E. Feliciana ends talks with Phares

• By MARILYN GOFF
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: May 6, 2008 - Page: 4B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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CLINTON — Citing financial constraints, the East Feliciana Police Jury voted Monday to cease negotiations with former East Baton Rouge Sheriff Greg Phares and his company, GPS, to provide parish manager services.

Police Juror Larry Beauchamp praised the professionalism of Phares, a native of East Feliciana, but said the parish “is shopping for a Cadillac on a Ford budget.”

Phares told the jurors he had been a “longtime advocate of good, economic government” and understood the parish’s situation, but could not lower his costs.

The governing body had approached Phares about a month ago to take over as parish manager. Phares asked the jury to consider using his newly-formed company to do the job for about $80,000 per year, plus some benefits.

On another matter, the jurors unanimously voted to remove a provision in the parish’s mobile-home ordinance setting $10,000 as the minimum value of any mobile home being brought into the parish.

Legal adviser Sam D’Aquilla said the parish is involved in a federal lawsuit over the ordinance and the language that sets the minimum value is possibly discriminatory.

Beauchamp moved to set a month-long moratorium on allowing mobile homes to be brought into the parish. That motion died for a lack of a second.

Jurors, however, said they will try to revamp the mobile-home ordinance at a later time.

Jurors also set a meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss its contract with the School Board to use the Early Learning Center on Plank Road as a temporary courthouse while the parish’s historic courthouse is being restored.

Jury President Louis Kent reported that the School Board has a potential buyer for the Early Learning Center, which juror John Barnett described as a “white elephant” for the School Board, which purchased the building for $1 million several years ago.

In other business, jurors:

• Voted to purchase a cell phone for the jury president.
• Voted to have the state determine the flaws and re-rate the weight limits of the Folly Brown Road Bridge.
• Heard from road supervisor Greg Beauchamp, no relation to Larry Beauchamp, that the newly purchased time clock is saving the parish as much as $7,000 per year in increased productivity.