Meeting Summary

The St. Charles Parish Council held its regular meeting and a budget hearing, adopting the Fiscal Year 2025 Consolidated Operating and Capital Budget after several council members moved money between district accounts to fund community-center tutoring, utility costs, and a clerk of court record-books request. The council also heard detailed reports from the Louisiana Public Service Commission and the St. Charles Parish Housing Authority, and approved a series of resolutions committing state and federal funds to local infrastructure projects, including canal stabilization, park revitalization, and elevation of flood-prone homes. Parish President Matthew Jewell briefed the council on storm preparedness for Tropical Storm Raphael, ongoing Hurricane Ida recovery work, and positive sales-tax trends.

Watch Items

• The Housing Authority's plan to redevelop its Hahnville and Des Allemands properties hit a setback after HUD could not approve the original "streamlined voluntary conversion" application; the agency is pivoting to a RAD Section 18 conversion process that could take up to a year, and a special Housing Authority board meeting was set for the week of November 11, 2024 to discuss the change. Residents should watch for updates on the rebuild/renovation plans for these properties.
• Twenty-three properties awaiting flood-elevation grant funding (covered under two separate agreements approved this meeting) have not yet been notified of their awards; notification is pending final execution of the funding agreements.
• The Parish is monitoring Tropical Storm Raphael, with Public Works already sandbagging vulnerable areas and checking pump stations; residents should watch for further storm-preparedness updates.
• The council introduced several ordinances for a public hearing scheduled for Monday, November 18, 2024, 6:00 pm, Council Chambers, Courthouse, Hahnville. Residents should watch for final action on:

- An ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of Amendment No. 2 to a Professional Services Agreement with Ardaman & Associates, Inc., to perform additional geotechnical services for the Evangeline Road & CN Railroad Box Culvert (Project No. P210701), to increase the lump sum fee by $8,700.00, increasing the overall contract amount to $33,700.00. - An ordinance of the Parish of St. Charles providing that the Code of Ordinances, Parish of St. Charles, be amended by revising Section 15-5, Motor Vehicles and Traffic, of said Code, to provide for the installation of one "NO PARKING" sign on the north side of Almedia Plantation Drive in St. Rose from the corner of Johnson Street extending forty-four (44) feet. - An ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of an Act of Dedication for River Place Estates Phase 2, Hahnville. - An ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of Amendment No. 1 to Ordinance No. 23-12-5, which approved the Professional Services Agreement with Crescent Engineering & Mapping, LLC, to perform surveying services for the Crescent Engineering Boundary Surveys Master Contract (Project No. P231101), in an amount not to exceed $150,000.00. - An ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of Amendment No. 1 to the Professional Services Agreement with Alpha Testing and Inspection, Inc., for testing services for Des Allemands Phase 1 Bulkhead (Project No. P210601), in an amount not to exceed $8,000.00, increasing the overall contract value to $65,000.00. - An ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of a Professional Services Agreement with Bryant Hammett & Associates, LLC, to perform surveying services for Willowdale Boulevard Overlay and Widening (Project No. P240602), in the lump sum amount of $61,385.00.

• The Louisiana Public Service Commission is expected to vote in December on a docket to bar political donations, private jets, and corporate benefits from being charged to customer utility bills, and is also developing new rules on utility pole coordination and reliability penalties that could affect service in the parish going forward.