Meeting Summary

This was a regular Parish Council meeting that opened with a series of ceremonial proclamations (French Heritage Day, Disability Awareness Month, ARC Fest, Retired Teachers Day, Lions Month, Kidney Month, Problem Gambling Awareness Month), followed by departmental reports and a full slate of ordinances, resolutions, and appointments. The most consequential actions were unanimous approval of a nearly $4.8 million engineering contract for a new ~$50 million West Bank water treatment plant, adoption of the parish's coastal "Shield Plan" and a floodplain management planning resolution tied to flood-insurance discounts, and the unanimous rejection of a special-use waiver that would have allowed a truck fleet-service business near the Almedia Plantation/Turtle Pond neighborhood, after roughly a dozen residents testified about traffic, drainage, and safety concerns.

Watch Items

• GM Elite / Almedia Plantation traffic & drainage: The waiver failed, but Public Works and Planning staff confirmed a formal traffic impact analysis had not yet even been conducted; residents' concerns about a single-access road and chronic flooding remain unresolved regardless of this vote. A new, larger pump station for "Turtle Pond" is described as "in the works" with DOTD but has no confirmed timeline. [01:32:53–01:44:37]
• CPRA floodgate/tieback project (~$140–150M): No permit yet in hand; parish president expressed skepticism about claims of breaking ground in 2026. [00:53:54–00:54:22]
• Upper Barataria Basin diversion study: A rough