Council names new board for consolidated drainage district

The new Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 2A, which will serve Morgan City and Amelia, has its first board. But Wednesday’s St. Mary Parish Council meeting made clear that there are still details to be worked out.
On a motion by Councilman James Bennett of Morgan City, the council appointed Leroy Trim, Larry Aucoin, Charlie Solar Jr., Dr. Tim Tregle and Hanko Hoffpauir to the board of the newly consolidated district. The council had created the new district by combining the existing District 2 in Morgan City and District 6 in Amelia.
Bennett’s motion touched off a round of debate over the rules of order. Councilwoman Gwendolyn Hidalgo moved to amend Bennett’s motion by appointing Glenn Swain in place of Tregle. Councilwoman Kristi Prejeant Rink moved to amend the amendment.
In the end, the council voted for Bennett’s original slate of board members with Hidalgo and Rink voting no.
Lee Dragna, who has led the existing Drainage District 2 in Morgan City for more than seven years, had a tougher question. Under his reading of the ordinance consolidating the two districts, the existing district board loses its control over district finances on Thursday, the day after the meeting.
Parish President David Hanagriff assured Dragna that the existing board can stay on the job until the new consolidated district’s board is up and running.
The council also heard the introduction of an amendment to the consolidation ordinance to clean up the language concerning debt service for bonds issued by District and existing contracts issued by either of the existing districts.
The amendment touched off another short debate. Councilman Scott Ramsey noted that the amendment wasn’t on the agenda and objected to the procedure. But the amendment was introduced after officials said such amendments are allowed if they’re available in written form before the meeting.
The amendment won’t take effect until after council members take a formal vote on it.
The consolidation of the two districts is part of an attempt to streamline a patchwork of taxing districts across the parish.
Also Wednesday:
—Hanagriff relayed information from Coroner Eric Melancon indicating that the number of COVID-19 deaths in the parish has risen to 30. The current Louisiana Office of Public Health data put the number at 29, but deaths reported locally have sometimes taken days to be reported by the state.
—Councilman Craig Mathews used the comment time to say he is “appalled” by the death of George Floyd, an African American Minneapolis resident suspected of forgery. He died after cellphone video appeared to show a police officer holding Floyd down with a knee on his throat. The officer was later fired.
“At one time money used to separate us, the haves and the have nots,” Mathews said. “Now, it’s black and white.”