Board appointment causes controversy at EPPJ meeting

The appointment of a new board member to the Te Mamou Water District Board became a controversial topic at the Evangeline Parish Police Jury meeting on Monday night.
After receiving a letter from the local water district’s board recommending Jason Fontenot as the replacement for Gene Morein, EPPJ member Bryan Vidrine requested that the jury appoint Fontenot to the board.
However, before Fontenot could be appointed EPPJ member Daniel Arvie nominated Darwan Lazard for the board position.
After the nomination was accepted, Vidrine expressed his opposition due to the fact that Lazard had not met the qualifications that all potential appointments to any board are required to meet.
Vidrine said, “I oppose, and the reason I oppose is because in order to be appointed to a board we set policy this year saying that you had to fill out a form showing what boards you are on and all of the background information. As far as I am concerned the qualifications were not met because this form was not filled out.”
When it came time to vote on who would be appointed to the water district’s board, Vidrine, Kevin Veillon and Sidney Fontenot voted to appoint Fontenot, while Arvie, Ryan Leday Williams and Rocky Rider voted for Lazard.
The tied vote, placed the decision in the hands of EPPJ President Ryan Ardoin, who felt that he couldn’t make a decision without the full police jury present.
Ardoin said, “Y’all put me in a predicament here. I usually go with the recommendation of the board and I believe Mr. Jason Fontenot is qualified but at the same time I believe Mr. Darwan Lazard is qualified as well. I would really like to abstain from this vote because there is not a full board. Being that it’s a tie, we are going to have to wait on this.”
The discussion of the board appointment didn’t end there though.
Following Ardoin’s comments, Vidrine said, “We have asked for the applications in the past since creating this policy this year and if we are not going to follow our own policy that we created then I don’t know what the use of us making policy is. I think that Mr. Lazard would understand that as well with being in the school system, that policy must be followed especially when it is set by the entire group.”
The policy, which was created in April 2016, that Vidrine spoke about is something that Arvie said he was unaware existed.
Vidrine then informed the board that Fontenot previously had been nominated for a spot on the Te Mamou Water District Board but was not appointed due to the fact that the water district board had recommended someone else.
Concerning this matter, Vidrine said, “I just want us to remember that if we are going to try to make a political appointment rather than an appointment that is what is best for the district, then I feel like we are going down the wrong road.”
In response to Vidrine’s “political appointment” statement, Arvie said, “Do you know how many minorities served on that board, Bryan? That board has been established since 1966 and you don’t have a single minority. They have a position available at this time. It’s an open position, so there is no reason why we don’t have a minority serving on this board.”
For Vidrine, this led to him questioning what being a minority has to do with being appointed to a board.
The conversation concerning the Te Mamou Water District Board ended with Vidrine saying, “Normally when you need a minority on a board it is because there is an issue with improper representation and I have never heard of any complaints from any minority in that water district saying that there is a problem with them not being represented.”
This wasn’t the only difficult conversation that the EPPJ was forced to have at their September 12th meeting.
When it came to Public Works Director Chester Granger’s report, Granger informed the board that they are almost out of money to fix sewer systems.
Granger said, “Approximately two weeks ago I had a police juror come in to the office and give me a list of problems with our sewer systems, and I was requested to fix these problems. One sewer system is about 95 percent complete, and we are working on the second sewer system. Since August 8th through September 12th we have spent $5,239 on this particular sewer system. We are in September and the amount of money we had for the rest of the year was $6,000, so we are running up against a brick wall.”
Granger then asked, “If there are cut backs to be made, where am I to cut and how?”
The jury felt that cuts would definitely be necessary, but Granger should be the one to suggest to the jury where cuts can be made since he overseas sewer system projects.
EPPJ member Sidney Fontenot said, “Could you give us some suggestions as to where cuts can be made?”
Granger responded, “Yes. We can cut personnel and cut trucks.”
There was no determination as to where cuts will be made at the meeting, but the jury did request that Granger prepare his suggestions and have them at the next EPPJ meeting for the jury to consider.
Other items that were approved at the meeting were:
•Adoption of the 2016 millages.
•Change of speed limit from 35 to 45 miles per hour on L’anse Meg Rd.
•Selling of nine adjudicated properties by Civic Source.
•Hiring of a receptionist for the front desk at the police jury office.
•Approval of trail ride for Dennis Clarke.
•Appointment of Troy West to the Eunice Gravity Drainage District #9 of Evangeline and St. Landry Parishes.
•Reappointment of Roderick Thibodeaux to the Board of Directors for the Evangeline Parish Water District No. 1.