Ouachita Parish Police Jury Monday

The Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) will meet Monday, June 17, 5:30 PM, Ouachita Parish Court House, second floor.

Here is the agenda.

Short Meeting for the Ouachita Parish Police Jury

It was possibly the shortest regular meeting of the Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) that we’ve covered over the past four years – thirty-three minutes. Notable also was this was the first meeting we can recall that no visitors attended, save the media.

An ordinance creating a road lighting district was enacted, along with routine approval for several invoices and payments.

Drainage issues have had their share of attention lately, and they were again mentioned last night.

Police Jury President Shane Smiley (District E) said that a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to fund a drainage project for the Town & Country area had been denied. Smiley said that FEMA originally said they would fund the project, and a resolution was passed asking them to reconsider their denial.

Also on the subject of drainage, jury attorney Jay Mitchell reported on the Ouachita RV Park flooding issue that had been discussed at the 4/15/13 meeting of the jury.

Mitchell noted that the City of Monroe was also having drainage issues north of the interstate, and that some work in the area by the railroad may be related.

Said Mitchell, “We’re working on trying to get to the possible reason why all of a sudden these areas south of the interstate that claim to have never had flood problems before, all of a sudden are.”

Ouachita Parish Fire Chief Pat Hemphill reported that he and his staff were completing work on a policy manual for the department, and would be submitting it to the jury for review.

Ouachita Parish Police Jury Monday

The Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) will meet Monday, May 20, 5:30 PM, Ouachita Parish Court House, second floor.

See here the agenda.

Ouachita Parish Police Jury Monday

The Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) will meet Monday, May 6, 5:30 PM, Ouachita Parish Court House, second floor.

Here is the agenda.

OPPJ Special Meeting Tomorrow

A special called meeting of the Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) has been set for Noon tomorrow (Friday, 4/26/13), Ouachita Parish Court House, second floor jury conference room.

See here the agenda.

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Flooding Issues Wash Over OPPJ

Flooding issues took up most of Monday night’s meeting of the Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ).

At issue was flooding at Ouachita RV Park during last week’s rainstorm. Flooding of the park had come up before, at the jury’s 5/2/11 meeting.

Ronnie Cole, Maintenance Manager for the park spoke to the jury about the issue, and said he was going to stay on it until a solution was found.

Said Cole, “The water that’s coming from the north side of Interstate 20 is coming on the south side.” He suggested the ditches flowing south from the road needed cleaning out.

Several jurors noted that it was not just a jury problem, and that the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) and the City of Monroe needed to be involved in the solution. At least one new development on the north side of I-20 has a large parking area that sheds water toward the south, and are inside Monroe’s corporate limits.

It was also brought out that the ditches in question are on private property and do not belong to Ouachita Parish.

A motion was passed to begin an engineering study on the area and report back to the jury. A motion to table the issue failed on a tie vote.

In making the motion to table, District A’s Scotty Robinson said that no matter what the study said, they “still can’t do anything” as the ditches don’t belong to the public.

In other business, the jury unanimously passed a resolution asking the area legislative delegation to oppose House Bill 555.

See here Resolution 13-19.

According to the resolution, the bill would allow:

the towns of Richwood and Sterlington to claim a disproportionate share of existing parish sales tax revenue without affording the parish citizens who approved and pay such taxes an opportunity to vote for or against such re-dedication…

Ouachita Parish Police Jury Monday

The Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) will meet Monday, April 15, 5:30 PM, Ouachita Parish Courhouse, second floor. The courthouse is located on South Grand Street.

Here is the agenda.

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What Other Police Jurors Have Taxpayer-Funded Medical Benefits?

After our story earlier this week concerning the Jackson Parish Police Jury (JPPJ) voting to saddle the taxpayers with the cost of their health insurance, we were told some of the jurors became defensive with cries of “police jurors in other parishes have it – we should too!”

So we did a little checking to see what the other parishes do.

The Lincoln Parish Police Jury (LPPJ) does not permit its elected members to participate in their employee’s plan. In about 2006, the practice was discontinued. Prior to then, several members participated.

The Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) allows jurors to participate in the employee plan. At present the plan costs the employee/juror 21%, with the other 79% paid from jury funds.

Four of the OPPJ’s six jurors participate.

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Richland Parish Police Jury’s Giant Pay Raise

Police jury’s 60% raise was given legally

A 60 percent pay increase for the Richland Parish Police jury is legal even though the way it was handled may not have been what the Louisiana Legislature had in mind.

The Richland Parish Police Jury voted to increase the salaries for police jurors from $1,000 a month to $1,600 at its December meeting. The state legislature raised the maximum salary for police jurors to $1,600 a month last year and Richland Parish chose not to implement in the increase in 2012. However, they did choose to increase their pay in 2013.

The increase in juror salaries and benefits was included in the police jury’s combined budget rather than handled as a separate item. Assistant District Attorney Steve Dean said the method of passing the pay raise was “not the preferred method” but was legal.

“It was advertised in the budget,” Police Jury Secretary Treasurer Kathy-Burns said. “We held a public hearing.”

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Ouachita Parish Police Jury Monday

The Ouachita Parish Police Jury (OPPJ) will meet Monday, April 1, 5:30 PM, Ouachita Parish Courthouse, second floor. The courthouse is on South Grand, three blocks south of DeSiard Street.

Here is the agenda.