Councilmen visit 'hog farm' and neighbors in dispute

A dispute between neighbors in far west St. Mary that was the center of a discussion at the last meeting of the St. Mary Parish and was deferred was again a topic Wednesday.
Council Vice-Chairman Kevin Voisin first read into the record a statement by Council Chairman Gabriel Beadle, who was unable to attend the meeting.
In the statement, Beadle said he met with the owner of a residential lot on Bayou Teche and operates a hog farm on the premises, to which his neighbor objects.
“I discussed the history of the issue as well as all the permits given to the owner from (the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Health and Hospitals and the Army of Engineers),” Beadle wrote. “The property owner was very forthcoming with information and permits.”
Beadle noted that he would obtain copies of the documents to present to the parish council. He went on, “The property owner was encouraged by the due diligence of the council and the chairman but is eager to get this issue cleared.”
He stressed that he wants to make sure all available evidence is in hand and presented to the council.
The neighbors are Andy and Peggy Aucoin, and the property owner is Jared Landry.
Other councilmembers chimed in.
Patrick Hebert said he wanted to also find out more information. He met with Landry and “I was very impressed. The place was well-taken care of…he has 40 pigs. When I say immaculate, this place is first class. I walked all around his property, he showed me where he has his sprinkler system set up on the opposite side of the neighbor.”
Hebert said he was confused by the neighbor’s complains, saying he only saw “clear water coming out of the treatment plant” which he was required to construct.
He added that the family shows the animals in many places and have received “hundreds” of awards.
“I had no smell of any kind of odor,” Hebert said. “I could easily see how every battle that the neighbor went against him on, he’s won. I would have no problem with that man living next door.”
Councilman Glen Hidalgo also met with Landry. “I also saw the awards and how much those kids enjoy it,” he said. “When you here both sides of the story it makes a big difference. Once we see all the records from DEQ and everybody else, if there’s no issues, I can’t see what would be a problem. I did go out there about a month ago and you could smell it but there wasn’t any flies.”
Councilman Dale Rogers said he also investigated the situation. He said he spoke to the administration and the engineer who assisted Landry in the constructions. “I knew this was a no brainer,” he said. “There was nothing that this guy did that was illegal and it was above board, and he had all the permits in place.”
“As a public body and local government this council has an obligation to our citizenry when people have concerns,” Councilman Craig Mathews said. “As this family certainly expressed.”
He said fact-finding is also an obligation on the part of the parish. “I’ve visited several times,” Mathews said. “I found in my visit some of the arguments that Mr. Aucoin and his family have made to be valid, and I found Mr. Landry, some of his arguments to be valid, because he has certainly utilized the processes that parish government has put in place, he worked his way through that process as I’m assuming he was instructed.”
He added that ascertaining all the facts is necessary to “help raise some kind of resolve to true fairness…and fine potential solutions that could help prevent these types of miscommunications. I don’t want us as elected officials to take sides…our job as leaders is to help them reach a mutual resolution.”