An agenda item to consider the re-appointment of Van LaCour to the Parish Planning and Zoning Commission died for lack of a second at the Parish Council meeting Monday night, Dec. 18. (See video for questioning of Mr. LaCour).

His re-appointment died for lack of second at the Nov. 20 meeting after it was vehemently opposed by Director of Planning and Zoning Greg Lemoine. “Our work relationship has been contentious since the first day,” he said. “I do not want to work with this man anymore and I strongly urge the Council not to re-appoint him.”

Council member Chris Paige voiced his frustration that this issue was being rehashed after the item wasn’t passed at last month’s meeting.

Agenda items included:

• Confirm re-appointment of Darrell Roque Sr. and Carol O’Quinn to the Natchitoches Parish Fire District 5 Board
• Confirm re-appointment of Chris Ingram, Samuel Jackson and John Luster to the Natchitoches Parish Hospital Board
• Confirm re-appointment of Emile Metoyer Sr. to Water Works District 2 Board
• Confirm appointment of Tom Ouzts Jr. and Dorle Hays to the Natchitoches Parish Fire District 8 Board
• Introduction of ordinance to update the personnel manual updating the travel policy for Parish employees. This is to prevent Parish employees from racking up incidental charges at hotels that are being paid for with a Parish credit card. If charges are added to the room, the Parish employee will be required to reimburse the Parish for the amount.
• Introduction of ordinance to change, amend and reordain Section 2-1 of the Parish Code of Ordinances, relative to the Hospital Service District. This will move the domicile from the courthouse to the hospital and acknowledge that the board has seven members as opposed to the previous five it had, as per state law.
• Introduction of ordinance to authorize the Parish President to purchase two properties (188 Chris Street and 202/194 Chris Street), which were declared repetitive loss by FEMA and to contract for the removal of all permanent structures. This is a grant application initiated by Homeland Security, which will allow the Parish to purchase and demo the properties and receive reimbursement from FEMA up to $330,000.
• Enter into a Professional Services Agreement with CivicSource for the administration of an online auction and sale of adjudicated properties
• Adopt ordinance to rezone 34.683 acre parcel situated on the river side of Hwy. 494 alongside Fulton Street
• Adopt ordinance to amend 2017 operating budget, which coincides with authorizing the Parish President to enter into a professional services agreement with Sygnus for the setup of the new Parish computer server, auxiliary equipment and software. The estimate cost of the servers is $25,000. The Parish hasn’t had a new server in two decades and there’s $60,000 worth of equipment that needs to be set up.
• Change temporary location of Precinct 4-1 Cypress Jury Voting building back to the permanent location of 4-3 St. Augustine Church Hall
• Grant permission to Sabine Parish Waterworks District No. 1 to purchase all assets from the Ajax-Beaulah Water Association for the sum of $600,000, similar to when it purchased the Robeline-Marthaville Water System in the past. Smaller systems are no longer considered economically viable by the DHH
• Award contract for replacement of the Live Oak Building roof to Terry Roofing and Sheet Metal Inc for $74,000
• Execute agreements with incorporated municipalities in Natchitoches Parish for the repair of streets in the municipalities during 2018

The following bids were awarded for the Highway Department (authority was also given to put grader blades and bottom ash back out to bid and to award these to the lowest bidder upon the completion of the process):

• CRS-2 Cationic Emulsified Asphalt to Asphalt Products Unlimited
• Crush stone, base course aggregate, hot mix asphaltic concrete for patching and leveling, and Stone Riprap to Madden Contracting Company
• Winn Rock Road Maintenance Material and Winn Rock Screenings Road Maintenance Material to Winn Rock LLC
• Silty Clay Soil to FFT Trucking Services
• Commercial/industrial, passenger, light truck and trailer tires to Natchitoches Tire Service INc., DBA Despino’s Tire Service
• Metal culverts to Coastal Culvert and Supply Inc.
• Cold Mix Asphalt to Diamond B. Construction
• Washed Gravel to Tommy Russell Enterprises LLC
• Oil and grease to Lott Oil Company
• C-3 Gravel to Larry Grayson and Son Trucking LLC

The following bids were awarded for the Head Start Department:

• Milk and dairy products to Harper’s Distributing
• Fruits, vegetables and processed foods to Reinhart Foods