Houma resident urges council to require complainant information for condemnation notices

A Houma resident told the Terrebonne Parish Council on Feb. 26 that the parish’s system for generating condemnation hearings appears unevenly distributed across council districts and urged procedural changes.

"When you look at that, there were 51 listings on the agenda. District 1 had 12, District 2 had 18... District 1 and 2 together, that's 30. That's 60% of the total," said Alec Ostheimer, who identified himself as a resident at 101 Oak Street in Houma. Ostheimer addressed the council during the public-comment portion of the meeting and asked the council to require that complainants be recorded with a name, contact information and reason for reporting a property.

"This system... It's not working from a fairness standpoint," Ostheimer said. He said the current process allows anonymous complaints that can lead to a high concentration of properties from particular districts appearing on condemnation agendas and suggested the council dismiss or nullify condemnation notices that lack complainant information.

The item was raised during the public-comment period, which the council read aloud as governed by Section 2-07e of the Terrebonne Parish Home Rule Charter. Ostheimer’s remarks did not prompt a formal council motion or vote at the Feb. 26 meeting; he concluded by urging the council to require recorded complainant information going forward.

Ending The council took no formal action on the request during the meeting; the comments were part of the meeting’s public comment period and were referred to the record for possible staff follow-up.