By Jeffra Wise DeViney
Morning Session
At the morning session of Cameron Parish Police Jury meeting held on Wednesday, June 7, Mike Heinen, Jeff Davis Co-op Chief Executive officer, told jurors that a faulty valve had been isolated as the cause of the fire and the electrical outage at the Fulton station that started around 12:15 p.m. on Saturday June 3. Power was out for about 40 hours while the emergency teams and Jeff Davis Electric and their contractors all worked around the clock to contain the fire, remove debris and reestablish electricity around 6 a.m. Monday.
No injuries were incurred and he thanked all those involved that helped to rectify the situation that left the area without power for about 40 hours.
BECi Engineer Beaux Tate spoke about the upcoming transmission line installment project that will begin around Aug. 1, starting at the Intracostal waterway. Materials are ordered including poles and foundations. There will be flags starting to appear on the side of the road once in place.
August and September there will be lots of activities beginning. It is estimated it will take until June 2025 and $370 million to be without generators. With FEMA funds BECi can restore progress back to the Fulton, Johnson Bayou and Hackberry areas.
Kim Montie, Cameron Parish Port Director, updated jurors on the Alternative Oyster Culture Park operation that is happening in Cameron Parish. Grantees will receive $40,000 to set up on a 2-acre parcel plot when the farm is ready. There are 15 plots. Presently nine of those are available. Anyone interested in applying should contact Montie at kim@cameronparishport.com or go by 180 Henry St., Cameron.
The farm, consisting of floating cages, will raise oysters from thumbnail size to full oysters in 6-12 months. These oysters will be for a specifically different market. They will be handled daily and eventually end up in restaurants selling on the 1/2 shell. About 150,000 oysters will be raised and harvested. To date one Calcasieu and four Cameron Parish residents have been awarded the Sea Grant. Montie explained they are holding off allowing anyone from coming in from other areas or out of state to offer to local first. The main investment is in the cages and mesh bags used to grow the oysters.
Sheriff Ron Johnson spoke about a dog nuisance problem. Currently, they give citations on nuisance dogs. Johnson explained that the Police Jury is responsible for providing shelter with air conditioning and feeding/care taking the animals once picked up. A dog catcher would need to be hired as well. District Attorney Tom Barrett spoke and said they can use a criminal statue to resolve vicious dogs, but it’s about a 30 day turnaround process.
It was requested that Barrett follow-up with Calcasieu Parish’s District Attorney. D. A. Barrett suggested the jurors look harder at their ordinances and maybe make some changes in penalties. Parish Administrator Katie Armentor suggested that the subject be tabled for more discussion later; a facility would cost upwards of $300,000.
To read the rest of this story, please see page five of the print edition of The Cameron Parish Pilot.