(KLFY) St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars has signed new guidelines for COVID-19 for parish-owned and operated facilities, effective immediately. Why? On Aug. 30, according to Cedars reports, the Corps advised that LCG had requested the proposed project be divided into two parts. I trust that my fellow elected officials in St. Martin Parish want for their constituents the same thing that I want for mine, which is to do all we can to protect life and property. Cedars is accusing Lafayette Consolidated Government of removing spoil banks along the. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. Now, they might win it back, Despite judges ruling, LCG uses identical quick take to seize land for detention pond, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. That's your idea of heroes? Angelle was elected at the age of twenty-five to the St. Martin Parish Police Jury, the local governing body known as the county commission in most other states. Vice President: Kevin Martin. "With so much of our daily life revolving around internet connectivity, we are making fiber infrastructure modernization a priority for our parish. "When I learned about this late Tuesday afternoon, we did certain things and had certain meetings, and we're developing what our course of action will be from this point forward," he said. four other contractors sent bids that ranged from $568,000 to $1.1 million. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. var today = new Date() It's not about whether the removal of the spoil banks will benefit Lafayette, as there is little to no argument there. In the days and weeks before the contract was signed, Rigid CEO Cody Fortier, Rigid itself and Fortiers CF LLC each made $2,500 donations to the mayor-presidents campaign, as did another company associated with Fortier, Sunshine Homes LLC, for a total of $10,000, according to campaign finance records. Otherwise, St. Martin Parish will most assuredly oppose any attempt to remove the spoil banks.. Pending the governors signature, both the spoil banks project and the catchall Bayou Vermilion Flood Control project are set to receive more state dollars in the 2022 capital outlay budget. St Martin Parish Government is part of the Government industry, and located in Louisiana, United States. The spoil banks as they appear now, after LCG moved dirt from the St. Martin side of the river to the Lafayette side (above) in February during a 24-hour secret operation that landed it in federal court and facing potential public bid law violations. City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan confirmed in a phone interview that work on the St. Martin project started soon after the as-needed contract was awarded in December. Check out our map of Lafayette drainage projects here. Contact her at (337) 207-4312 or [emailprotected]. St. Martin Parish Chairman Tauzin's statement to Baudin on or about September 4, 2021 demonstrates the fact that a Restraining Order was filed against Petitioner based upon the false portrayal that Defendant Fatherree published in The Daily Iberian on Wednesday, August 4, 2021. But even against that backdrop, the spoil banks project stands out. And experts agree there is good reason to question the scope, in large part because it increased the value of the original contract tenfold. Fifteenth Judicial District Judge Valerie Gotch-Garrett is presiding over the case and St. Martin Parish's request to have it dismissed on the grounds that it should have been filed in the 16th Judicial District, which covers . Rigids quote for the St. Martin work also tacked on $1.2 million for Barges/Temporary Barges, Cranes, and Rigging, $30,000 for patrol boats and $117,000 to have a mechanic on standby for the 24-hour job. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. TOLL-FREE,24 HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK About Us. But rather than bid the markedly different contract, LCG accepted a single quote from Rigid valued at $3.7 million, the sole documentation for which appears to be a half-sheet of letter-sized paper with seven line items Rigid refers to as Bid Item(s) with an eighth line it calls Total Base Bid. To be clear, there was no advertised bid. ------------------------------------------------------------Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere. . Three days later, on Feb. 21, before obtaining permits from either St. Martin Parish or the U.S. Bid law trumps.. He also said that there could be a legal argument made that the states area of control extends to the lakes high water mark which could be construed as Rookery Road. On Friday, St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars levied the allegations against LCG. So it sounds to me like theyre in violation of the bid law.. One former public official is willing to give LCG the benefit of the doubt on the contract amendment. St. Martin