Parish Council moving to fix map error

An ordinance that would fix a glitch in the St. Mary Parish Council’s new district maps has been prepared by the parish government. But instituting the fix is likely to take at least a month.

Councilman Dean Adams of Morgan City asked to see the new maps before the council considers them.

The council heard about the ordinance at its record meeting Oct. 11 at the Parish Courthouse in Franklin. Also at the meeting, council members passed resolutions outlining what they hope to receive in the next state capital outlay budget.

The maps for the 11 council districts were redrawn based on the 2020 Census. The council hired the South Central Regional Planning and Development Commission staff to develop maps.

The problem addressed last week involved the three at-large districts — Districts 9, 10 and 11 — from which council members are elected by a parishwide vote. The parish charter also limits the chair and vice chair posts to members elected from at-large districts.

Council members said they voted for the ordinance enacting the new maps based on assurances from South Central that the three at-large districts would not change.

But the map of the new at-large districts contained some minor changes, including one that had a not so minor impact on Saturday’s elections.

Former Councilman Peter Soprano of Franklin qualified Aug. 8 to run in District 10, now represented by Council Chair Gwendolyn Hidalgo of Bayou Vista. But he learned the same day that the new maps no longer place his home in that district, so he changed his qualification to District 3, one of the eight traditional geographic districts.

There, he was pitted against incumbent Rodney Olander and Whitney Bourque, both of Franklin.

Soprano told the council that he found the situation “ridiculous.”

At the Oct. 11 meeting, South Central Planner Josh Manning took the blame for the error.

He said the inadvertent change resulted from his attempt to recreate digital “shapefiles” of the districts that are used in computer mapping programs. He did not have access to existing shapefiles that had been used to create maps in the past.

“It was entirely my fault,” Manning said.

South Central CEO Kevin Belanger had also apologized to the council at the Sept. 27 meeting.

Adams asked Manning whether corrected maps would be available for council members to look at before they vote on a new mapping ordinance. Manning said yes.

The ordinance could be introduced as early as the next council meeting Oct. 25. The parish charter requires 20 days to elapse between introduction and a passing vote.

Also at the Oct. 11 meeting, the council passed 23 resolutions requesting funding for parish projects under the 2024-25 state Capital Funding Act.

The projects for which the parish seeks funding are:

—Construction of a welding training facility at the Charenton Canal Industrial Park.

—Reconstruction of Martin Luther King Street in Charenton from La. 326 to Creek Drive.

—Installation of emergency power improvements at the Parish Courthouse.

—A new fire station for Fire Protection District 11 in the Four Corners area.

—A new roof for Fairview Treatment Center in Bayou Vista.

—Facility and infrastructure improvements at Kemper Williams Park near Patterson.

—Asphalt overlay and reconstruction of Lake Palourde Road between La. 182 to Lakeview Drive in Amelia.

—A walking-bike path along Duhon Boulevard from Cypress Street to Barrow Street.

—Emergency power and facility improvements at the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness warehouse.

—Emergency power systems for drainage pumps in the Amelia area.

—Improvements and upgrades in the jail elevator at the Parish Courthouse.

—Subsurface drainage installation in the Jupiter Street Outfall Ditch Extension in Bayou Vista.

—Asphalt overlay and reconstruction of Deslignes Road from Allain Road to Chitimacha Trail Road.

—Replace roofing at the St. Mary Parish Courthouse.

—Expansion and improvements at the St. Mary Law Enforcement Center.

—Asphalt overlay and reconstruction of Victoria-Riverside Road.

—Reconstruction of Charenton Beach Road from La. 87 to the West Atchafalaya Protection Levee.

—Reconstruction of Silo Road at Kemper Williams Park.

—Asphalt overlay and reconstruction of Duhon Boulevard and Lakeview Drive in Amelia from La. 182 to Lake Palourde Road.

—Stripper pump replacement a new outfall pipe Wax Lake East Pump Station.

—Concrete paving of Gibby Road 3,700 feet from La. 182.

—Canopies and covers at four St. Mary parks.

—Improvements and construction at the West St. Mary Civic Center.