– The St. Martinville City Council cleaned up language to clarify details of the special election the city has called for residents to vote on whether to change the city’s form of government from the special legislative charter the city has been run under since 1895 to the Lawrason Act that governs the majority of municipalities in the state.
The council passed a resolution at its Feb. 3 meeting to call for the election on May 3, with Mayor Jason Willis casting a tiebreaking vote after council members Flo Chatman and Jonas Fontenette voted in favor of the resolution and Mike Fuselier and Carol Frederick voted against it, with Janise Anthony abstaining.
But city attorney Allan Durand told the council that the Secretary of State’s office would not approve the call for an election because the resolution did not specify the date of the election, the date that the council would canvass the official results of the election, list all the polling places, attach the notices that the city will publish in the Teche News to notify the public of the election, and other specific items the state requires for a special election to be called.
The council voted 3-2 in favor of the resolution calling for the election, with Chatman, Fontenette and Anthony voting in favor and Fuselier and Frederick voting against. Fuselier also asked for clarification on the format of the town hall meetings that the city is planning to inform the public of the differences between the city’s charter and the Lawrason Act forms of government.
Town halls were scheduled Thursday, March 6, at Adam Carlson Park and Tuesday, March 11, at Magnolia Park.
In addition to municipal government consultant Karen White speaking at both town halls, Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque and Councilman Jeff Delahoussaye were scheduled to speak at the gathering at Adam Carlson Park. Broussard uses the Lawrason Act as its basis for city government.
Attorney Chester Cedars, the former St. Martin Parish President, was scheduled to speak at the Magnolia Park town hall.
Mayor Jason Willis also said that any elected official attending the town halls would be allowed to speak to the public. Questions from the public also would be taken.
Meter-reader position The city council approved by a 3-2 vote the creation of a full-time meter reader position, with a part-time employee moving into that position.
Councilwoman Carol Frederick questioned the need for a full-time position when the city is going to be transferring its water system to Consolidated Waterworks District No. 4 in the next couple of years. The mayor said that the employee fulfills other duties, including changing faulty water meters, and that it helps make the city’s utilities collections more efficient and accurate. The city has been dealing with inaccurate meter numbers for several years, resulting in bills that are sometimes too high or too low.
Nuisance property
The council addressed a nuisance property on Seiber Street, with the property owner speaking at the meeting.
David Daspit said he leases the property to his son, Paul, who lives on the property and who apparently has been running an unauthorized junk business on the property.
City Zoning Coordinator Otis Chatman said that regular complaints are made about the property including junk on the land and cars blocking the street and parked in the ditches along the street.
The property also has multiple buildings, a violation of city code, and has had work done without city permits. The electricity has been cut off to the main building on the property as well, with a generator being used to run electricity to the building, also a violation of city ordinances.
The council voted to have the owner and his son return for its next meeting with a plan to clean the property up and to bring proof of progress made on clearing the property.
