Lafourche council overrides culvert veto

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph’s veto of a proposed culvert-installation policy for the third time was overridden at last night’s parish council meeting by a 7-2 vote.

Councilmen Mark Atzenhoffer, District 5, and Phillip Gouaux, District 7, were the two elected officials voting nay.

Before the vote Randolph said, “ I just wanted to say very quickly and simply, this is not an issue that we [parish administration] anticipated having to bring to you at anytime.”

She added that the installation of culverts has been a long-debated issue and is a great concern for the parish.

At a previous council meeting, District 4 Councilman Tommy Lasseigne said the parish has an obligation to clean out ditches and install culverts, even if it is on private property. Improving drainage serves a public purpose, he insisted.

In response, Randolph said that the equipment and time it takes to install culverts needs to be used in other ways. “We would prefer attending to levees and drainage more so than installing culverts,” she said

According to Randolph, the parish installed over 300 feet of 72-inch culverts in recent months. “That’s a considerable amount at an expense to the parish,” she said.

“I’m not just anticipating the outcome of the vote, I know what the vote is going to be.” Randolph predicted. “It disappoints me but it’s one of those things we are going to have to accept, move on and work with.”

The ordinance will create a permit process and parish policy for the installation of culverts, catch basins and/or bridges on private property in public right-of-ways.