Vermilion Parish Police Jury voted to let contractor remove debris in the LeBlanc area instead of police jury

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury had a tough decision to make regarding picking up debris caused by a microburst that fell on the northern part of the parish last weekend.
The first choice was to start picking up the debris along the road and transporting it to the parish landfill.
The second choice was to wait for a hired contractor to begin picking up the debris and transporting it to a different landfill.
Before making a decision at Wednesday night’s committee meeting, Vermilion Parish’s Office of Emergency Director Homer Stelly informed the jurors that he had surveyed the area of destruction and determined that there was more than $256,000 worth of damage.
This is good news because now the police jury can apply for a state-funded program to help cover the cost of picking up and hauling away the debris.
The state program requires at least $256,000 worth of damage to qualify. After surveying the LeBlanc Community and near Delcambre, Stelly informed the jurors that there was at least $256,000 worth of damage.”
The state was responsible for 75 percent of the contractor’s cost, while the police jury was responsible for the remaining 25 percent.
Police Juror Brent Landry, whose district was hit the hardest, asked, “Can the police jury begin picking up debris now while waiting on the contractor?”
Keith Roy, the police jury administrator, reminded the jurors that if the police jury starts removing downed trees from the side of the road now, by the time the state approves hiring a contractor, the cost could be less than the estimated $256,000. This is because the police jury trucks were able to haul off a lot of debris to the parish landfill.
If the state approves the police jury for the program, the state will only give the contractor 10 days to work in the parish.
Police Juror Errol Domingue said, “I worry that in 10 days, people will not get their debris to the road quickly.”
Roy also reminded the jurors that the police jury had yet to start the process of applying for the state program. “You have to wait for the state to approve us first,” Roy said. “Government does not move fast.”
The police jury decided not to allow their trucks to start removing debris in the LeBlanc Community until the state approves the debris removal program.
Instead, they will let a contractor handle the debris removal. Roy couldn’t provide a timetable for the state’s decision on whether the parish qualifies for the program, so there’s no set date for the contractors to begin work in the LeBlanc Community.