Daily Archives: July 21, 2017

GONZALESHaving recently given itself the final say in Ascension Parish's development disputes, the Parish Council on Thursday upheld the previous denial of a 32-home subdivision proposed in a flood plain hit hard in the August flood.

The vote, 9-0, was the first time the council decided on an appeal of a parish Planning Commission decision. The August flood, and how the parish accounts for the drainage impacts of new developments, weighed heavily in the council's decision-making.

All members present Thursday supported upholding the commission's denial of the Hudson Cove development. Councilmen Todd Lambert and John Cagnolatti were absent

Traffic and flooding concerns, especially in light of the flood, were also factors in the Planning Commission's narrow rejection in April of the Hudson Cove development proposed along La. 42 in Galvez.

On Thursday, the developers tried to make the case that engineering showed the project, which would use fill to raise home sites and a detention pond to capture flood waters and rainfall, would not worsen flooding but improve it compared to the current state.

Hudson Cove attorney David Cohn went through a question-and-answer session with the project's traffic and drainage engineers to spell out findings that, Cohn said, show the project would not worsen traffic on La. 42 and would actually improve drainage in the area.

He also pointed out the project had backing from the parish's own planning and engineering officials and its consulting engineer; however, council members aired some skepticism that the use of fill and detention ponds would prevent new residential areas from flooding their neighbors.

Councilman Aaron Lawler said parish leaders have too much experience with detention ponds and fill from past developments to have complete certainty the engineering plans would work as advertised.

"We are going to build land up one side, and we're going to take it for granted that this is all to going work. And it's supposed to work, but we don't know if it is, and it doesn't always have a history of always working. If the history was 100 percent, you probably wouldn't have" a problem, Lawler told Cohn.

Cohn countered that the council members' concerns were unfairly putting concerns from the August flood, which he said was a 500-year to 1,000-year event, on the project, even though the council has not made changes to development rules that could account for that type of flood.

"We got this 300-pound gorilla on our back called the August flood, and we can't get off it," Cohn said.

Lawler and other council members made their comments after neighbors of the proposed Hudson Cove aired their concerns and supplied pictures of how the 12-acre site, which has a slough through it, flooded during August along with the state highway.

Some were former New Orleans residents wholost everything in Hurricane Katrina and nearly flooded again and some did in August after having moved to Galvez.

Another was a woman, Nichole Gautreau, 36, whose house took on 6 inches in August and who said she doesn't want to go through that again. Gautreau, who lives in the nearby Twelve Oaks subdivision, also submitted a petition with 580 signatures opposing the project.

Jackie Laurendine, 52, said she could not understand what the "rocket science" was for anyone to fail to see that adding more homes would worsen drainage in the area.

"Those who didn't flood this time are going down next time if this building continues," Laurendine said. "It's y'all's job to make sure this doesn't happen."

Lawler, who has proposed a moratorium on some uses of fill, is working with other council members to design development rules based on the parish's flood plains. He suggested the developer may have better luck in six months once those rules are in place.

Earlier this year, the council changed the appeal process for commission decisions when it abolished a controversial appeals board. That three-person body had overturned earlier commission denials of other residential communities proposed in the parish.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

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Ascension Council upholds denial of Hudson Cove subdivision over ... - The Advocate

Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff

Memorial Hermann executive leaving to head Ascension Texas

Craig Cordola, a longtime Memorial Hermann Health System executive, is leaving to head operations at Ascension Texas, a network of hospitals in Austin and Waco, officials with both institutions said Wednesday.

Cordola has been with Memorial Hermann for 14 years, most recently as senior vice president of the health system and president of its West Region, which includes its hospitals in Memorial City, Katy and Cypress.

In his new position, which begins Sept. 1, he will oversee Seton Healthcare Family in Austin and Providence Healthcare Network in Waco.

"I'm looking forward to moving back to Austin and working with the leadership team," Cordola said in a statement released by Ascension, a Catholic health-care system and the largest nonprofit system in the nation with 140 hospitals in 24 states.

His departure follows a spate of high-profile executive exits at Memorial Hermann and elsewhere at Houston's marquee hospitals.

A Memorial Hermann spokeswoman said Wednesday that Cordola's leaving was not related to the ongoing turmoil that has left the city's medical community reeling.

Last month Dr. Benjamin Chu, Memorial Hermann's CEO for one year, left abruptly. Dan Styf, a senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health Plans, also left a year after being brought in to run the health-care network's foray into the individual insurance market. The hospital system announced recently it was abandoning that effort and will not sell individual plans for next year.

The health system has also laid off 460 employees since spring.

