Lindsey Fontenot
July 6, 2010Thursday, July 8
July 8, 2010A second attempt to change St. Mary Parish’s Home Rule Charter died again, this time before the proposals could even be discussed.
St. Mary Parish Councilman Gary Duhon pulled proposed salary hikes for the parish president and council from last week’s council agenda, saying he’ll wait to see the outcome of the oil-drilling moratorium before reintroducing the measures.
Duhon wants to see the parish president’s $12,000 annual salary increased to $36,000, although the job status would remain part-time. Council salaries would also be hiked from $450 to $800 per month for single-district members, and from $800 to $1,150 monthly for at-large members.
“These salaries have been the same since 1983. If we ever want the ‘little guy’ to have a chance to work in parish government, the salaries have to be raised,” Duhon said.
“… How can we expect someone to lead this parish for a salary of just $12,000 a year?” he continued. “I know the job is listed as part-time but, currently, it’s being worked as an overtime position.”
It was the second time this month parish charter changes had been pitched to the council.
Proposals by Councilman Kevin Voisin were dropped in early June after failing to muster a second or a two-thirds vote. Voisin was also seeking to reduce council members’ pay if they miss meetings and to implement term limits, all at the recommendation of a parish-appointed parish charter committee, which was tapped in 2008 to review the current charter.
The pay hikes for the council and parish president were nixed in a 7-3 vote at the council’s June 9 meeting.
Duhon and councilmen Butch Middleton, Craig Matthews, Glen Hidalgo, Steve Bierhorst, David Hannagriff and Ken Singleton voted in favor of the pay raises. Voisin, councilmen Chuck Walters and Albert Foulcard voted against the measure.
Councilman Logan Fromenthal, who represented the needed eighth vote, was absent from the meeting.
All charter changes must be approved by St. Mary Parish voters, so if the council does approve pay raises or other modifications, area voters would have a final say.
In fiscal matters last Wednesday, the council learned the parish had received $150,000 in disaster recovery Community Development Block Grant funds.
The money is slated to be used for projects involving flood maps and zoning, according to Henry LaGrange, the parish’s chief administrative officer.
The council also heard from business owners angry that a sunken oilrig still sits in the Charenton Canal more than a month after it capsized.
The rig, which is void of oil, is not only an eye soar, they argued, but is also obstructing the waterway, complicating travel.
Because of the felled structure, Parish President Paul Naquin said the canal has been reduced to a portion of its normal width and depth. Charenton Canal is normally about 280 to 300 feet wide and 30 feet deep, he said, but with the downed rig, passage has been reduced to 54 feet wide and 8 feet deep.
“Fifty-five days have gone by and the rig is still in the canal,” said Scotty Tibbs, owner of Gulf Craft Inc., a Patterson-based company specializing in boat manufacturing.
“I have contracts for building boats valued at $15 to $18 million, but I can’t get them out of the canal,” he added.
Because the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Corps of Engineers govern the waterway, Naquin said the parish cannot remove the vessel. Communications between the agencies and the parish is ongoing in an attempt to have the rig removed, the parish president said.
In the meantime, Naquin said he is seeking pilings around the rig so the canal can be partially opened to navigation.
