Terrebonne policy under review for appointments to council boards

The Terrebonne Parish Council will discuss prohibiting board and committee members from owning any part of businesses the members could influence through their participation in parish government, the council’s Policy, Procedure, and Legal Committee decided at its meeting on Dec. 17.

Any proposed ordinance would affect only appointees, not elected officials.

Currently, Terrebonne Parish allows board and committee members to own up to 25 percent of businesses they could influence because of holding public office.

The parish is seeking to follow state guidelines, which forbid any such ownership, said parish attorney Courtney Alcock.

The council decided to look at the matter after Houma land developer Ronnie Shaw complained in November about the potential for conflicts of interest, said Council Clerk Paul Labat.

The parish would need to change one sentence in its application for board membership concerning the ownership issue.

Council members Kim Elfert and Clayton Voisin both said they needed more information before voting on the matter.

“If there is a conflict, the only way to cure it is to get off the board,” said a representative of the parish’s legal department.

Also at the meeting, the council continued to hear objections about a truck stop/casino proposed for the intersection of Coteau Road and West Park Avenue near Gray.

Terrebonne Parish denied a permit to NDR Enterprises to construct the casino at the site. Consequently, the company is suing the parish.

A Gray resident presented to the committee a stack of petitions opposing the casino.

“The petitions (express) heartfelt opposition to the truck stop,” she told the committee. “It will promote financial ruin and criminal activity.”

“Our area is a bedroom community,” she said. “The truck stop will promote problems for families. We ask that our feelings be taken into account.”

She asserted that Terrebonne has 180 gaming facilities and that the parish is overrepresented in the number of calls placed to problem gambling telephone hotlines.

“The gambling interests, they say it’s so good for the economic development of the area,” she said. “Are we really doing something for economic development or are we making just a few people richer?”

In other action by the council before the holiday break, Planning Director Pat Gordon told the council the parish has $6 million in federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds following Hurricane Lili to spend before April 30.

The money is to be used to purchase residences in flood-prone areas of Terrebonne Parish.

To expedite the process, the parish hired real estate attorney Craig Landry, who put in the lowest bid, Gordon said.