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Selectwoman Natasha S. Johnson leads move to end customer‑submitted meter photos; board adopts four‑phase transition plan
Summary
On June 9, 2026 the Plaquemine Mayor and Board of Selectmen adopted a four‑phase City Light & Water transition plan to stop accepting customer‑submitted meter photographs for billing and require physical meter access, after a contested agenda amendment. The plan includes outreach, door‑hangers, second attempts and potential disconnection for noncompliance.
On June 9, 2026 the City of Plaquemine Mayor and Board of Selectmen adopted a four‑phase transition plan directing City Light & Water to stop accepting customer‑submitted photographs or photocopies of utility meters for billing and to require physical access for monthly meter readings.
Selectwoman Natasha S. Johnson, who proposed amending the agenda to allow the board to act, told the record that she was not being allowed to take action on the item as originally written and pressed for the four‑phase plan to be considered. "That I am not being allowed to take action to declare the practice of accepting customer submitted photographs or photocopies of utility meters for billing purposes obsolete and unacceptable," she said, and asked the board to adopt procedures to move customers to in‑person meter reads.
City Attorney Joseph B. Dupont, Jr. advised the board that the agenda would have to be amended before voting on the revised item. "A vote must be taken to amend the agenda before voting on the amended item," he said. The board voted to amend the agenda (Yeas: Natasha S. Johnson, Brent Barbier, Michael K. Carlin, Sr., Wanda B. Jones and Shannon P. Courtade; Nay: Thomas D. LeBlanc), then voted to implement the Transition Plan with the following four phases:
1) Initial customer contact by Department Head or designee by telephone to explain the change and schedule an anticipated physical meter read; 2) door‑hanger notice if phone contact or access is not achieved on first attempt; 3) a second in‑person access attempt about a week later with documentation of barriers; and 4) classification of accounts as non‑compliant after the second failed attempt and potential disconnection of service in accordance with city policy, with restoration contingent on compliance and reconnection fees.
The motion to implement the Transition Plan passed (Yeas: Natasha S. Johnson, Brent Barbier, Michael K. Carlin, Sr. and Wanda B. Jones; Nays: Thomas D. LeBlanc and Shannon P. Courtade). The motion record shows the board intends for implementation "concluding within two weeks from today’s date (June 9, 2026)." The plan instructs City Light & Water staff to document all contact attempts and access issues and to communicate next steps and customer service contact information on notices.
The City Attorney also told the board during debate that an ordinance appeared to exist addressing the practice, which is why the board needed to follow the procedural steps to amend the agenda; the ordinance itself was not read into the record. The adopted transition plan does not set new fees but states that service restoration will require payment of applicable reconnection fees and resolution of outstanding account issues.
The board did not take testimony from members of the public on this item during the meeting. The adoption is a local administrative action; further operational steps will be handled by City Light & Water under the schedule the board approved.
The board’s next procedural step is implementation by City Light & Water staff; the record sets a target of completing the transition process within two weeks of the June 9 motion.