Parish Parish President. and last updated 8:09 PM, Feb 27, 2023. residents cited for shooting geese from moving, 30 Iberia Parish jail inmates baptized behind bars, Wanted Louisiana fugitive arrested by U.S. "Aquaspersions is delighted to be investing in Broussard and with the welcome we have received," Bewsher said. The auditors office places the facts out there. St. Martin Parish turned the tables on Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory 's administration Wednesday with a new lawsuit asking a local judge to order Lafayette to rebuild the Cypress. Cedars said LCG removed the spoil banks without the appropriate regulatory licenses or permits required by law. At issue is the removal of half of a 12-feet levee structure left behind from the last time the Vermilion was dredged that has for decades protected St. Martinville from flooding. On Feb. 18 LCG filed with the Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Amendment #1 to the as-needed contract, saying the parties desire to amend the agreement to add line items for additional services. The amendment was signed by Mayor-President Josh Guillory and Rigids Fortier. C) Multi-Parish Races. document.write(year) Both Homewood and the St. Martin spoil banks are part of the Bayou Vermilion Flood Control project, the centerpiece of a $106 million capital program to stop homes and businesses from flooding. ST. MARTINVILLE Parish President Chester Cedars said that he expects the parish should be getting an appellate ruling soon on its lawsuit against a business owner on Lake Martin. Moreover, I believe that under the current circumstances, there is no reason why adults should not take the vaccine except for those with medical issues which prevent them from doing so, said Cedars. Guillory, says, however, a permit was not necessary. As for rural communities dealing with water issues in the rest of the parish, there is no word from the parish government yet as to when improvement efforts will be underway. Created in 1811, St. Mary Parish was originally part of the Attakapas District and St. Martin Parish. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. The three measures were approved by all nine council members. St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said Thursday his government is aiming to have LCG restore the spoil banks as an immediate remedy and said it may seek other remedies as the case progresses. Follow Andrew Capps on Twitter or send an email to acapps@theadvertiser.com. Cedars cites the latest COVID hospitalization data in the Acadiana Region 4 and positivity rates within the parish. 15th JDC Judge (Div. To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE. The St. Martin Parish Council unanimously voted to give parish president Chester Cedars the authority to seek any and all legal remedies against Lafayette Consolidated Government and other parties found to be responsible for the removal of spoil banks along the Vermilion River. {0} important information hidden . How a civil rights investigation could alter the I-49 Connector, LCG settles federal panhandling suit for $42,000, Here are the 2023 Current In Design winners, Rigid has been paid a total of $37 million from LCG for various projects, $1.6 million in all of the previous fiscal year, 2021 LCG as-needed excavation and disposal contract. It leaves a lot of questions, especially with the $1.8 million mobilization charge., A founding editor of both The Independent and ABiz and senior editor at The Times of Acadiana in the 1990s, Leslie Turk is an award-winning investigative reporter who has worked in the newspaper business in Lafayette for more than three decades. Logan and Guillory have defended the approach and use of quick take expropriation, characterizing the suits as negotiating tactics on the part of landowners looking for a better price in the case of Homewood and Lake Farm. The wire transfer to Rigid came five days after LCG lost the Homewood ruling and is for work on that project. According to St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars October 19, 2021, President's report, Josh Guillory was no longer pursuing the spoil bank removal project. As the spoil banks are already gone, Cedars says theyre trying to fix this. Log In / Sign Up. St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said it seems to him that "There is a large number of our citizens who are not participating in the mandatory waste program." Lafayette organization. D. Kaplovitz Louisiana Parish Attorneys Association ("LPAA"): Group Parish Attorneys Association ("LPAA") j. touzet; The council also discussed the potential sale of property within the city of St. Martinville that had been adjudicated as being co-owned by the city and the parish. var year = today.getFullYear() This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. If you materially change the original scope of the contract, then you cant just amend it like that and be in compliance with the bid law. Some members of the St. Landry Parish School Board say they are in favor of changes to the student dress code. Nevertheless, I cannot sit idly by and not articulate about a critical situation.. It is also is my understanding that the USCOE 50+ years ago, by putting spoils on the St Martin banks of the Vermilion, inadvertently obstructed that natural flow to Cypress island swamp. LCG letter:Army Corps inspection finds no permit was needed for Lafayette spoil banks removal. Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. St. Martin Parish turned the tables on Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory's administration Wednesday with a new lawsuit asking a local judge to order Lafayette to rebuild the Cypress Island Swamp spoil banks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This story has been edited to include Fortier's $10,000 in donations to Mayor-President Josh Guillory's campaign and to note that the original as-needed contract was limited to work "throughout the Lafayette City-Parish." [1] At the 2020 census, the population was 51,767. Copy and paste this code into your website. "I can give you 14.3 million additional reasons it's not just talk, and that's the $14.3 million we've committed to making this consolidation work. Whether LCG devised the as-needed contract to slip the spoil banks project through unnoticed is unclear. There was hesitation. On October 14, 2021, I met with Mayor-President Guillory and several members of his staff. :And why are Lafayette and St. Martin Parish fighting over them? St. Martin Parish is a parish in Louisiana.The parish population is 51,767, according to the United States Census Bureau. St. Martinville, LA 70582 Thank you for the well written synopsis of this million dollar project. Well, guess what? Cedars also mentions questions he frequently receives about the local government imposing crowd limitations or a potential lockdown. It's uncalled for and unwarranted," Cedars said Thursday. In recent months, private landowners around the lake have tried to block access for the public, either out of a fear of liability should an accident occur or, as in the case of the litigation the parish is engaged in, for commercial purposes. Waiting for a judge to be assigned to the suit, according to public records at last check on Friday. Local experts say they are, however, typically for more focused projects, like ditch cleaning, small drainage projects, water line maintenance, asphalt overlays those with set costs and typically make changes in the thousands of dollars, not millions. Lawsuit:Despite judges ruling, LCG uses identical quick take to seize land for detention pond. I asked. Cedars has been serving as the interim parish president since former President Guy. St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said Thursday his government is aiming to have LCG restore the spoil banks as an immediate remedy and said it may seek other remedies as the case. St. Martin Parish School Board Breaux Bridge, LA 2 weeks ago Be among the first 25 applicants See who St. Martin Parish School Board has hired for this role Tel: 337.342.2993 St. Martin Hospital (SMH), located at 210 Champagne Blvd. in Breaux Bridge, will host a groundbreaking ceremony today, Tuesday, July 30 at 11:00 a.m. to celebrate the start of an $11.2 million expansion and renovation project. The spoil banks removal is the latest in a series of fast-paced measures taken by Mayor-President Josh Guillory's administration to address drainage in Lafayette. Tel: 337.409.9518, February 18, 2022 - Special Board Meeting, September 7, 2022 - Regular Board Meeting, September 1, 2021 - Regular Board Meeting, September 2, 2020 - Regular Board Meeting, December 10, 2020 - Special Board Meeting, September 4, 2019 - Regular Board Meeting, February 22, 2018 - Special Board Meeting, September 5, 2018 - Regular Board Meeting, September 6, 2018 - Special Board Meeting, September 11, 2018 - Special Board Meeting, December 19, 2018 - Special Board Meeting, September 6, 2017 - Regular Board Meeting, November 18, 2017 - Special Board Meeting, December 19, 2017 - Special Board Meeting, September 7, 2016 - Regular Board Meeting, November 16, 2016 - Special Board Meeting, February 19, 2015 - Special Board Meeting, September 2, 2015 - Regular Board Meeting, February 19, 2014 - Special Board Meeting, September 3, 2014 - Regular Board Meeting, September 10, 2014 - Special Board Meeting, September 04, 2013 - Regular Board Meeting, September 25, 2013 - Special Board Meeting, November 20, 2013 - Special Board Meeting, February 01, 2012 - Regular Board Meeting, February 08, 2012 - Special Board Meeting, February 29, 2012 - Special Board Meeting, September 05, 2012 - Regular Board Meeting, November 07, 2012 - Regular Board Meeting, December 05, 2012 - Regular Board Meeting, December 