Parish President Updates Council On Testing, Parish Related Business

Parish President Peter Dufresne last Wednesday provided the St. James Parish Council with information regarding assistance offered to parish residents during this time of COVID-19.

Speaking to the council members, parish leadership and the public via a teleconference held in lieu of the regularly scheduled meeting of the St. James Parish Council, Dufresne said that 160 persons were tested for the Corona virus on the first day of testing.

Of the total tested at the outdoor/drive-through testing facility at Gramercy Elementary School, eight were from outside the parish and 19 were sent from the Veterans Home in Reserve. The number of senior citizens tested on the first day was 111.

Dufresne said no one was turned away from the testing, which is a self-administered nasal swab done from their own vehicle.

Dufresne said the test results obtained from the testing site are expected to show whether there is a spike in new cases after Easter or if people heeded the warning to stay home over the holiday weekend.

Dufresne also said the site has the capability of testing 250 people per day and testing is available from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon daily or until the number of tests run out. All persons 18 years of age and older with a Louisiana ID can be tested.

In order to provide the testing site in Gramercy, Dufresne said the Parish entered into a special agreement with St. James Parish Hospital so that a parish hospital doctor could receive the test results and deliver them to the patients.

Dufresne also said that the Parish was required to sign a contract with a medical waste facility for the proper disposal of used medical gowns, personal protective equipment, and test kits.

In other matters:

*St. Vincent de Paul in Lutcher would like the public to know that persons in need of food can go to their Lutcher facility on the first or third Wednesday of each month for assistance. For further information, call 869-1098.

*Dufresne said another funding source may make it possible to have a small community testing site at a later date.

The Parish President said that testing may be done in the District 5 area and the site will allow up to six tests per hour.

*Hanes has donated approximately 2.75 million washable and reusable face masks to the State of Louisiana.

Of that amount, the Parish will receive approximately 10,000 masks (enough for 40 percent of the population).

Dufresne said that number will be divided by the seven districts, thereby allowing 1,400 masks per district.

The masks will be given to the council members for distribution as they wish to the people of their district.

*Dufresne reported that the Parish’s general liability and property insurance policy recently came up for renewal.

The Parish President said the renewal amount billed the Parish to continue the coverage was $1.2 million dollars.

Dufresne said he met with Director of Finance Felix Boughton and they were able to purchase the same amount of coverage from a local insurance provider for $500,000 and a hefty savings of $700,000 to the Parish.

*On a more somber tone, Dufresne said he was not sure how the Parish will be able to sustain all their employees beyond April 30th.

He reported that his administration will be watching for further directives from the Governor and will proceed accordingly.

*Director of Operations Rick Webre said employees continue to cut the grass at the parks, pick up tree limbs in neighborhoods and keep the landfill sites open.

Webre said the Parish will begin to consider how to get the employees back to work.

In another matter, the council authorized President Dufresne to extend all expiring third-party contracts under the same terms on a month-to-month basis during the pandemic.

Dufresne said he has not had the time to review those contracts because of the pandemic and wants to do so before renewing.

*The Council approved a $4,642.28 change order to a contract with Frickey Brothers for the Parish-Wide Recreation Master Plan renovations at the Lutcher Ballpark.

*Letters of condolence will be sent to the family of first St. James Parish President Paul Keller and JeNaiya Nailor Clark, sister of former parish CAO Michelle Nailor Octave.