Parks project on hold after aldremen vote

Published 8:30 am Wednesday, November 16, 2022

A motion to expand the agenda in order to advertise for bids for park improvements in Jeanerette was shut down at Monday’s Board of Aldermen meeting when board member Ray Duplechain voted against the measure.

Expanding the agenda at a municipal meeting requires a unanimous vote, which was denied by Duplechain voting in the negative.

“This can’t be done at another meeting?” Duplechain asked.

“No, there’s a deadline we have to meet,” Mayor Carol Bourgeois Jr. responded.

Members of Iberia Parks and Recreation announced the grant to Jeanerette parks in September, which are slated to go toward King Joseph Recreation Center and Jeanerette City Park. The $400,000 state grant for the park system, will be split evenly between the two parks, and will include new pavilions and a sidewalk for King Joseph as well as exercise equipment.

Duplechain said Tuesday that his nay vote was not cast on the merits of the parks project, which he supports, but as more of a procedural issue.

For Jeanerette City Park, a new walking track has been discussed as well as other items that were still in deliberation in September.

After a suggestion to call a special meeting sometime in the near future, it was agreed that the board would likely be meeting again in order to approve the bidding process. City Engineer Gene Sellars said the deadline to advertise for bids falls two days after the Dec. 12 board meeting, which means the city would have to hold a special meeting specifically to pass the measure.

Bourgeois said Tuesday morning that the failure to pass the measure could put the entire park grant into jeopardy.

“We’ve been working really hard on this for six months,” the mayor said. “Not only us, John Boudreaux and Leroy Jones with Parks and Recreation.”

Bourgeois said he is attempting to hold a special meeting sometime in the near future in order to pass the necessary resolution.

Duplechain was recently appointed as board member for Jeanerette following the departure of Louis Lancon in August.