The Sulphur City Council said yes to a new home for Sulphur Court and the Marshal’s Office, to using FEMA funds to clean up 18 properties and no to the 70-acre borrow pit KNI wanted to locate on the west side of Prater Road, north of Hwy. 90 in the Mossville neighborhood.       

The meeting room was packed as Randy Farve spoke on behalf of the landowner Kevin Ashey.

“This all started in 2021. I met with the city prior to them having an ordinance for a dirty pit,” Farve said. “We were told at that time that all we needed to move forward was a grading permit.”      

Farve said knowing that the city was working on such an ordinance, the company didn’t move forward because it wished to do the right thing. In November, a variance was requested for a 70-acre pit instead of a 5-acre pit and the concern was raised that the area would become a landfill. If the pit would be used for anything, it would be used for vegetative debris or part of a drainage improvement. A deed restriction stipulated that it could not be used for a landfill. Prater, a parish road, would be bonded with the parish, meaning the company would have to help make repairs if needed. Dump drivers would be fired if they drove any other route. The dirt would be taxed and help the city. Sasol owns everything around the property, and it would cost millions to add water and sewer – what else could it possibly be used for were arguments made for the project.

We don’t need another hole in the ground.

Carolyn Peters, representing Concerned Citizens of Mossville (CCOM) said the soil , water and air has been destroyed in her community. Mossville has six holes now.

“We don’t need any more; it doesn’t matter how well meaning you intend to be.”

Danny Dipetta put things in perspective when he described the size of the pit, 53 football fields. We don’t have a need for a retention pond or fishing pond, he said. “Who is going to accept the long-term liability of having something like this in our city? What we receive in tax dollars is not enough.” DiPetta said using the pit for vegetative debris constitutes a landfill by law.

“The problem with this is that the Mossville soil consists of contamination. Dig it up and we’ll have more in the air. Fill it up with water and the water will filter down into the Chicot aquifer and contaminate drinking water,” Cindy Robertson noted.

Sulphur resident Charlie Atherton questioned why that “little area” was annexed and “not the whole area. Looks like politics were involved,” he said. “I’ve never known of a dirt pit that had a happy ending.”

Council member Dru Ellendar’s opinion was, “We’re putting the cart before the horse. We should have a soil test already done.”

“We should be thinking of the future, for perpetuity,” Joy Abshire said, “and the new ABC school is an example of that. The burning question is, would I want this in my neighborhood. My answer would be no.”

Temporary buildings not working out

The Council agreed to the introduction of an ordinance to allow the lease of 501 Willow St., the old Masonic building, for temporary facilities for City Court and Marshal’s Office. These offices are currently in temporary buildings in front of the old Kroger building on Napoleon/Hwy. 90.

The lease is $20,000 per month, and the current lease for the temporary set-up is $28,000 and included in that amount are the temporary trailers used while repairing and remodeling the police department offices and jail. Finance director Jennifer Thorn said the expenses will be 90 percent reimbursed by FEMA.

After the move, the area where the temporary buildings are now will be used as a laydown yard and staging facility to do the construction to build the new City Hall and Courthouse, according to City Attorney Cade Cole.

Cole said there have been questions through the year about the city’s purchase of the building. He said the purchase will “go down as one of the greatest investments in the history of Sulphur.”

“We received from our insurance more than we paid for it and FEMA has approved or is in the process of approving many millions of dollars for renovation.”

Here’s the list of primary and secondary structures approved for condemnation using FEMA PPDR money: 1005 Live Oak St., 1400 LeBlanc St., 1406 LeBlanc St., 2476 Rose Ave., 318 Vincent Lane, 608 South Crocker St., 644 Maple St., 822 North Huntington St., 916 Lilliput Lane, 1505 Garth Dr., 621 Mustang St., 2218 North Rose Park Ave., 26 East End Ave., 814 Mackey St., 316 Landry St., 220 Avelia St. and 214 Pine St.

Here’s the list of properties being condemned not involving the use of FEMA funding: 414 West Napoleon St and 509 Lewis St.