Parish president eases dispute between St. Martin boards

BELLE RIVER — What started out Thursday as a confrontation over a Stephensville sewer pipe, complete with allegations of harassment, mystery letters and accusations of a broken agreement, ended with the two sides smoking the peace pipe.
St. Mary Parish President Chester Cedars was the peacemaker who secured pledges from the St. Martin Recreation District No. 1 board, which met Thursday at Belle River Park, and St. Martin Water & Sewer Commission 1 to meet to work out their differences.
At issue is a proposed sewer line extension across a piece of property where the Recreation District is building a parking lot to serve the Stephensville park.
The district was formed in 1999 and by all accounts has done good work in building parks in Stephensville and Belle River. The district used property taxes and grants to perform the work, and in the case of Stephensville, benefitted from a land sale and a land donation from Larry J. Doiron, president of Bayou Estate Development Inc.
The Water & Sewer Commission, represented Thursday by attorney Nicholas LaRocca, maintains that part of the deal was the Recreation District agreement to extend the sewer line across the parking lot property to an adjacent undeveloped tract owned by Doiron.
The Recreation District board says it has no record of the agreement. A cash deed from a 2004 purchase and a resolution accepting a donation of land make no mention of the sewer line.
LaRocca told the Recreation District board that the Sewer & Water Commission position is that people representing the Recreation District board, including Chairwoman Charlotte Ratcliff, agreed to the sewer line extension.
LaRocca said later that he believes the the agreement required construction of the sewer line extension as a condition of the park hookup to the sewer system.Recreation District board members responded that such an agreement would require the agreement of the board and not a single member.
Other issues complicated the conflict. Some of the Recreation District board members said they were summoned to a Water & Sewer Comm-ission board meeting with letters delivered by sheriff’s deputies.
“I honestly feel like we’ve been harassed,” said Recreation District board member Donna Vorenkamp.
LaRocca answered that the letters he has sent to the board went through the U.S. mail.
LaRocca also made an extensive public records request for minutes and financial documents going back years. The district didn’t fully comply. There was confusion over whether some of the records requested by LaRocca are in the possession of the Recreation District or the parish government.
“I want to get all the facts so we don’t get into a he said, she said,” LaRocca said.
Near the end of the meeting, the parish president had his chance to speak.
“I kind of feel like a parent with two kids who are fighting …,” Cedars said.
“Let’s be honest. I think there’s some distrust. Distrust usually happens when there’s no communication.”
Cedars said he believes there’s a way to solve the problem without putting too large a burden on either side.
“This can be worked out,” Cedars said. “But let’s be honest. We have to get past this distrust thing.”
Despite the tension between the two sides, they paused during the meeting to express respect and even praise toward each other.
“The last thing we want to do is disrupt services to the citizens, to the children,” LaRocca said.