Cell phone info leads to 25-year plea for former TPR coach
February 27, 2019Out of a loss comes an important message
February 27, 2019
Terrebonne officials said the first weekend of Carnival parades held in the parish went smoothly, with some summonses being issued for public order offenses, but no major issues.
Due to an agreement reached between Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter and the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, inmate crews continued picking up trash following the parades.
The all-woman Krewe of Aquarius, which was scheduled to roll Saturday night, was postponed due to weather and re-scheduled for Monday night. Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said the club’s president requested that the parade be halted at its start because of lightning in the area as a line of squalls pushed through.
Houma Police Chief Dana Coleman said the Krewe of Hercules parade, the parish’s largest and considered the kickoff for the parish’s Carnival season, rolled as scheduled Friday.
“The Hercules parade began at 6 pm and lasted approximately seven hours ending on Barrow Street at Town Hall,” Coleman said. “As a result of the event, the Houma Police handled normal parade related issues as of which some resulted in summonses being issued. A total of nine misdemeanor summons were issued during this parade.”
The Krewe of Hyacinthian and Krewe of Titans parades were held Sunday as scheduled with a combined total of 33 floats. Coleman said that during the six hours of Sunday parades to summonses were issued for disturbing the peace by fighting and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The normal clean-up protocols done after parades were in jeopardy at one point earlier this year, when Sheriff Larpenter announced that he would cut the crews due to budget shortfalls in his department.
A deal was reached between Larpenter and parish officials – signed off on by the parish council – allowing enough money to pay officers who supervise the inmates. Although Larpenter could have charged as much if not more for the service, he said, in the past he chose not to do so.
He and his staff, he said, had talks with parish solid waste director Clay Naquin to verify costs to his department and how it related to savings for the parish over decades of service.
“I have footed the bill for the last 30 years of it,” Larpenter said. “I have had the officers picking with the inmate picking up litter; We were told that the parish altogether would have paid $950,000 per year for a private contractor. They were giving me $40,000 and $25,000 for a few years, saving the parish budget a lot of money. By that count the parish was receiving $20 million of service on the Sheriff’s Office nickels.”
The parish, by agreeing to pay $150,000 for two deputies and 24 inmates, Larpenter said, “ensures that the parish will be clean from one end to the other.”
The money for trash pickup is not exclusively for Carnival events, but cleanups throughout the year.
Dove said his personal inspections of the streets following parade days this year has proved the deal beneficial.
“Jerry Larpenter and his deputies and the inmates all did their part, they did a wonderful job along with our own solid waste people and the sweepers,” Dove said. “The next morning, I rode the route after the Hercules parade. I think it was all a huge success.” •
