Franklin department wants more money to protect district

FRANKLIN — Franklin’s fire chief has drawn a new line in the sand.
Chief Chuck Bourgeois asked the St. Mary Parish Council on Wednesday for a new deal that would keep the city department serving Fire Protection District No. 5 outside the city limits. He set a deadline of Nov. 1 for a new contract.
Otherwise, Bourgeois said, “if we can’t come to an agreement, we’re going to stop all services completely if we can’t get paid what’s owed to us. …”
Bourgeois came to the Parish Council in March with a similar warning if a new deal wasn’t struck within 30 days. On Wednesday, he said he’s been willing to work with the parish government, which has other budget problems. The parish’s traditional payments to local departments were among the budget-cutting casualties in 2025.
Bourgeois repeated his position Wednesday. Under a 1987 agreement, signed by then-Franklin mayor and now Parish President Sam Jones, the parish agreed to a deal that currently pays Franklin $2,700 a month for providing protection to District 5.
Now, Bourgeois said, the payments amount to only 3% of the Fire Department’s budget.
Meanwhile, the number of structures in the district has reached 1,697, and the population is 5,939, almost as large as Franklin’s roughly 6,200.
Franklin covers 10 square miles, Bourgeois said. District 5 covers 180 square miles.
The department is also squeezed by increased demands for training, services such as medical first response and cash to buy equipment. A new firetruck can cost $990,000, Bourgeois said.
The parish should be paying nearly $72,000 per year, Bourgeois said, rather than the roughly $32,400 per year it’s receiving now. And if the terms of the contract were followed strictly, the payment should be closer to $104,000, according to figures developed by Bourgeois.
The talk among council members turned to taxes.
Councilman Rodney Olander of Franklin said he understands the firefighters’ position. But he doesn’t think a new tax would go over well.
“I hope the administration can find the money without raising taxes,” Olander said.
The idea of a property tax didn’t get much support, except possibly when applied to District 5 alone.
Unlike other fire protection districts in the parish, District 5 has no millage of its own.
“What I’m saying is, why should the burden come on my tax rolls and everybody else’s tax rolls?” said Councilman Dean Adams of Morgan City. “They need to pay something.”
Also, Bourgeois has spoken in favor of a parishwide sales tax for the parish’s 11 fire departments and 911 communications.
A quarter-cent tax would raise about $2.9 million, Bourgeois said. A half-cent tax would raise about $5.8 million.
Councilwoman Dr. Kristi Prejeant Rink pointed to a portion of Lafourche where a per-parcel charge for fire protection is levied on individual homes.
The council took no action on any tax proposal.
Bourgeois said he hopes an agreement will be reached.
“I don’t want to tell my guys, ‘Don’t fight a fire,’” the chief said.
Also Wednesday, the council made two appointments to the Hospital Service District No. 2 board, which owns the hospital operated as Ochsner St. Mary.
Four candidates were in the running for two board posts: current members Jackie Cheramie, the board’s vice chair, and William McCarty, who spoke in favor of his candidacy at Wednesday’s meeting; Andree T. Hebert; and Judith Hidalgo.
The discussion turned to whether residents of the whole district, and not just Morgan City, are represented on the board. The district stretches west from Morgan City to Calumet.
Councilman David Hill of Bayou Vista nominated Cheramie and Hebert, who is also from Bayou Vista.
Then Councilman Patrick Hebert of Berwick moved to amend Hill’s motion so that it would appoint Cheramie and McCarty, who has served stints on the board dating back to 2020.
Hebert’s amendment failed on a 5-5 vote. The appointments of Cheramie and Hebert passed 6-4.
Rink, a general surgeon who has been affiliated with Ochsner St. Mary, abstained.
The council also appointed Dr. Tim Tregle and Darren Gussman to the board of Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2A, which serves the Morgan City-Amelia area.
Brian L. Head was reappointed to the Recreation District No. 3 board in Bayou Vista, and Tommy Balom was reappointed to the Recreation District 4 board in Patterson.
The council also passed a resolution of respect for Foster D. Johnson of Morgan City, who died July 17.
Johnson was a World War II- and Korean War-era veteran of the U.S. Army and Air Force.
He worked as a teacher for 30 years and served on a variety of local boards, including the School Board and the St. Mary Community Action Agency.