Newly elected Livingston Parish officials meet tonight

The best bet for entertainment in the Capital Region tonight may very well be the Livingston Parish Council meeting. If you’re going, get there early to ensure you get a seat, and don’t forget the popcorn. It will be the first for a council full of fresh faces and newly elected Parish President Layton Ricks, but they’ll have to hit the ground running. Returning Councilwoman Cindy Wale of Denham Springs wants the council to rescind a resolution by the outgoing council, ordering then-Parish President Mike Grimmer to pay Alvin Fairburn & Associates $453,000 for engineering services for the road overlay program. Ricks—who left his job as operations manager for that same company just last week—has told the Livingston Parish News he thinks the bill ought to be paid in full, but some new and returning council members question whether the firm was ever given the go-ahead to do the work. Also up for discussion is a lawsuit filed by Quality Engineering & Surveying against the parish and Alvin Fairburn & Associates over the Eden Church Road Project. Sure to be a topic whispered among those attending is the hiring and firing that took place during the new parish president’s first few days in office. Ricks has already caused a stir by reappointing Brian Fairburn to head up the Office of Emergency Preparedness. Fairburn was fired in the wake of the ongoing Hurricane Gustav debris cleanup debacle, then went to work for Alvin Fairburn & Associates. All but one department head from Mike Grimmer’s administration will eventually be replaced, Ricks also tells the Livingston Parish News. The fun begins at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Governmental Building, 20355 Government Blvd. in Livingston.