By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

VACHERIE – The St. James Parish Council on Wednesday evening adopted a previously dicussed mosquito-spraying ordinance, but not without some dissent.
The ordinance passed with a 5-1-1 vote — Councilmen Alvin. St. Pierre, Terry McCreary, Ken Brass, Ralph Patin and James Brazan all said yes without hesitation. District II Councilman Jason Amato, however, voiced a decisive no.
District V Councilman Charles Ketchens abstained from the vote.
“I just don’t see the interest in mosquito control,” said Amato.
The councilman said he had done his best over the past few weeks to gauge public interest in the matter but received little to no response. Amato said he even asked around during the Lutcher Quarterback Club’s annual Bulldog Golf Tournament.
“Sewage, back water flood control, that’s probably an ordinance in itself. Not mosquitos. Not for this kind of money yet,” said Amato.
Parish President Timmy Roussel assured Amato that sewage and flood water control still remained a top priority but advised that the council should not avoid passing the ordinance since standard mosquito control measures for the average citizen have become more expensive.
“Mosquito repellant (is) $6 and something a can. Probably figure you can go through six cans. Or you have citronella candles, and the varieties and forms of that are $3, $5 and of course $7 and $8. People are spending money to keep mosquitoes off them through those means. It’s just a good contrast to what people are already paying. They might not need to buy that if we go into this control system,” said Roussel.
St. Pierre agreed with this point.
Amato also suggested that the council wait another two weeks before approving the resolution so governing bodies in the town of Lutcher could decide whether or not it will participate in the contract. The ordinance wording includes both Lutcher and the town of Gramercy, and will provide service to the areas should they sign a contract with the parish.
Roussel advised that the council move forward with the resolution anyway, saying there would be time for Lutcher to participate while the board negotiated requests for proposals with mosquito control contractors. Roussel went on to say that the town had been dragging their feet about committing to the service even though they had been made aware of it previously.
The council also passed a resolution to authorize a 5.27 percent budget cut for the parish’s Head Start program. The cut would mean a loss of $72,097, and would theoretically reduce the number of eligible Head Start children by 12 students.
The program, however, faces additional challenges that that will futher reduce the number of children. According to a recent community assessment, the number of 3-year-olds has declined recently because of a population decrease. In addition, the school district is currently competing for funding to serve more 4-year-olds from low-income families. Because the children in question are normally served by the Dual Enrollment program option, the move would have a drastic effect.
“So at the end of the day none of our 3- or 4-year-olds will be left home right? We know one of the two programs will pick them up and give them quality education,” said  Amato.
Michelle Octave, director of human resources, said there was still uncertainty regarding whether the School Board would receive the grant, but they should have some notification by the end of July or beginning of August. Octave also suggested that the council collaborate with the School Board to decide how they could continue their partnership without competing for dollars.
Brazan agreed with this sentiment.
“I think we do need to talk to our School Board members. We need to have our parish president and the superintendent and their group have a meeting and find out where we’re going with it because I don’t think we should be negotiationg aginst each other. We should be able to come up with some agreement that would benefit the both of us,” he said.
The council agreed to set up a meeting with the school district as soon as possible before the June 15 application deadline.