Harahan council rejects cooperative endeavor agreement with Jefferson Parish, keeps small‑city CDBG options open
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Summary
Council voted 5–0 to decline a proposed cooperative endeavor agreement that would have placed Harahan in Jefferson Parish’s urban area program, a move council members said preserves Harahan’s ability to seek small‑city CDBG funds.
Harahan — The Harahan City Council voted Dec. 18 to reject Resolution 2025‑18, which would have placed the city in an urban area cooperative endeavor agreement with Jefferson Parish for community development and housing grants.
Council members who spoke against joining the parish’s urban area said the move could disqualify Harahan from applying independently for small‑city Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds at the state level because participating in a larger urban program typically shifts eligibility to the parish’s consolidated application. Others cited past experience where Harahan received little direct benefit when pooled with the parish in earlier grant cycles.
Councilman Asbell led the motion to vote on the resolution rather than defer it; the motion carried as a rejection (recorded as five nays, zero yays). With the vote, Harahan retains the option to pursue small‑city CDBG opportunities on its own timeline and to further study tradeoffs before any future affiliation.
Staff noted the city has until February to notify the parish/state of a decision on urban area status; council members said they may revisit the issue after more analysis but wished to preserve the small‑city pathway for projects that do not meet low‑to‑moderate income (LMI) thresholds required by the parish program.
Attribution: The resolution was offered by Councilman Chatelaine and discussed by Councilman Asbell and other council members; city staff provided clarifications about LMI and past grant activity.