Elsewhere, Dr. Ron DePinho was forced out as CEO of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in March. Then, just a week after Chu's resignation, Michael Covert, the CEO of St. Luke's Health, resigned suddenly. A week later, Jenny Barnett-Sarpalius, St. Luke's CFO, also stepped down.

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Memorial Hermann executive leaving to head Ascension Texas - Chron.com

GONZALES For the first time, the Ascension Parish Council on Thursday will try out a new appeal procedure for proposed subdivisions its Planning Commission has rejected, weighing in directly on the running battle in Ascension over continued growth amid infrastructure strains and worries about flooding.

The developers of the 32-lot Hudson Cove subdivision along La. 42 in the Galvez area are appealing the commission's 2-1 decision in April to deny the project over its drainage plans and the severe flooding that happened in August in that area near the Amite River.

GONZALES Not more than an hour after being sworn into office, newly appointed Ascension Pa

The August 2016 flood inundated 6,400 homes and businesses in the parish and hit the Galvez, St. Amant and Sorrento areas that are closest to the Amite River Basin the hardest.

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GONZALESFor years in Ascension Parish, individual homes and sometimes entire subdivisio

Previously, Ascension government had an obscure, rarely used appeal process that routed denied projects to a three-member Planning Commission Appeals Board appointed by the parish president. For years the parish Planning Commission, which is appointed by the council, rarely rejected proposed subdivisions, so use of the board was equally rare. But the board got more action last year as the commission took a more assertive stance on denying projects.

In three instances last year for Brookstone in Prairieville, Camellia Cove outside Gonzales, and Oakbourne in Dutchtown the Appeals Board overturned denials by the seven-member commission despite commissioners' concerns about flooding and traffic. That last appeal board vote in December 2016 to overturn denial of Camellia Cove and Oakbourne prompted charges from a commissioner that the process was "in the tank" for developers and "stinks with the stench of corruption."

While those comments, from now former Commissioner Douglas Foster, drew criticism from the volunteer Appeals Board members and the parish administration, the 11-member council soon abolished the board and gave itself the final say instead, as neighboring parishes already do, leading to Thursday's vote.

GONZALES The Ascension Parish Planning Commission rejected subdivision plans three times i

Despite the changes in Ascension, one constant remains: Baton Rouge lawyer David Cohn, who prevailed each time before the old Appeals Board last year. Cohn is now representing the developer of Hudson Cove, which he says met all parish requirements and should have been approved in April.

For Cohn, the fight over Hudson Cove revolves around the same issue those other denied projects did: whether the commission had enough evidence of potential harm in order to deny a subdivision that otherwise met parish regulations.

One central question is: Will the decision stand up in court?

Various court decisions and an opinion from the Louisiana Attorney General's office wrote for Ascension in May 2016 note that when commissions make these types of decisions, they must do so with the understanding that, if taken to court, a judge would rule their decision through a "strict scrutiny analysis," one of the highest legal thresholds.

GONZALES Whether the historic flood that inundated an estimated 6,400 homes and businesses

Cohn said Wednesday the commission did not receive any additional information that would cross that legal bar and separate Hudson Cove from any other projects approved in past.

"It's flawed reasoning," he said of the commission's decision.

The commissioners who rejected Hudson Cove found otherwiseafter residents brought pictures of flooding in August over La. 42 and on the proposed site of the subdivision, a swampy tract near the Amite River.

Now it will be up to the council to say which side is right when members meet 6 p.m. inside council chambers at the Courthouse Annex, 828 S. Irma Blvd., Gonzales.

The appeal is one several matters on the council's agenda, which includes a $1 million software contract with Tyler Technologies and ratification of some of Parish President Kenny Matassa's top administrators weeks after his administration implemented major aspects of an organizational review of parish government. Late last fall, the council held off on the ratification votes called for in the home rule charter until the review had been completed.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

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Ascension Council expected to test new appeal process on proposed subdivisions, wading further into parish's battles ... - The Advocate

ASCENSION PARISH, La (LOCAL 33) (FOX 44) - Ascension Parish will will receive$33 million in flood hazard mitigation funds from FEMA.

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) dollars can be used to improve drainage, elevate homes, and buy out homes that have flooded repeatedly.

I wish it was more, but any assistance we get to alleviate flooding is welcomed, said KennyMatassa, Ascension Parish President. This will go a long way in preventing future floods.

Before receiving any funds, the parish must submit its project ideas to FEMA for approval.

We're looking at projects that will give us the most bang for our buck, where the most residents live, said Matassa. He added that he wants to focus on improving drainage.

Governor Edwards stated that if all went well, the money could start arriving within three to four months.

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Ascension Parish to receive $33M for Flood Hazard Mitigation - http://www.brproud.com