29-year-old battle ends over Plaisance Drive

The Lafourche Parish Council ended a 29-year debate over the legality of a parish road dedication at last week’s meeting.

The council also hired a consultant to assess the need for a new jail and appointed four councilmen to serve on a newly formed Solid Waste Committee.

The council accepted Plaisance Drive into the parish road system after years of debating whether the parish had the legal right to authorize a tacit dedication for the road in Raceland.

Councilman Matt Matherne, who authored the ordinance, said Plaisance Drive is the main access point for nearly 70 residents who live in Quadheir Estates subdivision, which is owned by Leroy Foret.

The ordinance recognizes the entire length and width of Plaisance Drive, which is a little over 4,900 feet long.

Foret has maintained the road for nearly 31 years. But, he is glad the parish will begin maintaining the road.

“I am really happy that it’s all over,” he said. “I have maintained the road by myself. I made the subdivision, so I did what I had to do. Now, the parish has finally stepped up to recognize it as a parish road.”

Foret bought the Quadheir Estates property in 1978 and developed it a year later. Under the police jury guidelines, Foret tried to get the road dedicated into the parish when the subdivision was first constructed, but failed.

When the 15-member council took over in 1982, property owners needed to make an effort to get roads up to the minimum standards prior to authorizing a tacit dedication.

Foret said he hard-surfaced the road in 1982, but still could not get a tacit dedication through the parish government.

“They had accepted roads with no problem,” the subdivision owner said. “I don’t want to say they were discriminating against me, but I felt like it. They talked about doing a tacit dedication, but every time something would come up.”

The parish government did authorize the Department of Public Works to shell the road in the early 1990s, but Foret said the parish has not done anything else since.

Matherne served on the council on and off over a span of 28 years. Each time, the councilman said, he pushed for Plaisance Drive to be dedicated as a parish road.

Matherne speculated that the problem was that as each council took office, the paperwork for the tacit dedication was pushed aside.

“Some of them were saying that you can take over some of the roads in the parish, but you can’t take over Plaisance Drive,” Matherne said. “I didn’t understand that, but I was going to try my best to find out why Plaisance Drive could not be accepted into the parish system.”

The different council opinions about the legality of the tacit dedication caused Matherne to seek an opinion from District Attorney Cam Morvant, who said it was legal because Foret could show proof that he made improvements to the road.

Now that the situation has been resolved, Matherne said, “It’s about time.”

The Five Star Committee, a panel assembled to assess the parish’s funding structure for the construction of a new Lafourche Parish Detention Center, requested matching funds from the council to hire a consultant from the National Institute of Corrections, an organization that helps correctional systems design new jails.

The funds, according to Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre, should not exceed $20,000. The sheriff said his office is putting up $10,000 and the council is being solicited for the other half.

The council, minus Councilman Mike Delatte, unanimously approved hiring James Rowenhorst of South Dakota.

“We already know funding will be the main issue,” said Maj. Marty Dufrene, who heads the Lafourche Parish Correctional System. “But we have to start with the basics. Mr. Rowenhorst is very knowledgeable in what it takes to build a jail. He can really help to steer the Five Star Committee in the right direction.”

After deferring the matter from its March 10 meeting, Council Chair Jerry Jones formed a four-man committee to review the parish’s current solid waste contract with SWDI, and to make a recommendation for a new five-year contract.

SWDI’s contract with the parish ends this December, Jones said.

The four councilmen on the committee represent the north, south, east, and west portion of the parish. Jones appointed Louis Richard, Lindel Toups, Phillip Gouaux and Delatte to serve on the committee.

The next Lafourche Parish Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the former Wal-Mart in Mathews.