Here is a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils. To see the full agendas, check out the links below:
- Parish Agenda (Public Comment Time!)
- City Agenda
- LPPA Agenda
Lafayette 101
Council Chairs
Every year, the City Council and Parish Council each elect a chair and vice chair to oversee their meetings. Council chairs run their respective council’s meetings all year and are in charge of calling special and emergency meetings, giving them power over how their council acts in time-sensitive situations. They also have some discretion over what is allowed on their council’s agenda, though the administration and other council members can still put items before their council without chair approval. .
Parish Council
Officer Election
Chair & vice chair votes. The Parish Council will elect a new chair and vice chair Tuesday to oversee its meetings in 2024. Last year’s chair, Josh Carlson, left the council for a seat in the state House this year, leaving the Parish Council’s three returning members (John Guilbeau, Bryan Tabor and A.B. Rubin) as presumptive nominees for the spot. The new chair’s approach could define the council’s initial relationship with new Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet after four years of relative harmony between former M-P Josh Guillory and the previous Parish Council.
Final Adoption
Louisiana Avenue. The Parish Council will vote Tuesday on plans to move $413,000 to the Louisiana Avenue extension project by cutting $229,000 from the E. Broussard Road and Robley Drive roundabout project and $184,000 from the W. Broussard Road and Duhon Road roundabout project.
Introduction
Parish ARPA rush. Faced with a Dec. 31 deadline to spend $47 million in federal coronavirus relief funds, the Parish Council will look at a plan left by Guillory’s administration to shuffle about $10 million between existing projects to ensure the entire $47 million is spent on eligible work before the end of the year. The move would generally take time-sensitive stimulus funds away from larger infrastructure projects and put them toward more routine maintenance costs, replacing local tax dollars in the process. Those local funds would then be reassigned to the larger infrastructure projects, though not all of them are in line to have their funding replaced.
City Council
Officer Election
Chair & vice chair votes. The City Council will also pick new leadership Tuesday. Last year’s chair, Glenn Lazard, did not run for reelection, and only two members of the last City Council are returning this year, making Councilwoman Liz Hebert the presumptive chair nominee as the council’s longest continuously serving member. Three of the council’s five members are starting their first terms Tuesday, though Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux is returning from a one-term hiatus after serving 12 years on the former City-Parish Council. The new City Council’s relationship with M-P Boulet is of particular interest after the previous City Council spent the majority of its four-year term feuding with former M-P Guillory.
Final Adoption
No significant items.
Introduction
City ARPA rush. The City Council will also look at a plan from Guillory’s administration to shuffle about $18 million in time-sensitive federal funds between projects to meet the Dec. 31 deadline to spend the city’s $38 million award. Most projects are in line for an even swap with city capital outlay funds, but a few are not, most notably $5.4 million for Downtown drainage improvements, which is effectively being cut to $4.4 million that will be spent on drainage citywide.
Joint Items
Resolutions
City-parish attorney. Both councils will vote Tuesday on a resolution approving former City-Parish Attorney Pat Ottinger’s return to LCG. Ottinger served as top legal adviser to former City-Parish President Joey Durel from 2004 to 2011 and approval from both councils is required for him to assume the position from Guillory’s C-P attorney, Greg Logan.
Final Adoption
No significant items.
Introduction
No significant items.
Property
Vacancies
| Board | Approval | Qualifications |
|---|---|---|
| Lafayette Parish Waterworks District North Board | Parish Council | Must reside in Waterworks District North |
| Lafayette Public Innovation Alliance Board (three seats) | Parish Council | None listed |
| Lafayette Parish Waterworks District South Board | Parish Council | Must reside in Waterworks District South |
| Parish Planning and Zoning Commission | Parish Council | None listed |
| Keep Lafayette Beautiful Committee | Parish Council | None listed |
| Industrial Development Board (two seats) | Parish Council | None listed |
Appointments
| Board | Approval | Applicants |
|---|---|---|
| Parish Planning and Zoning Commission | Parish Council | Walter Arceneaux (incumbent) |
| LCG Professional Services Review Committee | Parish Council | One Parish Council member (incumbent Bryan Tabor) |
| Lafayette Mayor-President’s Awareness Committee on Citizens with Disabilities | ULL President | Laynie Stevens |
| Downtown Development Authority | City Council | Delaney Meaux Larson, Jaci Russo, C. Brett Venable (no incumbent) |
| Evangeline Thruway Redevelopment Team | City Council | Cory McCoy (no incumbent) |
| City Council | Brenda Andrus, Alzina Dural (incumbent), Kristopher Harrison, Roger Lehman | |
| Lafayette Science Museum Advisory Board | City Council | Michael Zeek (no incumbent) |
| Heymann Performing Arts Center Board | City Council | Jill Listi Munchrath (no incument) |
| LCG Professional Services Review Committee | City Council | One City Council member (incumbent Andy Naquin) |