Parish Council will look at drainage district expansion, change in leadership rules

A controversial ordinance expanding the drainage district serving Morgan City and Amelia is back on the St. Mary Parish Council agenda for its first meeting of 2022. Two public hearings will precede the regular meeting, including one on a proposed charter amendment that would open the council leadership to any of the 11 members.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Parish Courthouse in Franklin. The two public hearings are set for 5:45 p.m. and 5:50 pm.
A 2020 consolidation merged the drainage districts serving Morgan City and Amelia into Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2A. An ordinance proposed by Councilman Patrick Hebert would expand the district to include Avoca Island and Bateman Island, more notable for commercial property holdings and swampy land than for residential development.
At the Dec. 17 council meeting, Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna said it would be “absurd” to tax swampland for drainage. Hebert said the two islands are in other special-purpose districts and that taxing that property would lead to a lower property tax rate for people who live in the district’s current boundaries.
If the proposal is introduced, it would be the subject of a public hearing and a passage vote at least 20 days after introduction.
An accompanying resolution proposed by Hebert would express the council’s intention to expand the district. Voter approval of the expansion would be required if the amendment passes.
Also Thursday, the 5:50 p.m. public hearing will offer a chance to comment on a proposed charter amendment by Councilman Craig Mathews, which if passed by the council and voters would allow any member of the Parish Council to be chairman or vice chairman.
The council is composed of 11 members, eight elected from geographic districts and three elected at large by voters parishwide. The charter limits the chairmanship, currently held by Dean Adams of Morgan City, and vice chairmanship, held now by Gwendolyn Hidalgo of Bayou Vista, to members elected at large.
Matthews, of Jeanerette, and Councilman J Ina of Franklin have spoken against limiting the leadership to at-large members.
Also on Wednesday’s agenda:
—A 5:45 p.m. public hearing, that will be followed at the regular meeting by passage votes on ordinances that authorize Parish President David Hanagriff to execute an agreement with the St. Mary Parish Levee District for a drainage servitude in connection with the Yokely Levee project; remove stop signs from Jupiter Street at the Jupiter-Columbus intersection in Bayou Vista; establish a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Saturn Road and Universe Road and establish stop signs only on Saturn Road at its intersection with Universe Street, also in Bayou Vista; establishing a three-way stop at Barrow and Tommie streets in Amelia; and establishing a three-way stop sign at the intersection of Barrow and Arnold streets in Amelia.
Hidalgo also hopes to introduce an ordinance that would prevent an ordinance from coming back before the council for at least 120 days after the ordinance fails.