ٰٳձ— The Ascension Parish Council took two steps Thursday to tighten its development rules but also made a historic move in electing its first council chairwoman.
Two-term Councilwoman Teri Casso, who represents the Dutchtown area, was selected council chair; Councilman Benny Johnson was selected vice chairman. Both were elected by acclamation.
Casso is the only woman on the 11-member council and only the second woman ever elected to the council, both she and parish government spokesman Martin McConnell said. The council, which replaced the police jury, has been in existence only since the mid-1990s.
Casso, the council's longtime Finance Committee chairwoman, now leads the parish's entire legislative body. With that job, she holds a significant say in what matters are brought before it.
Casso took the chair's gavel from outgoing two-term council chairman Bill Dawson only hours after lawyer Erin Wiley Lanoux took her oath of office in Gonzales and received her own gavel as the new Ascension Parish Court judge.
Casso noted that Ascension has three female judges, a woman chairing the School Board, other women on that board and a woman leading the parish Clerk of Court's Office.
"Gentlemen and members of our community, we're a great example in our region, and we are certainly a great example for our children, both our little boys and, most importantly, our young girls and our grandchildren," she said.
Johnson, who also was vying for the chairman's post in recent weeks, replaced outgoing vice chairman Councilman Oliver Joseph.
The change in council leadership came as the 11-member body put into ordinance form tougher standards for subdivision detention ponds, though a more significant look at how the parish allows development in low-lying areas remains on hold and subject of some study by LSU.
The ponds, which serve to hold rainfall runoff and even floodwater in some conditions, are the major front-line method through which the parish tries to mitigate the effect of more roads, roofs and concrete from home and business construction.
Coming closer in line with East Baton Rouge Parish's standards, the council required that new subdivisions must have detention systems that can hold runoff from at least a 25-year, 24-hour storm.
The ponds don't hold the water indefinitely but slow the release of that water into bayous and canals so it happens no faster, if not slower, than what occurred before homes or businesses were built.
The previous standard in law was a 10-year, 24-hour standard, but parish officials and even some developers have said that, in practice, the 25-year standard had already been in place administratively for about three to four years.
In essence, the standard forces developers to increase water storage through larger or more ponds that account for rarer, more severe storms over a 24-hour period. A 10-year storm has a 10 percent chance of happening in a given year; a 25-year storm has a 4 percent chance.
In terms of the amount of rainfall, the shift means that detention systems must at least be able to handle about 10 inches of rain over a 24-hour period, up from about 8.5 inches previously, according to a federal .
William Daniel, the parish's infrastructure director, said later that more ordinance changes are expected, such as pipe sizes, that will work in connection with the detention pond ordinance.
"This is just one part of a much bigger thing that we're working on," Daniel said.
After a lengthy discussion clarifying the council's intent, the council also agreed to put an end to Planning Commission contingencies in the approval of subdivision final plats, but the bar likely only applies to major items as determined by parish administrators. With approval of the final plat, developers can sell lots and home construction can start.
Before the unanimous vote, parish Planning Director Jerome Fournier and Deric Murphy, a frequent engineering representative for local developers, sought to clarify that the contingency prohibition would not apply to minor punch list items. Fournier described the difference as being between a missing street sign and a yet-to-be-installed sewer system, with the latter being the more significant shortfall that should not be allowed through a contingency.
Council members agreed that the new prohibition would not apply to minor punch list items but did not define what those would be.