MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING -BOARD OF ALDERMEN Monday September 8, 2025

[City Clerk]

CITY OF JEANERETTE JEANERETTE, LA
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING -BOARD OF ALDERMEN Monday September 8, 2025
Proceedings of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Jeanerette, State of Louisiana, at their Regular meeting place held Monday September 8, 2025 at the Public Hearing/Meeting at 6:30 p.m. The Mayor called the meeting to order and Alderman Bourgeois led the prayer. The Mayor led the pledge of allegiance. Those present were: Mayor Carol Bourgeois Jr., Alderwoman Clay, Alderwoman Charlene Moore, Alderman Garland Bourgeois, Alderwoman Christia Simmons, City Attorney Lucretia Pecantte and City Clerk Susan Colden, Alderman Ray Duplechain was absent. Mayor Carol Bourgeois Jr. determined that a quorum was present. Alderwoman Simmons motioned to have the agenda expanded to add item 9C, Sewer Plant update by Nick Sonnier. Alderwoman Clay seconded Roll call vote,
Yeas: Alderwoman Clay, Alderwoman Moore, Alderman Bourgeois, Alderwoman Simmons,
Nay: None
Absent: Alderman Duplechain
Abstain: None
Motion Carried
Alderwoman Clay motioned to have the agenda expanded to add 10E, Discussion of City Attorney, Alderwoman Moore seconded. Roll call vote,
Yeas: Alderwoman Clay, Alderwoman Moore, Alderman Bourgeois, Alderwoman Simmons,
Nay: None
Absent: Alderman Duplechain
Abstain: None
Motion Carried
5. Public Comment, 6-13, there were no speaker cards submitted.
6.A. Approval of Minutes from regular meeting, August 11, 2025, Motion by Alderman Bourgeois, second by Alderwoman Simmons, motion carried with a voice vote of all yea, no nay.
B. Approval of Minutes from Personnel Committee September 2, 2025, Motion by Alderman Bourgeois, second by Alderwoman Clay, motion carried with a voice vote of all yea, no nay.
C. Approval of Minutes from Finance Committee September 2, 2025, Motion by Alderwoman Clay, second by Alderwoman Simmons, motion carried with a voice vote of all yea, no nay.
D. Approval of Minutes from Public Works & Safety Committee Sept 2, 2025 Motion by Alderwoman Simmons, second by Alderman Bourgeois, motion carried with a voice vote of all yea, no nay.
7.Correspondence by Mayor-The Mayor shared that First National Bank of Jeanerette will be celebrating 120 years at an event on September 18 at the Madison Banquet Center in Broussard. The Mayor then reviewed the information from Laura Brown’s group Bee the One to Help Someone, regarding September being suicide prevention month.
8.Announcements-The Mayor reported that Jeanerette Homecoming will be October 10. He then recognized the great progress being made on the Raintree Store and the opening date looks to be on track for November 19.
9. Reports A. Statewide Electric report on Sewer and Water operations by Barry Segura. At the water plant the main 12” valve was installed. He then addressed the hydrant testing and how some areas had discolored water. The next week the city-wide flush was conducted and that cleared out the sediments. The brine pump was changed. Sewer Plant they will be changing out the shorted wires that are going to the fixed aerator. The electrical issue is fixed at the Canal lift station. They got a purchase order for a second pump at the Pellerin lift station.
B. Update on blighted property project. What is completed and which property is next. There was one property in Ward 2 on Henkle and Martin Luther King, next is the trailer on Canal and Alexander. There are efforts to further clean up Teche Plaza through efforts of Kevin Bachula and Jimmy Landry. The owner is cooperating and they are looking at installing a fence to prevent dumping. There was a question on who are the demolition contractors. The Mayor replied that he has about 4 different contractors that supplied the necessary paperwork, they are Savoy, L & K, and R & D.
C. Sewer Plant updates by Nick Sonnier-Water sector commission granted an extension until the middle of September to provide proof of local match. Plans and Specs were submitted two Fridays ago to the Department of Health to allow the loan to be closed. The loan was closed last week, so now we can provide proof of local match. Since conditions have been met we should be authorized to move to the bidding process. The next item is to purchase the property. There will be a meeting tomorrow concerning that. As far as getting the funds for the purchase of the property there has to be a request of funds from water sector to draw those funds. For the LCDBG project the sewer I & I, there is a pre-construction conference planned for tomorrow morning.
10. Agenda Items
