Commissioners criticize director for signing rail review contract before vote; phone outage and staffing disputes aired

Commissioner Jurcic told the Plaquemines Port commission he would have opposed a recent contract had he known it was already signed, accusing Executive Director Charles D. Tillotson of acting before the commission voted.

“Had I known that? I'd have voted against it because of what you did,” Commissioner Jurcic said during a public-comment exchange about the Rio Grande Rail review agreement. Jurcic asked why the contract was signed on a Wednesday before commissioners voted on a related resolution the following Thursday.

Tillotson acknowledged signing the document and said his authority and the budgeted line item informed his decision. “I did sign it…and it was less than $150,000…and it's in the budget,” Tillotson said. He said the 11-mile extension project includes a $1,200,000 budgeted amount that Infinity Engineering will manage; he also noted the ED’s signature threshold was increased from $50,000 to $125,000 in February.

Several commissioners pressed for clearer communication about delegated authority. Jurcic and others said signing before a commission vote made the governing body appear uninformed; Tillotson said he was open to refining the process and would meet with commissioners to clarify thresholds and approvals.

The meeting also addressed an earlier phone outage. Port staff member Miss Glapion said port staff found that a check for the phone bill was cashed on Feb. 20 but was misapplied to another account at AT&T; staff have opened an investigation and instituted new policies to prevent future past-due misapplications. “On that bill, that check was cut in February. It was cashed February 20,” Miss Glapion said.

Commissioners debated whether to extend the temporary assignment of a staff member identified in the record as Nielsen (spelling varies in the transcript). Tillotson requested keeping Nielsen on for an additional 30 days to cover transition work connected to a GLO Resources contract; commissioners asked for clarification about the original three-month term and whether “three months” referred to calendar days or working days.

Public commenters also raised questions about past property sales and compensation for landowners who sold before rezoning to heavy industrial. Tillotson said current negotiations will use independent appraisals and that the port retains authority to offer up to 20% above the appraised value for properties under current negotiation; he clarified that negotiated offers apply to properties currently under negotiation, not to all prior sellers.

Commissioners agreed to continue discussions offline and to meet to clarify signatory thresholds and communication protocols.