Police jury zips through agenda

CROWLEY - It took a little less than an hour for the Acadia Parish Police Jury to zip through a fairly routine agenda Tuesday, bogging down only when two amendments to the same parish ordinance were proposed.
The ordinance establishing the Library Board of Control needed to be amended to bring it into compliance with state statute. The parish ordinance stated that the board would be comprised of five members. State statute said seven members could be appointed.
The jury, following state statute, had appointed seven members to the board without ever amending the parish ordinance.
Therein lies the problem, according to Charles King, a former attorney from Crowley.
King contended that the proposed amendment recommended by District Attorney Keith Stutes was inadequate in that it did not ratify the last two appointments. He also pointed out that the original ordinance named the police jury president as an ex officio member of the library board whereas his proposal allows for the president to appoint a designee.
Stutes, who was present for Tuesday night’s jury meeting, said he disagreed with King’s assessment and that the jury, acting under state statute, was within its rights in appointing new members and that those members.
“The only thing that is absolutely necessary with this amendment is to change the number (of board members) from five to seven,” the D.A. said.
The jury unanimously adopted Stutes’ proposal.
The jury also approved a resolution approving the holding of an election in Fire Protection District No. 8 — Lyons Point — to authorize increasing the current $25 parcel fee to $50 through 2022.
The $50 parcel fee would raise an estimated $33,500 annually for the district.