Levee district future? First, redistribute $$$

After the failure at the polls in November of a 5-mil tax that would have led to the creation of a new levee system, Iberia Levee, Hurricane and Conservation District members must find ways to do more with less if they want to continue their mission. 

The board met Thursday night in a regular meeting to discuss the future and how the district would operate.

“It’s all been happening over the past two or three meetings,” former Board Director Ray Fremin said. “The idea was to take whatever funding we have left and redistribute it back to the funding agencies.”

Those agencies included Iberia Parish Government and the board, Fremin said. Over the years, contributions were made to keep the district alive in order to eventually have enough for a push to create a tax. 

“For a couple of years before I came on board, they accumulated enough money to hire somebody, but then the idea was that that would move us to the ballot so we can educate the people and tell them what’s going on,” Fremin said. “At the same time we got capital outlay to develop the plan that was developed, and we had a good plan.”

But after the results in November, when Iberia Parish residents turned down the levee tax with 73 percent voting against, the district decided to return funds to the funding sources. 

It was an overwhelming vote, but some board members continue to be disappointed in the decision. Vice-Chairman Jimmy Landry said the tax could have raised economic development by getting some properties out of flood zones, in addition to actually preventing floods. 

“They turned it down in November, and that means that there’s no funding at this point to move forward,” Fremin said. “We were going to depend on that to fund the day-to-day operations and to use it for matching dollars to start the build up.”

The district had enough to keep Fremin employed as director until the middle of the year, but Fremin said a mutual decision was made for him to step down. Feb. 15 was his last day as director. 

An accounting firm has been hired to get a full account of the district’s finances, and once the money is accounted for, Fremin said those funds will be redistributed.

“The reality is that Iberia Parish needs protection,” Fremin said. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about that. How are you going to pay for that protection? It has to be some kind of way the board hopes to come up with, whether it’s new ideas or resurrecting old ideas.” 

With little on the agenda Thursday night, the board received an update that arrangements have been made with Iberia Parish Government to operate out of the current offices in the Courthouse Annex. Files for the district and office equipment will be able to be stored and used in the space, Fremin said. 

Fremin said there resignations from the board are forthcoming. Former member Pat Broussard recently resigned from the board, and another resignation was expected. 

“Most of the ones who are planning to resign are waiting so we can finalize the financials,” Fremin said.