The town of Henderson is considering entering into an intergovernmental agreement with St. Martin Parish government to help address the problem of poorly-maintained properties.
The issue was raised by a resident’s complaint at the April 9 town council meeting. Mayor Sherbin Collette said that new parish president Chester Cedars has been floating the idea of a parish wide effort to find a cooperative remedy for messy properties.
The proposed agreement would allow a parish task force to travel through participating municipalities, identify the most problematic properties and recommend action. The group would not take action independently, but only make recommendations to municipal governments.
“This town has such potential,” the resident said, “Look at the surrounding towns. Most of them are doing a better job of keeping these things under control. We need ordinances and enforcement.”
Councilman Jody Meche responded that property maintenance is one of the hardest problems for a municipality to solve. “It has to start with the owners. If they don’t take pride in their own town they don’t care about the mess. A lot of people do not seem to have that kind of pride.”
“We have been trying to get the problem addressed, but it is going much slower than we would like.” Collette added. “We hate to have people come from outside to do this, but it may come to that.” He said he will meet with Cedars in the coming weeks to discuss the possibilities further.
In other business, the council approved transferring $20,000 from the sales tax fund into the enterprise fund. Meche made the proposal after noticing that the balance in the enterprise fund had declined to $4,682.
Councilman Bill LeGrand suggested that Cajun Palms RV Park, north if I-10, should be encouraged to hook up to sewer lines that have been extended there. That will add to the base of paying customers and help maintain enterprise fund levels.
The line was extended north without investment from the town of Henderson, but actual hook-ups have not been completed.
Also, Police Chief Leroy Guidry was given clearance to hire a new full-time officer. Kawaski Thomas, currently a St. Martin Sheriff’s deputy, will begin immediately. Thomas is a Eunice native and Lafayette resident. He is POST certified and is a veteran of both the Lake Charles and Crowley police departments.
Finally, the council approved declaring the week of April 2-6 “National Community Development Week” and the month of April “Fair Housing Month.”
