By BROOKE GOLDMAN

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish citizens voted Saturday at various parish precincts with a 75 percent vote for the $18 million general obligation bond and a 75 percent vote against hiring an assistant parish council secretary.

The $18 million bond from the state of Louisiana will be used for public works projects, enhancements to infrastructure, drainage work, new road construction, maintenance of existing streets, recreation upgrades, a library in Garyville, a new senior center in Reserve and a community center on the West bank.

A multipurpose facility is one of the biggest projects in the works, said Parish President Nickie Monica. He said once the parish hires an architect and receives defined information regarding the project, it will be constructed next to the new library along U.S. Highway 51 in LaPlace.

“A community center will attract trade shows and fill our hotels and restaurants,” said Monica. “That is why we are marketing this facility and there is no center like this in any of the River Parishes.”

“The taxes will come back to the Parish,” Monica added.

“The land is there already, we just have to develop a plan as soon as possible,” said Councilman Allen St. Pierre.

“From an economic development standpoint, the new library and this center are definitely upbeat and it shows we are trying to offer the community as many things as we can,” said Councilman Jobe Boucvalt.

Councilman Ranney Wilson said the bond issue affects all districts in the Parish and he will try to use his portion of the funds for drainage repairs and the planning of improvements at Belle Pointe Park.

“I want more acreage, additional equipment and the possibility of restrooms at the park,” said Wilson.

Councilman Steve Lee said the Parish will be able to do things they never had the chance to do because the money was not there.

There will be no raise in taxes for St. John citizens with this bond issue.

Farlough said the vote to hire another council secretary failed because the public was confused by the wording.

“We need another secretary if something happens to the one we have,” said Farlough. “I think it was just misunderstood.”

Boucvalt said the council needs someone else if their current secretary goes on vacation or is out sick and was not sure why it failed. According to Boucvalt, it seemed people did not want to change the charter and he possibly did not explain the item well enough.

“It was no big deal,” said Boucvalt. “One day it will be addressed and I will do a better job explaining this to the people.”

“I wasn’t a big supporter myself of this,” said Wilson. “It was so loosely written and with numbers like that I wouldn’t reintroduce it.”

Lee said this is the third year in a row this item has been placed on a ballot. It has failed all three times.

“We’re fine they way we are,” said Lee. “They (the secretaries) do an excellent job and the public seems to want to go with the charter officials.”

“It’s similar in St. Charles (Parish),” Lee added.

The 1/2 mill St. John Associated for Retarded Citizens (ARC) tax voted for will increase taxes for the citizens of St. John Parish unlike the bond issue.

“This was so people could enjoy the benefits of the program,” said Lee.

The St. John ARC is a non-profit organization providing a work/training program serving the adult mentally handicapped citizens of the Parish.

The program gives clients a way to socialize with others, learn skills and crafts, perform low skilled jobs and a chance to lead a normal life.

ARC serves 42 clients and pays approximately $7,000 per year to serve a client their work training program, compared to $50,000 per year a client to reside in a home.

The vote in favor of the “1 mill” proposition will replace the current “1/2 mill” proposition in April.

This increase will allow ARC to cover the cost of adding 10 new clients. It will also help with the salary of two additional instructors, transportation and maintenance vehicles and classroom renovations.

According to Monica, voter turnout was low with only 12 to 15 percent of citizens voting.

“The problem was that it was a general election with many items on the ballot,” said Monica. “The weather affected voting as well since it was raining.”

Council Chairman Cleveland Farlough said there are a number of reasons why people did not vote, the main one being the public does not have faith in the government.

“Not too many people knew about the election either,” said Farlough. “It was not widely decimated.”

St. Pierre agreed and said there was not enough advertisement. Councilman Dale Wolfe said the people had no interest in the terms of proposition even though all were important.

According to Wilson, approximately 2,000 people voted and he had no comment on why that number was lower than last year.

Lee said, the low turnout was due to the lack of an opposing item on the ballot. There was no organized opposition, Lee said.

“Any time you have taxes and one charter change voter turnout is low,” said Boucvalt. “It’s not like people were running for office.”