St. Martinville City Council crams full meeting into 12 minutes

Published 10:00 am Wednesday, June 17, 2020

ST. MARTINVILLE — The St. Martinville City Council managed to cram a full council meeting into 12 minutes Monday night.

Mayor Pro Tem Craig Prosper ran the meeting after Mayor Melinda Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Only two of the other four council members — District 1 Councilman Mike Fuselier and District 3 Councilman Dennis Paul Williams — were present.

The council passed a resolution to move the council’s July 6 meeting forward so the administration can complete and adopt the city’s annual budget before the state’s June 30 deadline.

The city operates on a fiscal year that runs from July 1 to June 30. The city is already facing a finding in its audit for the 2019-2020 fiscal year for missing its audit deadline this year.

The July 6 meeting is now rescheduled to June 29 at 6 p.m., with a public hearing on the budget at 4:30 p.m.

The council tabled a discussion of power transmission lines at Evangeline Mobile Home Park. The problems at the park stem from permits issued that allowed mobile homes to be moved into easements and block rights-of-way. For the last two years, owner Mark Brignac and council members have been at an impasse over how to resolve the issue — and more specifically, who will pay to fix the problems.

In other business, the council:

Approved the sale of a parcel of city property to Peppers Unlimited.

Opened sealed bids for adjudicated property, approving the sale of four pieces and sending another which received no bids back for another round of bidding.

Granted Mitchell authority to sign and approve documents for a Community Development Block Grant to rebuild 68 manholes, lift stations and other infrastructure as part of a sewer systems improvements project.

Adjusted pay for Police Officer Brock Prejean, who completed his POST training.

Approved renting the apartment behind Maison Duchamp as an air B and B.

Approved rehiring city janitorial personnel.

Passed an ordinance stating that the city is not legally culpable for any litigation regarding its third party vendor garbage disposal program.

Dwayne Fatherree is the community editor for The Daily Iberian. He can be reached at dwayne.fatherree@daily-iberian.com.