Baja St. Martin

When you hear about the news from Iraq, doesn’t it sort of make you want to say, “I’m not surprised.” As soon as the U.S. troops left, the country began to fall apart and it looks to me like things will be the same as they were before Saddam was removed. Kind of makes you wonder if all the money and energy, the troops, the deaths were worth it.
Some of us from Belle River attended the June 17 meeting of the St. Martin Parish Council in order to hear and show our support for the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper director Dean Wilson. He and two colleagues, Greg Guirard and LCPA-West President Mike Bienvenu, showed slides of places in the spillway where canals and other waterways have been blocked, filled in, illegally in most cases, to prevent fishermen from gaining access to many fishing grounds. It’s pretty horrifying to see pictures of places where roads have been constructed where they had no business being, where entire bayous were blocked with dirt, where structures had been built illegally, often, Dean said, with out-of-compliance permits given. (There’s this spectre of permits, again!)
Wilson, Guirard and Bienvenu also expressed their support for the Belle River residents and for the parish council and zoning board for their denial of FAS’s rezoning request. They praised the parish and council for being firm on this issue and promised to help in any way they can to prevent FAS from putting a wastewater transfer site on the Belle River levee.
The owner of FAS and two associates were present but like us were not on the agenda to speak. I guess they came to see what Dean Wilson would say.
After the meeting, some of us spoke to Guy Cormier, Coach Delahoussaye and to parish attorney Chester Cedars, a gentleman I’d not met before. A charming man to be sure – very down to earth and seemingly easy going. We really appreciate all the support these three and the entire council have given us in this matter. Not to mention all the support of our community. Nobody here is taking this lightly. Our very peace of mind rests on the resolution of this situation. (My property value, too.)
Food for Seniors will be coming up on June 26 in the usual places – Stephensville Fire Station and the Belle River Community meeting room – and usual times. I’m hoping someone from the Council on Aging will be there to check out the needed modifications for having lunches served. Progress on getting services for this area seemed to be speeding along for awhile, but these past weeks nothing has happened. I’ve not been keeping in touch with COA people as I should, being pretty sidetracked with this levee issue.
I had a chance to spend time with a dear friend today – one I’ve not seen in a while and it was such a joy to chat and visit. She’s around 84 I think, but such a vital lady. Alert, curious, active. Today she amazed me when we were talking about some mutual friends and she pulled out her electronic tablet and proceeded to show me some pictures, and Google maps and a few other features. I was so impressed to see this lady handling this ultramodern stuff with ease and comfort. Her husband died about two years ago, her children are not all close, and she said, “Now I’ve got some time to learn about this stuff.” She laughed. “When I have trouble I drive to Houma where I bought this and they explain things to me. I’ll bet the store people all look out and say, here comes that old lady again.”
I told her I bet the employees are just as impressed as I am.

Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be e-mailed at lcooke9417@bellsouth.net.