Residents pelt Claudet with questions

Residents of the northern part of Terrebonne Parish continued to voice frustration with parish government, and pelted Parish President Michel Claudet with questions about drainage, development, and habitual flooding at a town hall meeting in Schriever on Friday.

The meeting was the second in a series of seven town hall meetings called, “Big Challenges, Real Solutions.” The meeting at St. Bridget Catholic Church lasted over two hours and became contentious as residents claimed that the parish lacked effective planning and called for a moratorium on development in the area.

“I think what’s happening here is that people don’t trust drainage in this parish. I’m the product of 35 years of failed drainage in the parish,” said area resident Barbara Larpenter.

Homes in Schriever, particularly in the area near U.S. Highway 90 and La. Highway 24 flooded in March and December of last year, which residents blamed on development that overwhelms existing drainage systems in the area.

Claudet began the evening by giving a lengthy PowerPoint presentation detailing millions of dollars in drainage and road improvement projects designed to assuage the concerns of residents.

The projects included dredging of the CCC drainage ditch, expanding or replacing dozens of culverts, and adding turn lanes throughout the area.

Residents in the audience, however, feared that these projects would only help the existing problems, and not compensate for incoming developments.

“We have no plan to develop [this area]. It’s whatever anybody wants to do. That’s the reality,” said local David Bergeron.

The parish council has approved a mixed-use development in the area with hundreds of homes, a low-income housing complex, a golf course, two hotels and retail spaces named Three Oaks. A 77-acre parcel of land just north of the area is favored by Claudet for the parish’s proposed government complex, although the council has yet to approve the purchase of that land.

In hopes of stopping these developments from effecting drainage in the area, Councilwoman Teri Cavalier has proposed a halt on all development in the area until drainage issues can be resolved. Residents in her district have rallied behind the idea.

“We want a freeze on all development larger than single family homes until the drainage in this district can support the developments expected in the future,” said Jason Baker, a resident of the Southern Estates subdivision. “We want the residents of this district to be put first, not second or third. We live here. We pay taxes here. This is not your district. It’s ours.”

Claudet, however, doubted a moratorium would stop Three Oaks from being built.

“What will happen is, a lawsuit will occur, and this would not just be a lawsuit. This would be a federal lawsuit where the federal government will come in, and I can assure you it’s not going to stop this development,” said Claudet.

The moratorium will be up for discussion and a possible vote at Monday’s parish council committee meetings, and a rigorous debate is expected.

Baker, who has represented the Southern Estates subdivision at parish council meetings, later became frustrated with Claudet and accused him of putting political ties above residents.

“I think that what Barry Blackwell, Henry Richard and Berwick Duval want is more important to this administration than its constituents,” said Baker. Blackwell, a former parish manager, and Richard, a prominent developer in the region, co-own the property Three Oaks would be built on.

Berwick Duval is a powerful area attorney and coastal protection activist who represent the project’s developers.

“I can assure you, this had nothing to do with them. A committee selected the Three Oaks proposal, not me,” said Claudet in response to Baker’s charge.

Councilman Kevin Voisin also reminded residents that stopping development in the area wouldn’t solve the area’s larger issues.

“This problem is bigger than just Three Oaks. This problem is systemic of the fact that we’ve grown a lot and we have antiquated drainage concepts,” said Voisin.

“We bought homes with an open ditch drainage system on a slab. In Louisiana 50 or 100 years ago, nobody built on the ground. No way. You built up because the expectation was that water would come, especially with open ditch drainage.”

A project to clean up the CCC ditch, which drains most of the area, is already under way, and Claudet trotted out charts from engineering firm T. Baker Smith to show residents that the project should lower the water level in the ditch two to three feet during rain evens. Those at the meeting, however, have become wary of promises from engineers.

“We have a long history of engineering disasters in the parish. They say that projects won’t effect drainage but the flooding just keeps getting worse,” said an area man named Randy Lewis.

Some progress was made on that issue when Claudet explained that in the past, drainage was only considered for certain areas.

“In the past, we’ve told our engineers to get water off of these two or three acres, and they’ve done a good job of pushing that water on to two different acres,” said Claudet. “Now what we have to do is look at drainage more systemically.”

Although the meeting became heated, it was not unexpected on Claudet’s part, who said meetings like this improve the quality of local government.

“I have to listen to their complaints. All the happy ones, I don’t need to talk to. The ones who have problems or complaints, they’ll come to express their concerns,” said Claudet. “I knew this was going to happen, but what are we going to do? Are we going to run away from things that need to be addressed? You can’t do that.”

Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet addresses residents at a town hall meeting held at St. Bridget Catholic Church last week. * Photo by MICHAEL DAVIS