E. Feliciana Homeland Security director named
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CLINTON — The East Feliciana Parish Police Jury president named a retired, veteran law enforcement officer and former Marine as the parish’s new director of homeland security on Monday.
Jury President Louis Kent said his appointment of Henry “Bud” Weigand Jr., of Jackson, as homeland security director is based on Weigand’s 42 years of experience in state and parish law enforcement and his ability to work with the people of the parish.
Weigand replaces Glen Kent Jr., who took over the Homeland Security director’s position on an interim basis two weeks before Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana.
The parish’s homeland security budget, excluding grants, is $74,191, the jury president said.
Weigand’s salary was not discussed Monday, but the interim homeland security director was paid $2,500 per month.
On another issue, jurors unanimously approved a resolution calling for a 15-year, 6.25-mill tax election for the parishwide fire district.
“It’s technically a new tax,” Clinton Fire Chief Douglas Beauchamp said.
The jury’s financial adviser, Phil Graham, said the proposed tax is more of “a rededication of the same tax” that voters approved more than 10 years ago to have their homeowners fire insurance ratings reduced.
The fire district is paying off the bonds to upgrade equipment about two years early, he said, but the district continues to need the tax to purchase new equipment and provide improvements and maintenance to its fire departments.
The tax brings in between $500,000 and $600,000 yearly and the cost to a taxpayer on a home assessed at $100,000 is about $62.50 a year with the state’s homestead exemption, Graham said.
No date was set for the election.
In other business, the jury voted against a zoning change from residential to commercial for Club Exotica Motel and Lounge in the Sticks, an area between Jackson and Wilson.
Jurors based their decision on opposition from Sticks residents who attended a public hearing last week, and on a recommendation by the parish Planning and Zoning Committee to deny the zoning change.
Jury President Louis Kent said his appointment of Henry “Bud” Weigand Jr., of Jackson, as homeland security director is based on Weigand’s 42 years of experience in state and parish law enforcement and his ability to work with the people of the parish.
Weigand replaces Glen Kent Jr., who took over the Homeland Security director’s position on an interim basis two weeks before Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana.
The parish’s homeland security budget, excluding grants, is $74,191, the jury president said.
Weigand’s salary was not discussed Monday, but the interim homeland security director was paid $2,500 per month.
On another issue, jurors unanimously approved a resolution calling for a 15-year, 6.25-mill tax election for the parishwide fire district.
“It’s technically a new tax,” Clinton Fire Chief Douglas Beauchamp said.
The jury’s financial adviser, Phil Graham, said the proposed tax is more of “a rededication of the same tax” that voters approved more than 10 years ago to have their homeowners fire insurance ratings reduced.
The fire district is paying off the bonds to upgrade equipment about two years early, he said, but the district continues to need the tax to purchase new equipment and provide improvements and maintenance to its fire departments.
The tax brings in between $500,000 and $600,000 yearly and the cost to a taxpayer on a home assessed at $100,000 is about $62.50 a year with the state’s homestead exemption, Graham said.
No date was set for the election.
In other business, the jury voted against a zoning change from residential to commercial for Club Exotica Motel and Lounge in the Sticks, an area between Jackson and Wilson.
Jurors based their decision on opposition from Sticks residents who attended a public hearing last week, and on a recommendation by the parish Planning and Zoning Committee to deny the zoning change.
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