forced drainage system in north Houma; and $1 million for the third phase of work on the Ward 7 levee in Chauvin, from Bayou Neuf to St. Louis Canal.

Action: Accepted Morgan Keegan’s bid to buy $5 million in bonds that will pay for sewer-system improvements.Notes: The company offered a 5.6 percent interest rate, while UBS Financial Services Inc. in New York City offered a 6.5 percent rate.The general-obligation-bond sale was approved in 2004 as part of a $20 million proposal. Money from the sale will be split three ways: $9 million for drainage, $6 million for roads and bridges and $5 million for sewer improvements. The parish sold $5 million in bonds before the 2005 hurricanes and another $10 million in 2007.The money from this month’s bond sale will be distributed as follows: $500,000 for directing treated wastewater from the parish South Sewage Treatment Plant in Ashland into the nearby wetlands to provide nutrients; $2.25 million for new sewer lines and equipment in the Woodlawn Ranch Road industrial area; and $2.25 million for new sewer lines and work along Martin Luther King and Westside boulevards.

Action: Bought land at 5123 Grand Caillou Road under FEMA’s Hurricane Rita hazard-mitigation-grant program.Notes: FEMA created the program to help owners of frequently-damaged homes either demolish, repair, elevate or sell their houses to prevent further problems. Council members Arlanda Williams and Billy Hebert were not in the room for the vote. They stepped out to review bids for the above-mentioned bond sale with parish finance officials and legal counsel.

Action: Proposed buying land at 6426 Shrimpers Row as part of the FEMA grant program.Notes: Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Created a committee to decide when to disqualify vendors from receiving contracts from parish government.Notes: At a previous meeting, Council Chairman Clayton Voisin asked that a council member be included. The five-member committee would be comprised of the Public Works director or his designee, the purchasing manager, the parish manager or his designee, a designee of the department familiar with the vendor and a council member. Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Declared 5.7 acres on Deadwood Road as surplus and ready for sale. The property has no address.Notes: Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Declared property at 102 Williams St. as surplus.Notes: Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Adjusted the 2008 budget to recognize the Downtown Development Corporation account.Notes: The changes include recognizing $73,437 in interest accrued in 2007, setting aside $32,954 for landscaping in Houma’s historic district, designating $27,500 for maintenance at Courthouse Square and parks and setting aside $25,000 for a marketing plan for the historic district’s attractions via brochures, billboards and other media. Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Transferred the Animal Shelter account from the Sanitation Fund to the General Fund and changing the designation of the Sanitation Fund from a special-revenue to an enterprise account.Notes: Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Allowed Claudet to sign an intergovernmental agreement with the Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority to donate a Chauvin home to the authority.Notes: The home, at 5102 Gable St., was donated to the authority, which also oversees Houma’s two public-housing developments, the 300-unit Bayou Towers and the 200-unit Senator Circle. It will be used to house those in the low- to moderate-income range. Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Amended the 2008 budget to adjust four accounts.Notes: The changes include an increase in the personnel services by $337,311 for Drug Court and District Attorney’s Office; recognizing $10,000 from Black Elk Energy to be used for helping pay utility bills of income-eligible residents; recognizing a $71,066 deficit in the parishwide drainage construction account, which will be replenished with money collected from state mineral royalties; and various changes to the account for a U.S. Housing and Urban Development department program. Williams and Hebert were out of the room reviewing bond-sale bids.

Action: Installed a street light at 902 Savanne Road.

Action: Re-appointed Merlin Lirette to the Houma-Terrebonne Airport Commission and waited two weeks to decide on a replacement for Leonard “L.J.” Pizzolatto, brother of Councilman Johnny Pizzolatto.Notes: L.J. Pizzolatto cannot be re-appointed to the commission as long as his brother sits on the council, the state Board of Ethics has ruled.

Action: Held for two weeks, appointing an alternate Board of Zoning Adjustments member.

Action: Re-appointed Alan Gibson, Mickey Thomas and Ed Landgraf to the Coastal Zone Management and Restoration board.Notes: Williams stepped out of the room and missed the vote.

Action: Appointed six people to the newly-created Hurricane Evacuation and Emergency Shelter Committee.Notes: Herman Torrengo, Tommy Harris and Mickey Fonseca will represent the general public and people who evacuated on state-contracted buses. Rene Rhodes is Claudet’s appointment. Ashlee Gunter will represent the American Red Cross, and state Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Labadieville, will represent the local legislative delegation. Council members Teri Cavalier, Williams and Voisin will also sit on the committee. There are still openings for a shelter volunteer or worker and a designee from the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Action: Held for two weeks, appointing someone to fill a vacancy on the parish Women’s Commission that resulted from Cheryl Parfait’s resignation.

Action: Proposed reopening the East Park Fire Station, which has been closed since the end of 2004. Called a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22.Notes: The East Park station is at the foot of the downtown twin spans near the Daigleville Bridge. Without the station operating, fire trucks have to cross Bayou Terrebonne or the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to reach homes and businesses on the north side of East Park. Residents on Oak, Pitre, Peach and Cadiere streets should not be isolated, especially since the homes are predominatly older, made of wood and spaced close together on narrow streets. The station closure saved about $800,000 in maintenance, utilities and salary expenses, officials said at the time.

Discussion: Councilman Alvin Tillman asked for regular updates on the drainage system and catch basin between Baker and Friendswood drives, behind Odelia Circle, the neighborhood in which Tillman lives.

Discussion: Councilman Joey Cehan discussed conditions of drainage pump stations and asked that a report be given by Public Works in 30 days.

Action: Agreed to spend more than $2 million of taxpayer money from the parish’s Emergency Fund for emergency repairs to the drainage and levee systems.Notes: Repairs to the Pointe-aux-Chenes 4-1levee, also called the 4-1 levee, will receive $500,000; repairs to the Ward 7 levee in Chauvin – a $4 million project – will receive $1 million; repairs to the Clinton Street pump station will get $582,500; and emergency land purchases to improve the Susie Canal and Orange Street levee will receive $400,000. Cavalier left the meeting and missed the vote.

Action: Agreed to co-sponsor the Voice of the Wetlands Festival Friday through Sunday.Notes: Cavalier left the meeting and missed the vote.

Action: Requested that FEMA pay to clean Terrebonne Parish’s drainage ditches, culverts, canals.Notes: FEMA picked up the tab in other parishes and in Texas, Hebert said. With local ditches and canals in disrepair, a heavy rain will cause more flooding, Hebert said. Cavalier left the meeting and missed the vote.

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