St. Martin Council announces shedule of 'away' meetings

The St. Martin Parish Council will begin a schedule of “away” meetings with next month’s committee meetings on Monday, Feb. 16, at the Cade Recreation Center, it was announced Tuesday.
The combined Public Works and Administrative/Finance committee meetings were bumped up from their usual Tuesday slot because of Mardi Gras, Feb. 17. (Feb. 16 is Presidents Day, which is not officially observed by Parish Government, noted Parish President Guy Cormier.)
The intention is to bring the deliberations of Parish Government to each of the council election districts, including the detached and distant lower St. Martin, Cormier told the council at last week’s committee meetings in their usual location, the Carroll J. Fuselier Meeting Room of the Annex Building on W. Port in St. Martinville. It was last done over a decade ago when the council was trying to pass a parish-wide road tax. Cormier said his intention is to try to hold meetings around the parish every other year in the future.
Because of the responsibility to record the official actions of the council and the technical wherewithal to do so now installed in the Carroll J. Fuselier Meeting Room, it’s far easier to take the information-only committee meetings on the road than a regular meeting of the parish’s governing body. Every third Tuesday of the month, the council meets as a committee of the whole to discuss public works beginning at 4:30 p.m. and administrative and financial matters at 5 p.m. or immediately after the first meeting.
The “away” meetings will begin at 5 p.m. instead of 4:30, Cormier said.
No votes or otherwise official action are taken at committee meetings. Regular, or voting meetings, are held on the first Tuesday of each month.
Here’s the “away” meeting schedule:
Cade – Feb. 16, Cade Recreation Center, 1650 Smede Hwy.
Henderson – March 17, Henderson Recreation Center, 1007 Amy St.
Cecilia – April 21, Cecilia Health Unit, 2347 Cecilia Sr. High Rd.
Belle River – May 19, Belle River Recreation Complex, 1413 Highway 70.
Catahoula – June 16, Catahoula Fire Station, 4340 Catahoula Hwy.
Breaux Bridge – July 21, St. Martin Parish School Board, 625 Corporate Blvd.
Coteau Holmes – Aug. 18, Coteau Holmes Meeting Center, 1814 Coteau Holmes Hwy.
Butte La Rose – Sept. 15, Butte La Rose Fire Station, 1721 Herman Dupuis Rd.
The meetings begin at 5 p.m. For more information, call (337) 394-2200.