LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / August 4, 1999

HAHNVILLE – Nine years of struggle and negotiation apparently ended for St. Charles Parish President Chris Tregre when the Parish Council voted toaccept a West Bank hurricane protection alignment from the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers.

“This is out-and-out garbage,” Tregre fumed after the meeting. He stoppedshort of saying whether he would veto the ordinance.

Councilman “Ram” Ramchandran sponsored the ordinance to accept an alignment for the levee which, according to Ramchandran, would protect the West Bank residents from storm surge.

He added that material for constructing the levee would be available from the Davis Diversion Project and claimed the necessary permit for the levee’s construction could be in the parish’s hands in a matter of weeks.

Tregre, on the other hand, said his alignment already has a donated right of way and that the cost of acquiring new right of way would be more than the levee’s construction itself.

Tregre said the Davis soil would not be readily available until after subsidence is checked over a few years, and that litigation over expropriation would tie up the project for years to come.

Meanwhile, Tregre added, all he wanted from the Corps was “a simple yes or no” on the parish’s application using the alignment proposed.

“They are not holding up the process,” Beverly Ethridge of the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency told Tregre at Monday’s council meeting.

“They want you to come into line.”Council chairman Terry Authement added, “The corps told me they don’t want to be in a confrontation with the parish at all.”As support for Tregre’s position evaporated, the parish president insisted he wanted the council to hold off voting on accepting the corps alignment until after the corps has had the chance to respond to his latest negotiated concessions.

“If we OK this, how long will it take for us to get the permit?” Councilman Bill Sirmon asked.

“Six to eight weeks,” Ramchandran declared.

“I’ve heard enough of Mr. Tregre,” Councilman Ellis Alexander added.”Nothing he can say will change my mind. It’s the same old rhetoric. We’vewasted years on this.”Tregre explained that acceptance of the corps alignment would leave the parish open to liability once landowners sue to block the project. He citeda similar case in Jefferson Parish, where the landowners collected on thousands of dollars in damage claims.

With this acceptance, Tregre warned, the parish’s West Bank residents will have to deal not only with a poorly-designed levee but also with increased taxes to pay damages to the property owners.

Tregre also argued that the corps levee would trap rainwater around the Willowridge Subdivision levee, forcing that system to fail. He noted thecurrent ring levee system worked, even in the devastating May 8, 1995, flood.

“The water was gone by the next morning,” Willowridge developer and resident Greg Lier recalled. “I want hurricane protection as much as thenext guy, but it’s got to make sense.”Councilman Brian Champagne argued that the parish has a donated right of way for the Tregre alignment, cutting construction time, it has flow- through structures to keep enclosed wetland areas wet, and there are conservation easements, as demanded by the corps.

Champagne moved to table the vote, but he received no second to his motion.

When the vote came, the corps alignment was approved 6-2, with Champagne and Barry Minnich voting with Tregre and Dickie Duhe absent.

A possible veto override demands a two-thirds vote to be successful, meaning that four council members voting with Tregre could sustain the veto.

The next regular council meeting is scheduled Aug. 16.

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