After weeks of deferring the matter, the council approved Parish President Billy Nungesser’s appointment of Leo Palazzo as Lead Parish Attorney by a 6 – 2 vote. Palazzo, who ran for Plaquemines Parish Sheriff in 2011, is the owner of Jefferson Parish- based Palazzo Law Firm. He will be replacing Steve Braud upon his October [...]
The Corps of Engineers, FEMA and several regional parish officials, including Parish President Billy Nungesser, provided testimony on the response and on-going recovery from Hurricane Isaac at the September 25 U.S. Senate Field Hearing in Gretna. The hearing was led by chair of the Senate Appropriation Subcommittee, Mary Landrieu and other federal legislators including Senator [...]
Although both parties are split on where the blame lies for the lack of progress on the Braithwaite to White Ditch back levee, former Councilchair Don Beshel and Parish President Billy Nungesser both agree that even if it were completed, a 12 foot back levee would not have been much help in the face of [...]
On Sept. 3, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser met with President Barack Obama in LaPlace to discuss damage caused by Hurricane Isaac and ongoing recovery efforts in Plaquemines Parish. They discussed both short and long-term recovery plans for Plaquemines Parish, including immediate assistance provided by FEMA and long-term aid from local and state government. Nungesser [...]
Residents who rode out the storm in their South Plaquemines homes remained trapped by flooding on Hwy. 23 and were finally able to leave on September 1. As of press time, there were still flood waters from Ironton to West Pointe-a-la-Hache, making that crucial stretch of Hwy. 23 impassable. Parish President Billy Nungesser authorized police-led [...]
Louisiana State Police have confirmed that the white haze seen throughout Belle Chasse on August 17 was the result of nitrogen used to destabilize a tank full of divinylbenzine at Sun Drilling Co., not smoke from a fire as initially thought by many residents. No divinylbenzine was released. “We’re still looking at the cause for [...]
As a means to maintain the parish’s water supply while in the midst of the salt water river intrusion, the parish has been working feverishly with neighboring parishes to pump water in, while the Corps builds the underwater sill to stop the wedge from moving any further upriver. Orleans and Jefferson Parishes are continuing to [...]
As many taxpayers may have noticed in reassessment letters that have gone out in the mail, property values in the parish have increased. According to Assessor Robert Gravolet’s most recent analysis, values parish-wide are up by 17 percent and the parish’s tax base has also increased by 7 percent. Gravolet feels that since the parish’s [...]
The six month moratorium on the issuance of new borrow pit permits may soon be lifted if the council votes on the new legislation at their August 21 meeting. An ordinance was introduced at the August 9 meeting that would lift the six month moratorium on permits, but in order for that to pass, the [...]
After months of litigation, the parish has reached a settlement with the Livaudais Company and Levee Materials LLC, as announced during the August 9 PPC meeting. In March, the companies were denied a permit to excavate borrow pits at a Scarsdale Rd. site in Braithwaite. The companies argued that everything in their application packet in [...]
