Mayor Leroy Sullivan update on Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District project

Greetings to the citizens of Donaldsonville,

It gives me great pleasure to come to you today with an update from the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District.

Today a special meeting was held at City Hall with the Fresh Water District's Executive Director Dustin Rabalais and attorney Barry Marionneaux, along with city attorneys Spencer and Chuck Long, McKim & Creed's Glenn Shaheen and the Director of Economic and Community Development Michele Ashby.

The main topic of discussion was that the citizens were not being heard and their complaints were not being discussed at the district level. Mr. Rabalais stated that complaints can come in several ways; directly to the district, to the onsite engineers or the project representatives. The procedure is that when complaints are received, they are addressed within 24 to 36 hours. Moving forward I recommend that all complaints go directly to the Fresh Water District, to ensure that your complaints are being heard, reported and resolved in a timely manner.

Unfortunately Mr. Rabalais only spoke of two complaints and he directly contacted those residents. I know that there are many more of you that have had noise and vibration complaints. I would like to emphasize that the procedure moving forward is that the residents of Donaldsonville are to contact a representative of the Fresh Water District in order to inspect and resolve current or future damages to home or property.

The other important topic was the permit allowing this project to be completed in the Historic District of Donaldsonville. We will be retrieving the permits to ensure that what is being done is within the scope of work allowed in our Historic District. This will help us in maintaining our efforts moving forward.

Lastly but most important, the Fresh Water District has agreed to meet with the citizens in our Historic District that are directly affected by the noise and vibration levels at a special meeting. They will answer your questions, explain what is actually happening and give solutions that we can all agree upon. The Fresh Water District will speak more at that scheduled meeting regarding a resolution to the noise pollution and vibration levels.

Sincerely, 
Mayor Leroy Sullivan Sr.