19, 2012 - Special Board Meeting, February 02, 2011 - Regular Board Meeting, February 23, 2011 - Special Board Meeting, September 7, 2011 - Regular Board Meeting, September 21, 2011 - Special Board Meeting, December 21, 2011 - Special Board Meeting, February 03, 2010 - Regular Board Meeting, February 24, 2010 - Special Board Meeting, September 1, 2010 - Regular Board Meeting, September 15, 2010 - Special Board Meeting, February 4, 2009 - Finance Committee Meeting, February 18, 2009 - Special Board Meeting, April 22, 2009 - Finance Committee Meeting, September 02, 2009 - Regular Board Meeting, September 16, 2009 - Special Board Meeting, November 04, 2009 - Regular Board Meeting, December 02, 2009 - Regular Board Meeting, February 13, 2008 - Regular Board Meeting, February 20, 2008 - Special Board Meeting, June 18, 2008 - Finance Committee Meeting, August 13, 2008 - Finance Committee Meeting, September 10, 2008 - Regular Board Meeting, September 24, 2008 - Special Board Meeting, October 29, 2008 - Finance Committee Meeting, November 05, 2008 - Regular Board Meeting, November 19, 2008 - Finance Committee Meeting, December 03, 2008 - Regular Board Meeting, December 17, 2008 - Special Board Meeting, St. Martin Parish SchoolBoard Office This Tuesday (March 7th) is ACT Testing Day on our high school campuses. He also addressed rumors that some landowners might try to block Rookery Road around the lake. Tel: 318.906.0582, District V Aside from the limestone used for a parking lot at the lake, which is viewed as an extension of Rookery Road, the parish cannot use resources to repair or expand improvements on private property. LCGs drainage program is itself unusually massive in scope and speed. Rather, our communitys own behavior will account for any sort of lockdown,' wrote Cedars. In February it was chosen over The Lemoine Company to negotiate pricing with LCG on the $60 million Homewood Detention Ponds project, the largest drainage undertaking in the parishs history. It is also my understanding that the USCOE recommended removing the spoil banks, back in 1994?, after the 1993 flood. You have to go out and re-bid it, says former Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera. The Louisiana attorney general has opined that any additional public work outside of the scope of the existing contract should be negotiated or let out for public bid rather than by change order to the existing contract.. 337-909-2990, REPORT CHILD ABUSE: 1-855-4LA-KIDS (1-855-452-5437) St Martin Parish Government Location 301 W Port St, Saint Martinville, Louisiana, 70582, United States Description Industry Government I dont see anything else MP Guillory could have done more reasonable to finally get something accomplished to protect the interest of Lafayette residents at risk of flooding, due to changes in the landscape, beyond their control. Im not frustrated as much as Im appalled, Cedars said. The parish seat is Saint Martinville. 1.2k. Apply for the Job in Project Coordinator at Saint Martinville, LA. Just $4,800 was spent on tree clearing and $260,000 on excavation and fill. Rigid billed $1.9 million for expedited mobilization, a sum that, according to the original contracts terms, should have been included in the contract pricing. (BRPROUD) - St. Martin Parish President Chester R. Cedars wrote a message addressing the community on the "stark reality" of this fourth surge of COVID-19. Edna M. Johnson View the job description, responsibilities and qualifications for this position. Whether the amended contract was awarded illegally hinges on if the work on the spoil banks falls within the scope of the original contract. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Tel: 337.441.0229, District III Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. The problem a challenging bidder is going to have in a damages claim, which LCG may have assumed when they structured the contract this way, is that theres a lot of case law from various appellate courts and the Louisiana Supreme Court requiring a losing bidder in a damages claim to show good cause on why they did not seek injunctive relief to stop the work before making a claim for damages, Vicknair continues, so the question really is could they have known within the very short period of time from when that change order was publicly recorded until the work was performed to file for injunctive relief?. St. Martinville, LA 70582 . "I have memories growing up, we'd drink out of the hose outside, could never do that anymore, and neither can our kids," 52-year-old Boudreaux says. This might be a risk-free endeavor for Lafayette Parish, but it is not a risk-free endeavor for St. Martin Parish, Cedars said. 1059 Sonny Dr. ST. MARTINVILLE St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said that efforts to negotiate a deal with landowners to allow public access to a. St. Martin Sheriff's Office 400 St. Martin Street, St. Martinville (337) 394-2532 Approved by: St. Martin Parish Government Planning & Zoning Coordinator License issued by: St. Martin Sheriff's Office Parish Zoning Ordinance Click below to access the Zoning Ordinance for St. Martin Parish in its entirety. The St. Martin Parish facility will employ 976 direct employees with an annual salary of $38,000, plus benefits, and will result in 793 new indirect jobs. St. Martin Parish Federal Programs & Technology Annex 625 Corporate Boulevard, Breaux Bridge, LA 70517 337.332.3388. