Hoping to strike a deal with the city of Youngsville on the annexation of valuable land along the new Ambassador Caffery Parkway extension in south Lafayette Parish, the city of Broussard Tuesday pulled a pair of ordinances annexing an almost mile-long strip of land along the parkway between the Youngsville Highway and Bonin Road that overlaps a planned annexation by Youngsville (see map). Broussard’s annexation ordinances also called for the city to take in larger swaths of acreage west of Bonin Road almost to La Neuvelle Road.
Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais says he believes the two municipalities can find common ground. “I think we can come up with a plan that’s good for both of us,” he said Tuesday night after the city council meeting. Langlinais added that representatives of Broussard city government will attend a special meeting of the Youngsville City Council Wednesday evening to seek a compromise on their competing annexation plans. Langlinais said he envisions a compromise in which both municipalities annex according to their plans, but future businesses are positioned toward and back from the roadway so that both cities reap equal sales taxes.
However, Youngsville has already had petitions for annexations signed by the requisite land owners and registered voters in the proposed area and certified with the assessor and registrar offices. The assessor’s office has not certified Broussard’s annexation petitions, according to a source. And Youngsville Mayor Wilson Viator says his intentions haven’t changed. “I plan to go ahead with our annexation as planned,” he told The Independent Tuesday night. “The council needs to approve this for the good of Youngsville.”
Youngsville’s annexation plan includes a strip of land roughly 35 feet wide at the eastern edge that, if state law is interpreted to prohibit non-contiguous annexations — state law is evidently Byzantine and murky on the topic — Broussard could be blocked from annexing westward on the south side of Ambassador.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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Oh Charlie, wear your, " Anti-Durel vest, be safe !