Police jury discusses emergency generator maintenance

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury, during its monthly meeting Monday, February 10, discussed the need to ensure emergency generators are being properly maintained and tested before the hurricane season starts on June 1.
The police jury received a proposal from a company to maintain the generators but juror Lamar Johnson asked if the parish had any employees qualified to perform that task.
Juror Kenny Burgess said the fire chief in Basile checks the emergency generator there each month. The director of the parish office of emergency preparedness, Liz Hill, said that office also maintains its generator.
Johnson said the parish should look into whether all generators in the parish are being maintained. The 10 generators were provided with a grant from FEMA.
Juror Bryan Vidrine said parish employees designated with maintaining the emergency generators should be required to submit paperwork verifying the maintenance is being done regularly.
The police jury also discussed cost-of-living pay increases for parish employees. The police jury has discussed a new plan to apply the increases according to a merit system.
Under the new plan, employees in parish offices, road crews and sewer department employees would be ranked according to job performance by their supervisors. Employees ranked as having high-quality performance would receive 100 percent of the established increase. Those not performing high would receive a lower percent increase.
The jurors decided to table the issue until the police jury finance committee can review the amount of the pay increases during its March meeting.
In other police jury business:
•Ronnie Landreneau, consulting engineer, said electric and plumbing contractors have met with a sheriff’s office representative and have inspected the parish jail and repairs there should start “very soon.” Landreneau also reported companies who want to submit bids for making improvements to the pavilion at Crooked Creek have asked for an extension, and that the new deadline for submitting bids is Wednesday, February 19.
•After jurors made changes to a list of cemetery maintenance workers, the police jury approved the finalized list.
•The jurors approved of a renewal of an agreement with Landscape Creations to maintain flower beds on the courthouse grounds for $150 per month -- the same amount as last year.
•Approved a request by juror Eric Soileau to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with Fire Protection District 1 in Mamou to provide a driveway to a pit that holds water, where fire fighters can draw waster. Soileau said the property owner where the pit exists has approved of the plan.
•Approved advertising for for employee health insurance bids. Also during the meeting, two representatives of AFL:AC said that company wants to submit bids to provide the insurance.
•Approved a request for police jury employee Rachel West to attend an annual Louisiana Association of Tax Administrators conference in New Iberia in March.
•Adopted a resolution supporting Joseph “Joe” Bishop’s candidacy as third vice president on the Police Jury Association of Louisiana Executive Board.
•Approved of a request by Soileau to hire Marcus Boullard to supervise crews of prisoners who will remove litter. With the approval of the sheriff, Boullard will be deputized.