Marksville rejects, then oks, water connection

A request to connect an out-of-town property to the Marksville water system was unanimously approved in a special City Council meeting on April 16 -- almost a week after it was denied on a 3-3 vote.

The request by Edward Hayes to connect his property at the end of Benjamin Drive to the city water and sewer system drew unexpected debate at the council’s monthly meeting on April 10.

Council members Clyde Benson, Mary Sampson and Edward Conway voted against the proposal while Mayor John Lemoine and council members Frank Havard and Michael Gremillion voted in favor.Under Marksville’s city charter, the mayor is a voting member of the council.

The item was revisited in a special meeting on April 16 when it was determined that Sampson should have abstained from the vote because the proposed development of the property is to be financed by her employer, Union Bank.

When the council met to reconsider Hayes’ request, it approved the water connection on a 5-0 vote with Sampson abstaining.

The issue of connecting the property to the sewer system will be decided when Hayes presents a proposed plan on which route he would use to connect the property to the sewer system.

VOTING BREAKDOWN

The discussion at the April 10 meeting ended up breaking down the vote along a black-white-- although nobody mentioned race or skin color while making their comments. The three voting “yes” were white. The three voting “no” were black.

Benson said he objected to the motion because two other subdivisions -- Tricia Park and Richardson Place II -- have issues the city has not addressed.

Those subdivisions’ populations are predominantly black. Hayes is white.

Benson said it is not fair to allow Hayes to connect to the city water and sewer system when the city has refused to allow the Tricia Park subdivision to connect to city sewer.

He also said Richardson Place II has been waiting to be annexed into the city for about two years, but the annexation has not been finalized.

He said he couldn’t vote for Hayes’ request until those neighborhoods’ issues were addressed.

Lemoine said he agreed with Benson’s overall position that all requests from out-of-town property owners should be approved or none should.

“Otherwise we end up in court explaining why we allowed one to connect and not the other,” Lemoine said.

It was noted that the city has allowed several property owners just outside of town to connect to the city water and sewer systems, at their own cost.

Havard said the city has not refused to allow Tricia Park to connect to the city sewer system. The city has agreed to let the subdivision connect to the sewer system once its sewer treatment system meets city standards.

Concerning the Richardson II annexation, City Attorney Derrick Whittington said the council denied his recommendation that the city hire an outside attorney to finish the paperwork to officially annex the subdivision.

He said it was noted at that time that his workload for the city was very heavy and it would be good to contract with an attorney specifically for that annexation paperwork.

Based on councilmen’s comments concerning the two-year delay, Whittington said he “will put some other things on the back burner and get to it.”

He said his workload has not diminished in the past two years, but he will make the annexation a priority.

WILL RETIRE HERE

Hayes lives in Houston but said he is from Marksville and still has family here. He will retire here in a few years and plans to construct about 48 homes on the property -- two per lot on the 24-lot subdivision.

The first two will be for him and his daughter.

His plans call for 800 sq. ft. homes with two bedrooms. However, he said if there is a demand for larger homes, he will revise his development plans to have fewer total homes.

When the motion to approve his request to connect to the water system died on a tie vote, Hayes looked puzzled.

“I don’t know why this happened,” he told the council. “You have done this for others.

He said his understanding of the discussion concerning his request indicates “you have not done something for other subdivisions, but I am being penalized for that.”

Hayes told the council that at this time he is “a customer trying to tie in to your water system.”

He said eventually hopes to connect to the sewer system, but is prepared to install an independent sewer treatment system if he has to.

He also noted at one point that he might want his subdivision to be annexed into the city -- which would create more property tax revenue for City Hall.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other action, the council:

-- Discussed a rash of break-ins around town, despite increased patrols. Most cases are not actually break-ins, but thieves taking advantage of unlocked vehicles and taking items in the car. Citizens are urged to lock their vehicle, even if they intend to be away only away for a short time.

-- Were told that for the month of March, the city received $510 in fines from Ward 2/City Court while the Police Jury received $4,174. The two entities equally share paying operating costs for the court, but the parish receives most of the fines due to cases being prosecuted as violations of state law rather than city ordinances.

-- Discussed the recent purchase of 10 goats to be kept at the sewer treatment ponds to replace animals that escaped when the fence was cut.
Goats are used to maintain the grass due to landscape that is not conducive to lawn maintenance equipment.
In addition to the goats, the city has three donkeys at the site. In addition to grazing on the site, the donkeys also protect the goats from coyotes.