– The St. Martinville City Council gave the relatives of the owner of a property at 2085 Terrace Highway in St. Martinville time to continue cleaning up the property after addressing the issue and voted to declare five properties to be public nuisances at Monday’s city council meeting.
The city had given Eddy Greig a month at its July 7 meeting to come back to the council with a plan to clear up the high grass, culverts and railroad ties that caused neighbors to file nuisance complaints about the property.
Greig’s son-in-law poisoned some of the high grass and cut some of it back, city zoning coordinator Otis Chatman told the council, but has not been able to remove much of the debris that led to complaints from neighbors, Chatman told the council on Monday.
Greig’s son-in-law said he is trying to obtain a bush hog to take care of some of the higher grass and weeds and has looked into using goats to control the weeds as well.
He said he is working to get a machine running that can move and stack the pile of wood timbers on the property on the rear of the property.
But he is unable to move the large concrete culverts that have been put on the property. He is exploring options including a contractor who can crush. The owner doesn’t have the money to hire trucks to move the culverts off the property.
Mayor Jason Willis asked if he had looked into selling the culverts and was told that is the plan but right now the family is concentrating on getting the weeds down.
The mayor said he would have the city’s engineers look at the culverts to see if possibly the city could use them. Greig’s family said the culverts range from 18 inches to probably 72 inches. Some of the culverts are broken but some just have chips broken off, Willis was told.
Greig can’t afford to have a fence professionally put up in front of the property, Willis was told, but the son-in-law could possibly put a fence up himself.
The mayor asked the family to return once a month to report on the progress being made.
The council voted to declare five other properties to be nuisances, including those at 215 Mary Ann, 322 Columbus, 220 Denbas, 311 W. Madison and 315 W. Madison.
The property on Mary Ann Street has had its roof collapse and reportedly has termite issues and would likely have to be treated for termites.
The property on Columbus Street failed its inspection.
The property on Denbas Street has two trailers that were damaged in a storm.
The Madison Street properties are two trailers in a mobile home park whose owners were evicted after not paying rent and the trailers are abandoned. City attorney Allan Durand said his opinion is that the owner of the property can tear those down because they are abandoned.
The council voted to declare all those properties to be nuisances.
Utility meter readings Councilwoman Carol Frederick asked the mayor to look into electric bills for four or five renters in one of the three apartment buildings in the El Dorado Apartments complex that showed they had zero consumption of electricity for the past month. Frederick asked if the meters had not been read or if there was an error on the bill.
Frederick said the renters do not want to get a bill that will charge them for two months usage next month.
Willis said he would find out what the issue was and let Frederick know.
Other business the council went into executive session to discuss the Old City Dump on Duchamp Road.
Property
Durand reported to the council that the city had hired environmental experts to look into the issues concerning whether the city has any legal responsibilities under Louisiana law with regard to further remediation or restoration of the Old City Dump. He presented the council with those experts’ final findings and with the findings of a subcontractor who could not find any records relating to the dump at the state Department of Environmental Quality or the Department of Natural Resources.
The mayor reported that the Chamber of Commerce’s “Arts on Fire” painted fire hydrants was awarded first place in a contest.
The Ville Splash Bash at the city swiming pool and splash pad is scheduled Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. with a ribbon cutting for the pavilion set at 1 p.m., the mayor said.
The back-to-school pool party is being held in conjunction with the Hall of Flame Smokers organization, with free swimming for school kids and free hot dogs and hamburgers.
The mayor also said that two vigils were held for Iris Davis, a St. Martinville teenager whose body was found this past month not far from her home.
“I just want everybody to know that the police are working diligently day and night on every lead that they’ve got,” Willis said. “They’ve teamed up with the Sheriff’s Department. They’re working very hard to put the right people behind bars. Condolences to the family.”
The mayor also said that the big fans have been installed at the Magnolia Park pavilion.
The pavilion at Adam Carlson Park is about 70 percent completed, he added.
Half of the houses that were on the list to be demolished this year have been knocked down, Willis said.
The mayor also announced the annual haircuts for kids in grades pre-K to 12 at J’s Kuttin Above the Rest on Main Street with free back to school supplies. The event will be from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
