St. Martinville council adopts CDBG-DR policies, authorizes drainage agreement and approves hires

The St. Martinville City Council on Aug. 19 adopted policies required to receive and administer Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for a wastewater floodproofing project and authorized an intergovernmental agreement with St. Martin Parish to assist on the Durand Drainage Project.

The unanimous resolution adopting CDBG-DR program policies directs city compliance with the Louisiana Office of Community Development (OCD) Grantee Administrative Manual and appoints program coordinators and officers. The resolution names Mayor Jason Willis as Fair Housing Coordinator and Residential Antidisplacement Officer and names City Clerk Lorrie Poirier as Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, Section 504 Coordinator, Labor Compliance Officer and Section 3 Coordinator. The council authorized Mayor Willis and City Clerk Lorrie Poirier to sign Requests for Payment and execute documents related to the CDBG-DR program.

Separately, the council authorized Mayor Willis to enter an intergovernmental agreement with St. Martin Parish Government (represented by Parish President Pete Delcambre) to provide parish equipment and labor, without cost to the city, for installation of drainage pipe along Oliver Lane. Under the agreement the city will fund materials and supplies from Capital Outlay appropriations and must obtain required rights-of-way from affected property owners. The agreement includes automatic annual extensions through 2026 unless either party gives 30 days' written notice of termination.

Personnel and administrative actions were a prominent part of the meeting. After a failed motion to table the hire pending a background check, the council voted 3–2 to hire Otis Chatman as Planning & Zoning Coordinator at a rate noted in the record as 110 + 8% (listed as $18.00 per hour), effective Aug. 21, 2024. The first motion (to table the hire until a background check could be obtained) failed on a 2–3 vote (Yeas: Mike Fuselier, Carol Frederick; Nays: Jonas Fontenette, Janise Anthony, Flo Chatman). The subsequent motion to hire passed (Yeas: Jonas Fontenette, Janise Anthony, Flo Chatman; Nays: Mike Fuselier, Carol Frederick).

The council also unanimously hired Candy Bertrand as Office Manager at the same listed pay grade and effective date, with a six-month probation period.

On contracts and vendor decisions, the council denied permission for Mayor Willis to execute a contract with RM Partners, LLC for social media management and decided to terminate RM Partners’ services effective Sept. 1, 2024. The council hired Arcadis to perform a Hydrologic & Hydraulic Study for the LWI Wastewater Floodproofing Project; the record states there will be no cost to the city for the study. The council authorized an agreement with Global Data Fusion to perform background checks for city employees.

On financial management, the council approved writing off uncollectable utility bills totaling $103,406.60 for 2024, while directing the utility department to send collection letters and consider referring accounts to the Department of Revenue. Mayor Jason Willis reported utility-department operational issues including a corrected count of customers without accounts (29, down from an earlier report of 50), 339 AMI meters installed with approximately 2,300 remaining, and work to ensure consistent billing for security lights.

The council accepted the Louisiana Audit Compliance Questionnaire for the 2023–24 fiscal year and tabled discussion about hiring a grant writer for a future meeting. With no further business, Mayor Jason Willis adjourned the meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Approve minutes (Aug. 5, 2024) and publication in Teche News — motion passed unanimously (6–0). - Approve bills recommended by the City Finance Committee — motion passed unanimously (6–0). - Authorize intergovernmental agreement with St. Martin Parish for Durand Drainage Project — motion passed unanimously (6–0). - Deny RM Partners social-media contract and terminate services effective Sept. 1, 2024 — motion passed (unanimous at time recorded). - Hire Arcadis for Hydrologic & Hydraulic Study (no cost to city) — motion passed (unanimous at time recorded). - Adopt CDBG-DR program policies, appoint coordinators, authorize signatures — motion passed unanimously (6–0). - Motion to table hiring of Otis Chatman pending background check — failed (Yeas 2; Nays 3). - Hire Otis Chatman, Planning & Zoning Coordinator (110 + 8%, listed $18.00/hr), effective Aug. 21, 2024 — passed (Yeas 3; Nays 2). - Hire Candy Bertrand, Office Manager (110 + 8%, listed $18.00/hr), effective Aug. 21, 2024 — passed (unanimous at time recorded). - Table Fraternization Policy for legal review — passed unanimously (motion carried). - Authorize agreement with Global Data Fusion for background checks — passed (unanimous at time recorded). - Write off uncollectable utility bills totaling $103,406.60 — passed (unanimous at time recorded). - Accept Louisiana Audit Compliance Questionnaire for FY ending June 30, 2024 — passed (unanimous at time recorded).

What this means

The adopted CDBG-DR policies and appointed officers position St. Martinville to proceed with administration of state-administered disaster recovery funds for wastewater floodproofing; the council delegated signature authority to the mayor and city clerk to process payments and contract documents. The intergovernmental agreement with St. Martin Parish is intended to secure equipment and labor assistance for an urgent local drainage project while funding for materials comes from city capital outlay appropriations. Personnel changes and vendor decisions finalize several administrative functions ahead of project implementation.

Next steps and context

The record shows the city must obtain required rights-of-way before parish crews can work on Oliver Lane. The CDBG-DR resolution references the Louisiana OCD administrative manual and other required policies (procurement, Section 3 plan, language access, Section 504 grievance procedures), which the city has adopted by resolution. The council scheduled no follow-up votes in the record; items tabled (Fraternization Policy, grant-writer hiring) will return to a future agenda.