The Natchitoches Parish Council’s May 16 meeting was brief. The following items were addressed:
- Patsy Ward Hoover will no longer serve on the Parish Council, effective June 23, as she won the election for mayor of the village of Natchez.
- OCS will not participate in the Summer Feeding Program because they will not be able to participate in the “grab and go” style food distribution because they don’t have the facilities to package the food correctly since Head Start is no longer under their supervision.
- At the April 19 meeting, the Council authorized the Parish President to hire an attorney to help close an IRS matter from the non-filing of the 1095C for the year ended 12/31/2017. The current penalty is $142,000 and growing. The Parish is looking to hire a tax attorney to help mitigate the fine. The findings are failure to file timely and failure to file correct forms. Each finding has about a $70,000 penalty with interest accruing. The Parish is not in active collections while it’s given a bit of leeway to file an appeal. A firm was retained in Lafayette. An appeal has been written and submitted so at this point the Parish is waiting to hear something back from the IRS.
- The Parish is planning to remove two overgrown Magnolia trees in front of the Courthouse as they’ve been a contributing factor to the deterioration of the building’s facade. A smaller tree species will be planted in their place that will allow a full view of the stonework at the entry doors. Replacement stone was ordered and is expected to be delivered and installed within the coming weeks to complete the rehab project.
- Confirm reappointment of Dustin Paul Dauzat and Bayli Quick to the Natchitoches Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Confirm reappointment of Johnny Possoit to the Natchitoches Parish Fire District 6 Board
- Confirm reappointment of Winfred Lonadier to the Northwest (Black Lake) Fish and Game Preserve Commission
- Confirm the appointment of Patrick D. Masson to replace Clyde Masson on the Waterworks District 2 Board
- Confirm appointment appointment of Rodney Baker, Sammy Leone, and Christopher Leone to the Natchitoches Parish Fire District 10 Board
- First introduction of proposed ordinance 010-2022 to affect a zoning change from an Industrial-Agriculture (I-A) District to an Industry-2 (I-2) District for a compressor station on a 10-acre tract set back from Hwy. 1 that is being divided from a 485-acre parent tract owned by Melrose Plantation. Another first introduction includes ordinance 011-2022 to change zoning from an Industrial-Agriculture (I-A) District to an Industry-Agriculture (I-A) District special exception for an interconnecting pipeline servitude between the existing pipeline and the proposed compressor station. An application was submitted by Acadian Gas Pipeline System in order to fulfill plans of a pipeline system expansion. Site prep will begin next week.
- Approve levying the same millage or roll forward for the 2022 tax year. A motion was made to leave everything the same as the previous year.
- Appoint Natchitoches Times as journal for the Parish
- Chairman John Salter informed the Council of the Parish President’s veto on the adoption of ordinance 009-2022 to remove section 1.11 The Recording Policy from the Parish Personnel Manual. The Council will vote on this at next month’s meeting.
