Lafourche council again rejects weatherization

Another attempt to supplement a shortage in Lafourche Parish’s Office of Community Action failed last week when a disgruntled councilman prevented the ordinance from being brought forward for debate.

The ordinance, which proposed increasing supplies and salaries within the Office of Community Action, was not on the council agenda for Dec. 13. Items that are not on the agenda cannot be brought forward unless the council grants unanimous consent.

It would have officially asked for $20,000 to purchase materials necessary for the parish to complete weatherization projects and $25,000 for salaries to process and monitor the parish’s LIHEAP program. The $45,000 would come from the parish’s autonomous royalty fund.

The weatherization supplement has been the public talking point. Thirteen homes throughout the parish remain on a list to receive government aid through energy efficiency improvements, such as a heating system. The homes cannot be aided without a Lafourche Government supplement, members of the administration have said.

State officials compiled the weatherization list after the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Lafourche with a $823,000 reimbursable grant in 2009.

The ordinance failed at a Dec. 5 special meeting by a 5-to-2 vote. Councilmen Phillip Gouaux and Matt Matherne were absent, and only Jerry Jones and Michael Delatte voted in favor of the ordinance. The council is not scheduled to meet again until Jan. 10.

“Something’s not right,” said Councilman Daniel Lorraine, who prevented a second hearing on the ordinance. Lorraine, who is completing his 28th-consecutive year on the council, said the legislative body has never had to subsidize community action programs.

Councilman Joe Fertitta said the grant’s shortfall was caused by “nothing but mismanagement. Somebody should be accountable for this.”

Parish President Charlotte Randolph has placed the blame on Denise Hughes, the grant’s former director who resigned last year. Hughes did not file for reimbursement for the grant’s administrative costs, which typically include salaries and benefits for procuring and utilizing the funds, Randolph said.

Hughes was at last Tuesday’s council meeting. She said the parish “should have prioritized spending” earlier in the year, when it became known that a shortfall was looming.

She added the parish would need $100,000 to finish the 13 homes and said the supplement is only necessary because the parish hired too many employees to work the program.

Ryan Friedlander, director of the parish’s finances, said his office is in the process of conducting an audit on the weatherization program to see what went wrong and when. He said he would focus on reimbursements obtained and those not applied for and report his findings to the council.

Freddia Ruffin-Robinson said the problems started in 2010, before she arrived, and added that administrative-cost reimbursement was not applied for.

Weatherization services include modifying the building and installing heating and cooling systems, according to the DOE website.

“You’re not hurting us,” Randolph said to Lorraine, an outspoken rival of the parish leader. “Don’t punish these people, Daniel.”

Also scheduled for the “unanimous agenda,” and subsequently not discussed last week, was a resolution for the parish to hire an attorney to handle matters of litigation regarding the Clovelly Boat Launch in Cut Off.

The future of public access to the boat launch is in question. The parish is negotiating a new lease agreement with General Agricultural Services, LLC and Little Lake Land Company, who have leased the boat launch to the parish for public use in return for maintenance of Clovelly Road since 1987.

The last agreement expired in 2007, and the lessors have informed the parish that public access will end Jan. 1 unless a new agreement can be reached.

Because the parish council agreed to relocate the gravel road in order to allow space to raise and widen the Clovelly section of the South Lafourche Levee System earlier this year, a new agreement has to be drafted and accepted.

District Attorney Cam Morvant II, who has handled negotiations on behalf of the parish, urged the council to hire an attorney for litigation in the event public access is barred at the start of the New Year. “There are actions we can take if it’s closed,” he said. “I think it would be irresponsible to sit back and wait.”

The council does not meet again until Jan. 10.

Lorraine said he did not feel remorse for postponing the resolution until after the New Year in his effort to squash the weatherization ordinance because “they had two weeks to get it on the agenda.”

The lessors are asking for $20,000 per year to pay for fuel, maintenance and relocation of a private pump station in addition to the money the parish pays each year to maintain the road. It would total $1.4 million over a 20-year period, the district attorney said.

Clovelly Road is about one mile in length, made up of limestone and connects to East 36th Street in Cut Off. It extends outside of the ring levee system and leads to a public boat launch that provides access to Little Lake.

The boat launch is the only one in Lafourche Parish to provide access to those waters. The next closest option is in Lafitte, in Jefferson Parish.

Councilman Rodney Doucet said the companies would be flexible regarding commercial fishermen who use the boat launch for business.