Handling of burglary questioned; Patterson council wants to hear from DA

PATTERSON — The Patterson City Council wants to ask the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office if it’s refusing to accept criminal cases developed by the Police Department.
The council asked City Attorney Russel Cremaldi to write a letter to District Attorney Bo Duhe after a resident said there has been little action on the burglary of her home in 2019.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted to accept a bid for more than $600,000 of improvements on 12 city streets. And it took the first step toward setting city property tax rates for 2021.
The decision to communicate with the DA’s Office came in response to comments by Red Cypress Road resident Carrie Kunschner, who said her home was burglarized in November 2019. The items stolen were worth more than $15,000.
The Patterson Police Department developed a suspect, and some of the stolen items turned up in area pawn shops. But Kunscher said she’s been unable to find out from the DA’s Office what is happening with the 17-month-old case.
Police Chief Garrett Grogan said the suspect made an admission about involvement in the burglary while in the custody of another agency. But the suspect hadn’t been advised of his rights, so the statement couldn’t be used against him.
At least two other residents who were victims of crime accompanied Kunschner to the meeting, and one of them spoke to the council about a similar experience.
“I’ve seen the brick wall in front of the Patterson Police Department,”Kunschner said.
“If the district attorney is reluctant to pursue crime in Patterson, we need to find out why,” Cremaldi said.
Also Tuesday:
—The council voted to accept Barriere Construction Co.’s bid of $608,777 for improvements on the 12 city streets. Barriere, based in Metairie, submitted the lowest bid, said consulting engineer Melanie Caillouet of Providence Engineering.
The streets set for improvement are J, K, L, M, N, O, Lawrence, Kemper, Rosario, Guyther, Live Oak and Railroad.
The project will be financed with $800,000 from the Louisiana Community Development Block Grant program, which directs federal funding toward low- and moderate-income areas. The bid must now be approved by CDBG officials.
Caillouet said she’s trying to find out if the leftover CDBG money can be used for other work in Patterson.
Barriere is also nearing completion on another set of street improvements, this one funded with revenue sharing proceeds from a St. Mary Parish government bond issue. Those streets were Hurst, Church, Wave-land, Pietro, Veterans, Hickory and Carmen.
—The council introduced ordinances setting city property tax rates for 2021. One ordinance keeps the current rate of 8.30 mills for general city operations. The second would keep the 14.0-mill rate for waterworks improvements.
If the ordinances follow the normal course, they’ll come up for a public hearing and passage votes at the April 6 council meeting.
The waterworks levy started out at 16 mills but has been reduced as the city repays the $5 million that financed its new water plant.
The plant is now producing 1.2 million gallons a day, Mayor Rodney Grogan said, and pressure was maintained during the recent hard freeze. Patterson residents weren’t asked to boil water before drinking or cooking because of interrupted service.
—The council also introduced an ordinance creating the Patterson Municipal Cemetery on three tracts on Williams Street in the area near Gary, Oddfellows, Gooch and Hickory streets.
—Another ordinance introduced Tuesday would set a minimum width of 20 feet for the pole portion of “flag pole” lots.
Those lots would be cut off from access to a street without a thin strip of land, which resembles a flag pole on maps, across another lot.
—The council decided not to approve a small mobile home park at 1130 Lia St., at least for now.
A potential buyer for the property sought the approval. Councilwoman Sandra K. Turner said the request was premature.