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. When asked if the project would harm residents of St. Martin Parish, Guillory said, We surely wouldnt bless off on a project that would hurt anybody, but the science is clear. My office and the St. Martin Parish Council recognize that business is the bulwark of our local economy, and we stand ready and willing to assist you in your ventures. And if LCG intended the arrangement to avoid bid law, thats a problem, experts say. Corps of Engineers, LCG quietly purchased an undivided interest in a 41-acre tract from both the Guilliot family and Blanchet Land Company for $42,000 each (leaving a third owner out of the transaction), and it had to be only hours before Rigid was working the site (the sale was not recorded with the St. Martin Parish Clerk of Court until March 9). The Corps of Engineers in New Orleans said through a spokesperson that it opened an investigation into the spoil banks' removal. Employee Application for Summer Learning 2021, St. Martin Parish Head Start Academy Program, St. Martin Parish Early Head Start & Head Start Academy Program, St Martin Parish Type III Child Care Centers, School Based-Health Centers and School Nurse Program, St Martin Parish Virtual Learning Program, Virtual Learning Family Technology Survey, Cameras in SPED Self-Contained Classrooms - St. Martin Adopted Policy, SMPSB 2022-23 Ready to Achieve: School Reopening Plan, Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Behavioral Health Services for Students (Act 696), Parental Access to Instructional Materials (Revised Statue 17:355). St. Martin Parish has made a commitment to develop and maintain this medium so that the residents of our great parish can have full, open, and up-to-date access to the affairs of Parish Government. If LCG was to successfully pull off its plan to go into the Cypress Island Swamp area without St. Martins knowledge or cooperation, it needed to move quickly and quietly. Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory said a spoil bank removal project on the Vermilion River that prompted harsh criticism by St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars and will likely lead to This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. One for the removal of the spoil banks in Lafayette Parish and the other for the spoil banks in St. Martin Parish, according to Cedars' reports. Andre Redditt, 27, was charged with second-degree murder and obstruction of justice, the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office said in a press release. Vital "Not . Of course, I fully recognize that my remarks will ignite a flurry of criticism and comments. In all, the as-needed contracts value alone has ballooned to approximately $5.2 million in a few short months. I did not get a formal response, Cedars said. The St. Martin Parish Council is the legislative and policy making body of the Parish. After St. Martin Parish government held a special meeting Tuesday, Guillory said its come to his attention that the St. Martin Parish Council has given authorization to take legal action. Rather, it seems we are more interested in protecting and advocating our individual ideologue rather than adhering to the advice of medical science and thus protecting our fellow citizens, our businesses, our employers/employees, our healthcare system, and our children.. St. Martin Parish's objection the spoil bank removal could cause legal trouble for LCG, as Lafayette's local government did not get a necessary permit to remove the spoil banks from St. Martin Parish, according to Cedars. The spoil banks, left behind from the last time the Vermilion River was dredged decades ago, run along the rivers southern bank around the swamp in St. Martin Parish, just east of the border with Lafayette Parish. Normal processes for getting the project done would not have made that possible. Over in Arnaudville, Paul Boudreaux shares his issues with United Water System, a service he's been a customer of since 2019 when he moved back home. St Martin parish, is the unreasonable neighbor here, not MP Guillory. And the peculiar vehicle for awarding such a large contract, in effect side-stepping the transparency and cost controls required of public contracting, may itself have violated public bid law, according to interviews with a dozen contractors, engineers, lawyers and former LCG employees.