New lawsuit filed against the parish

A councilman elect and an attorney have joined forces and filed a lawsuit against St. Charles Parish over the $27.4 million dollar bond issue that would bring hurricane levee protection to the West Bank.

Councilman elect Terry Authement and Leon C. Vial, an attorney, have joined Councilwoman elect Carolyn Schexnaydre and Ama resident and activist Jara Roux in taking action against the St. Charles Parish council for allegedly overcharging residents to get a pump station put in on the West Bank.

However, sources say that Roux and Schexnaydre's lawsuit could get thrown out of court because it wasn't publicized in the Herald Guide's legal section in a timely manner. In order to keep the lawsuit in place and to stop the current administration from moving forward with the bond issue, Authement and Vial have refiled the suit.

Authement and Vial's lawsuit was filed on Dec. 20, a few days before the scheduled hearing on Jan. 2.

Roux and Schexnaydre filed suit against the parish claiming the project's pricing was inflated. That case will be heard in Judge Robert Chaisson's courtroom on Jan. 2.

Judge Kirk Granier will hear the second law suit filed by Authement and Vial against the parish on Jan. 16.

The new council takes office on Jan. 14.
"I'm glad they filed the lawsuit," Parish President elect-V.J. St. Pierre said. "The way they went out for bid on the pumps wasn't right."

St. Pierre says that although residents need that pumping station on the West Bank, the project needs to be redone, allowing for new bids in order to get lower figures and the best price for parish residents.

Some residents were concerned that because Vial  was hired by the parish as the new attorney, his being a part of the lawsuit could be a conflict of interest, but St. Pierre says it's not.

"He's acting in the best interest of St. Charles Parish," St. Pierre said.
Vial will replace Bobby Raymond who worked with the last parish administration as the parish attorney.