Parish Council: St. Mary government follows state lead on masks

FRANKLIN — St. Mary Parish government is following the governor’s lead and rolling back many, but not all, aspects of the statewide mask mandate.
Parish President David Hanagriff made the announcement at Wednesday’s Parish Council meeting.
Also Wednesday, the council passed resolutions calling for a property tax election for the Patterson-area recreation district and an election for a new 6th Ward city marshal, and heard that the administration is looking at the franchise fee paid by a cable TV provider in unincorporated areas of the parish.
The council also approved a list of rezoning and subdivision requests, including one that could make possible a food truck in Franklin.
The next Parish Council meeting has been moved up a day, to May 11, to accommodate required state ethics training for local officials.
Masks
Hanagriff said the blanket mask mandate will no long apply in St. Mary, although individual offices in the Parish Courthouse will decide individually whether to require masks.
So will private business and industry, Hanagriff said.
Although much of the mandate has been lifted, masks are still required by Gov. John Bel Edwards’ proclamation in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and state-licensed health care centers. A federal mandate continues to require masks on public transit.
The Centers for Disease Control announced new guidance on mask-wearing this week. People are always safe without masks outdoors if they’re alone with members of their immediate households. And fully vaccinated people can gather without masks in small groups.
“Everyone needs to use common sense …,” Hanagriff said. “If you choose not to [wear masks], do it responsibly.”
Elections
The council approved the resolution setting an Oct. 9 property tax election for Recreation District No. 4, based in Patterson and covering the area from Cotten Road to the Wax Lake Outlet.
In the past, the tax has supported youth sports programs and operation of the Patterson Area Civic Center, among other items. But voters have twice voted down renewals, and the tax hasn't been collected for two years.
The proposition asks whether district voters want to pay a 2.24-mill property tax for 10 years “for the purpose of maintaining, operating and improving recreational facilities. …” The tax is expected to raise $128,000 a year.
A mill is 1/10th cent of tax applied to each $1 of a property’s assessed valuation. The assessed valuation of residential property is set at 10% of the property’s market value.
Louisiana’s homestead exemption would protect the first 75% of a primary home's market value from the tax.
The council also called an Oct. 9 election to name a permanent successor to Robert Darce, who resigned recently from the 6th Ward city marshal post.
Darce qualified for the Morgan City-area post without opposition last fall. While the job is often referred to as the Morgan City marshal for the Morgan City Court, the job’s jurisdiction is actually the 6th Ward, which is a little larger than the Morgan City limits. That makes the Parish Council the body that must authorize elections.
If a runoff is necessary, it would be Nov. 13.
Rezoning
Among a long list of Planning & Zoning Commission recommendations accepted by the council Wednesday was one from Johnny Chauvin, Iberia Street, Franklin, seeking rezoning of two parcels from single family residential to neighborhood commercial “to allow for a food truck.”
A final rezoning will require passage of an ordinance.
Franchise fee
The parish government’s franchise fee agreement with Allens Communication for providing cable TV service in unincorporated areas near Amelia and Berwick is near the end of its 20-year life.
The company currently pays a fee of 3% of the money it makes for providing basic service. A 2014 change in the law governing such agreements allows governments to collect a fee of up to 5% of revenue from all cable service and any locally inserted advertising.
Chief Administrative Officer Henry C. “Bo” LaGrange said the staff will come back to the council with a proposal for renewing the franchise fee agreement.
The fee curremntly raises only about $330 a year, LaGrange said Thursday.