Meeting Summary

The St. Charles Parish Council held its regular meeting on August 4, 2025, where members confirmed Patrick Beard as the new Director of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism and honored longtime Public Works employee Merrick "Ricky" Roussel on his retirement after 30 years of service. The council also proclaimed August 30 as Hahnville High School Alumni Day and worked through a lengthy slate of drainage, infrastructure, and administrative items, including approving funding increases for several ongoing road and drainage projects and advancing plans for flood improvements in the Fairfield and Oakland watershed area in St. Rose.

Watch Items

• The council postponed indefinitely an ordinance that would have exempted off-street parking for manufactured and mobile homes in R-1A(M) zoning districts from permanent dust-free paving requirements. A council member raised concerns that permanent residences could be built in that zoning district without triggering the paving requirement, and the administration will need to revisit the issue.
• Several seats on the St. Charles Parish Coastal Zone Advisory Committee remain vacant following resignations. Nominations for Members 1 through 7 will be accepted at the next council meeting on August 18, 2025.
• The Fairfield and Oakland Pump Station project in St. Rose has shifted scope after a hydrology study found a greater need for drainage conveyance improvements before the pump station itself can be built. The parish is pursuing an $11 million federal disaster recovery grant application through the U.S. Economic Development Administration to help fund the project, and residents should watch for updates on both the design changes and the funding outcome.
• The parish president said he is pushing the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to begin engineering, design, and permitting work on a proposed freshwater diversion project into Lake Des Allemands to address worsening saltwater intrusion in the upper basin.
• CC Road in Montz will be fully closed between US-61 (Airline Highway) and River Road through Friday, August 15, for pump station construction, with intermittent closures expected to continue as that project progresses.
• The council introduced several ordinances for a public hearing set for Monday, August 18, 2025, 6:00 p.m., at the Council Chambers, Courthouse, Hahnville. Residents should watch for final action on:

- An ordinance adopting, setting forth, levying and imposing taxes on all property subject to taxation in the Parish of St. Charles for General Parochial Purposes, flood protection systems, Parish Road Maintenance, Parish Recreation, Parish Fire Protection, Mosquito Control, E-911, Health Unit and Council on Aging programs, Road Lighting District No. 1, Library Service District No. 1, the Arc of St. Charles, and wastewater facilities and systems. - An ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of Amendment No. 2 to Ordinance 22-3-7, which approved the Professional Services Agreement with Crescent Engineering & Mapping, LLC, for the King and Hahn Street Drainage Improvements. - An ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of Change Order No. 1 (Final) for the East Bank Water Intake Platform Repairs. - An ordinance to amend the St. Charles Parish Code of Ordinances to change the name of the Department of Emergency Preparedness to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.