By Paige Nash
Following a lengthy discussion between Webster Parish Police Jury (WPPJ), Parish Attorney Patrick Jackson, newly-elected State Senator Adam Bass and local business owner Craig Watson, the jury decided to write a formal letter to state officials requesting renegotiation or dissolution of a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) between WPPJ and Louisiana Department of Transportation (LaDOTD).
The cooperative endeavor agreement includes expanding the width of the interstate right-of-way in the event that there is an expansion of the interstate, which is expected to happen in the future. North presented the jury with preliminary drawings of Frontage/Goodwill Road at the September regular meeting and stated that the expansion would not affect the business owners’ property.
“I would like to get a resolution in a letter asking the state to dissolve this cooperative endeavor agreement. Nobody in his room knows what we agreed on,” said Watson. “They were going to repair the road, then we found out they aren’t going to fix it, they are going to move it to a less inferior road.”
The approximate $2.6 million expansion project is expected to begin accepting bids in 2025 and will affect business owners along Frontage Road in Minden which is located at Exit 38 and runs west of Goodwill Road and parallel to Interstate 20.
Watson stressed the CEA should be mutually beneficial for both parties involved in this agreement – the state and the residents of the parish.
Watson has attended several meetings with various state representatives regarding this issue, including State Senator for District 11 Patrick McMath who, according to Watson, set up a meeting with David North, wanting to use this example to illustrate how much money LaDOTD is wasting.
North ultimately did not show up for the meeting and has allegedly ignored several public records requests from Watson.
“He knows things are about to happen, and he hasn’t been truthful to anyone in this room. We have been misled. There are no two ways about it,” said Watson. “If we want to go forward with the road transfer program, we need an agreement that’s good for all of us. Not just David North.”
Some jury members, including District 7 juror Steve Lemmons, agreed.“I was reluctant about doing this anyways,” Lemmons said. “The deal in the beginning was a fight over who owned it. I knew we didn’t, but they didn’t want to take it. So, I was like, okay we are going to try and help you all, but it has turned into a mess.”
WPPJ President Jim Bonsall also agreed.
“There were some road credits I thought we were going to get, but what Craig has uncovered, if that’s the way it is, then it has turned into a much bigger deal than they made out,” he said.
Bonsall also suggested drafting a letter and sending it to newly-elected Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry along with other representatives who may be involved.
He said, “Our legislation knows about this. I hope after the first of the year, they are able to turn some heads and get them to look at this again. You can see with common sense that this is not a good deal. They are wanting to spend $2.6 million to do $600-700k worth of work. I do know if we overlaid it, it would probably be $600K.”
He made it clear he did not necessarily want to dissolve the CEA, but it needed to be revisited and amended.
State Senator-elect Adam Bass weighed in on the controversy, saying it would be best to wait until after the first of the year before sending a letter due to the House or Senate not knowing committee assignments at the time.
“It may be a bit premature because we do not necessarily know yet the team we are playing with,” Bass said. “My fear is if the letter is written it would go to people both in the DOTD that may not be there as well as the legislative side. I wouldn’t know who to send it to yet.”
Parish Attorney Patrick Jackson made a point that the reasoning as to why the LaDOTD is expected to bid this project at such a high price is due to increasing standards statewide.
Bonsall questioned this, asking, “Why would you spend 2.6 million and give it away when you could spend less than 1 million?”
He continued, “The biggest problem is, truthfully, David has not been honest with us. In some cases, he did not necessarily lie to us, he just didn’t tell us anything. That’s really been a big part of this problem.”
The jury voted to draft a letter with the help of Attorney Jackson to be sent after the first of the year.