Parish President V.J. St. Pierre and the council traveled to the NACO conference in Washington, D.C. last week on a mission to enhance St. Charles Parish and share their priority projects with Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, along with Rep. Charlie Melancon.
“We had a great time at the conference and it was very informative and educational,” Councilwoman Carolyn Schexnaydre said. “We were able to meet with Senator David Vitter and Mary Landrieu, and Rep. Charlie Melancon about the main concerns we have for our parish.”
Schexnaydre says the group left three packets of information before heading out of the individual meetings. One of those packets concerned Airline Highway and installing a cable barrier system.
“We talked to them about the levees and the situation on Airline Highway and we gave them a list of our priority projects for the parish,” she said. “We talked to them about pressing the Army Corps of Engineers about securing our permits to begin construction of the levees we need.”
Schexnaydre says they attended a meeting for first timers and were well received by everyone.
“Everyone complimented us for being the first group to come to a conference where every council person was in attendance,” she said. “One of the highlights of my visit was attending all of the special sessions.”
Schexnaydre says one session involved disaster preparedness.
“We attended a session called ‘how prepared is your county when disaster strikes,’” she said. “We were in one meeting and a gentleman stood up and said the people in Louisiana were to blame for Hurricane Katrina.”
Schexnaydre says she got very upset by the comments.
“But then a FEMA representative spoke and said that it wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was everyone’s fault,” she said. “Those who didn’t get out and those who couldn’t.”
Schexnaydre says there’s a new official working with the Army Corps of Engineers.
“I think we will get our permits,” she said. “This new colonel seems really committed to helping us secure the paperwork to get things started without the long delays.”
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