A. Approval of the revised Professional Services Agreement for the 2025 COP Water System Improvements-Contract A & Contract B. Attorney Pecantte stated that she was not given a packet and could not review the contract. Alderwoman Clay made a motion to table this item. Alderwoman Simmons requested permission to asked some questions concerning the budget and Alderwoman Clay agreed and withdrew her motion. Alderwoman Simmons asked Mr. Sonnier about the budget, she was under the impression that the million dollars was to go towards the ground storage tanks. But the budget appears in the capital outlay application to have one tank for $370,000 two would be $775,000 and construction budget of $629,000. The contingency is half a million dollars where the old budget was $29,000. You are saying that Capital outlay is giving us a million but your construction budget is only $629,000. Mr. Sonnier explained that the board asked them to break the project into 2 different phases with a contract A and a contract B. The understanding was to do the water treatment plant first and any leftover funds would go to the replacement of meters the board replied that that was not correct that the emphasis was to be the ground storage tanks and then any valves and such at the plant. Mr. Sonnier explained that the Capital Outlay application was done over a year ago and the applications are typically generalized. They are looking at a revised scope, Alderwoman Simmons then asked if then they believe they can refurbish both ground storage tanks for $629,000, and Mr. Sonnier stated yes, we agree that we can perform this amount of work for this amount of money. The million from Capital Outlay with the town’s commitment of $333,333. The discussion last month was to focus on the water treatment plant, contract A, so they removed contract B, which is the meters. After the work in contract A is bid and into construction the remaining budget can be looked at to determine if some of the water meters can be replaced. Contract A has a project cost of $768,000. The difference in the funding vs cost results in a contingency of $565,000, which if everything goes according to plan could be used towards replacement of water meters. Alderwoman Simmons reminded the board that our City Attorney must examine all contracts and Alderwoman Clay motioned to table item 10A until our attorney has the document can review the contract. Motion seconded by Alderwoman Moore. Motion carried with a voice vote of all yea, no nay and no abstain.
B. Approval of drawings for the City Hall renovation project by Mr. Coray Wiles. Mr. Wiles reviewed the proposed changes to the building focusing on functionality, ADA issues, and security of the building. He outlined the public and secure staff areas. He then reviewed the next steps of the process. Alderwoman Clay questioned if there were any other firms were considered for the architectural services. Ms. Pecantte further inquired about any other companies involved in the initial selection and the Mayor said there were three other firms and Olivia from Sellers handled and it was a few years ago that it occurred. He went on to say that the delay in the project was due in part to Mr. Gerald Gesser passing away, Mr. Coray Wiles took over the project. Alderman Bourgeois made a motion to table this item until the attorney has the documents for review, Alderwoman Clay seconded the motion. Motion carried with a voice vote of all yea, no nay and no abstain.
C. Approval of revisions to Policy 26, Sexual Harassment-Alderwoman Simmons noted that the change to the policy was a result of notes from our auditors noticing that we do not state the yearly requirement. Alderwoman Clay motioned to the revision. Alderwoman Moore seconded, roll call vote,
Yeas: Alderwoman Clay, Alderwoman Moore, Alderman Bourgeois, Alderwoman Simmons,
Nay: None
Absent: Alderman Duplechain
Abstain: None
Motion Carried
D. Approval of Carts, LLC to perform monthly accounting, Alderwoman Simmons explained that firm is run former treasurer, by Catherine Roy and this would be the monthly accounting and some extra items as needed. Alderwoman Simmons motioned to approve, Alderman Bourgeois seconded, roll call vote,
Yeas: Alderwoman Clay, Alderwoman Moore, Alderman Bourgeois, Alderwoman Simmons,
Nay: None
Absent: Alderman Duplechain
Abstain: None
Motion Carried
10E. Discussion of City Attorney, Attorney Pecantte explained that for the last 3 months the Mayor has prohibited her from receiving the council packet so therefore she was unable to provide the board legal opinions on the items before the board. She also stated that the Mayor has told the insurance agents and vendors not to speak to her. Attorney Pecantte said since she is blocked from speaking to the lawyers of the insurance companies, she is unable to provide the board with updates of pending litigation. She also added she has tried to resolve the issue by writing the letter to the Mayor, which the board was copied on. She stated her feelings of the effects and implications of these actions. The Mayor responded in 2021 he recommended Ms. Pecantte as the attorney for the city. He feels that her conduct many times has been uncooperative and unprofessional. In January of this year Ms. Pecantte filed suit against the Mayor in his role regarding payment for services and a civil penalty. The Mayor went on to state that numerous attorneys and officials he has talked to stated that Ms. Pecantte’s actions by filing the suit represented a conflict of interests. There was discussion among the board, attorney and the Mayor. Alderman Bourgeois told the Mayor that the attorney needs to have the packet to advise the council. Alderwoman Clay motioned to allow Attorney Pecantte to file a Writ of Mandamus to require the Mayor to allow her to receive her packet. There was discussion and then Alderwoman Moore made a motion to order the City Clerk to give the attorney her packet. Alderwoman Clay seconded the motion. The Mayor refused to allow the vote. With the motion on the floor the Council left the board room.
14.Adjournment



_____________/s/___________________
Carol Bourgeois Jr., Mayor
ATTEST:



__________/s/___________________
Susan Colden City Clerk
Seal