Oyster plant issues return; sales tax endorsed

Franklin City Council held its monthly meeting on Tuesday in the midst of a brief blackout from Tropical Storm Cindy..
Resident Darryl Bennett approached the council in regards to the waste from AmeriPure Processing Company, an oyster processing plant, he says is affecting his property.
“We’re having so much trouble as homeowners,” Bennett said. “We can’t keep living under the conditions that we’re living in.”
According to Bennett, waste from the plant washed up in his yard after the most recent flood. The odor the waste emitted lingered for two weeks and attracted pests.
Mayor Raymond Harris said that he spoke to AmeriPure in the past and discussed ways to prevent excess waste from seeping into private properties. Although the plant followed Harris’s suggestions, it resumed usual operation one year later.
City Attorney Russell Cremaldi told Bennett that while AmeriPure may not be breaching environmental laws, it is nonetheless causing a nuisance. As such, Bennett “would surely have standing in court to bring a lawsuit” if he wishes to pursue one.
“If it truly is bad enough to keep the neighbor from being able to reasonably enjoy his own property, then they have the right to go to court,” Cremaldi said.
In other business, St. Mary Parish Council member Dale Rogers of District 3 was next to approach the city council. He discussed the needs for road improvements in the west end of the parish.
According to Rogers, the parish council placed a ballot item in 2015 that would raise taxes in order to fund road improvements throughout the parish. The bill was defeated by voters.
“I voted for this tax increase, this renewal, because I knew how important road improvements are to our communities,” Rogers said. “Here we are today, two years later, with the same road conditions in the City of Franklin, the (town) of Baldwin and the unincorporated parts of the west end of the parish.”
Rogers proposed adopting an ordinance to put before voters that would “create a road sales tax district that only pertains to the west end of St. Mary Parish.” The revenues would be dedicated only to road improvements, and it would be split between Franklin, Baldwin and west St. Mary communities.
Rogers acknowledged that there may be opposition against a tax increase.
“The argument for not increasing taxes is that it will stifle businesses from moving into our area,” he said. “My answer to that argument (is that) they’re not coming here. We have tried that concept for many years (and) it does not work.”
“Taxes don’t scare businesses away. Bad politics scares businesses away,” said Rev. Craig Mathews of District 1, who was also present. “And that’s one of the serious challenges we’ve had in St. Mary Parish for far too long.”
The council approved a resolution of support for the tax as an expanded agenda item.
Also Tuesday, Franklin Police Chief Sabria McGuire approached the council in regards to the increase of juvenile delinquency during summer break. The issue was brought up by Mayor-protempore Lester Levine who noticed more unaccompanied minors wandering around town during curfew hours.
“We have a rash of (car burglaries), people whose sheds behind their houses are being broken into,” McGuire said.
According to McGuire, the Franklin Police Department is making an effort to educate parents on the curfew. The curfew, which applies to minors under the age of 17, lasts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday and from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
St. Mary Parish and Iberia Parish police departments collaborated last week and recovered $130,000 worth of stolen property. McGuire advises that residents register valuables to Franklin Police Department to facilitate recoveries in the event that property is stolen.
McGuire also discussed the laws of motorized bicycles.
“Once you put a motor on a bicycle, they have to fall into the same laws as any other motorized vehicle on the roadway,” she said. “It has to be insured, it has to have a license plate, (the operator has) to have a valid driver’s license.”
Ordinances introduced:
—Ordinance #3363 – An ordinance declaring certain movable property no longer needed for public purposes as surplus movable property; due to said movable property constituting a burden of unnecessary expense and consuming needed space and offering said property for sale that could be utilized by others; authorizing the Mayor and Council of the City of Franklin to auction said surplus movable property through the sealed bid process to the bidder submitting the highest sealed bid.
Ordinances adopted:
—Ordinance #3361 – An ordinance amending Chapter 78, Section 78-30(c) of the Franklin City Code to include Subsection 78-30(c)(12), Subsection 78-30(c)(13) and Subsection 78-30(c)(14), designating the speed limits within specified areas of the City of Franklin.
—Ordinance #3362 – An ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Franklin, LA to adopt and enact Subsection 18-8(Q) of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Franklin to prohibit services of contractors in violation of cemetery rules.