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To sum up all that the Vermilion Parish Police Jury does, day in and day out, would take well more than an hour.
Police Jury President Dane Hebert and Parish Administrator Keith Roy gave a condensed version their best shot, when the two provided a “State of the Parish” last week to members of the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce. The event took place on Thursday morning at Southern Oaks Country Club.
“The things the governing body of Vermilion Parish does on a daily basis is endless,” Hebert said.
Where things begin is doing what is best for Vermilion Parish, including helping it advance and grow. Hebert worked on that last week, meeting with members of the Acadiana Planning Commission (APC).
“We met with them on the issue of getting fiber optics provided to the parish,” Hebert said.
That came after Hebert attended a meeting last month, where he heard about the expansion of fiber from the Lafayette area to Iberia Parish.
“I went to an APC meeting last month,” Hebert said. “They were in the process of extending fiber optics from Lafayette, 45 miles south into Iberia Parish. I asked them a question. What happened to Vermilion?
“Why can’t Vermilion be part of that extension?”
Hebert said Monique Boulet, CEO of the APC, took steps to try to find an answer to that question.
“She sent her delegation to Abbeville,” Hebert said. “We talked about that issue, providing fiber optics to Vermilion Parish. The request was to bring fiber into Vermilion Parish, down (U.S.) Hwy. 167. I said it needs to go all the way to Intracoastal (City). The line would be there for businesses who want to tap into it. It could take a few years, but I think if we build it, they will come. That can spark some economic development in the parish.
“That is one of the big things we are working on.”
Police Jury officials spent plenty of time working on debris removal in response to two storms that impacted the parish last fall. In all, Hebert said that the price tag of the debris removal was $6.5 million.
“Ninety percent of that bill is covered by the federal government,” Hebert said. “We are only going to be responsible for 10%.”
For a period of 30 days, the federal government paid 100%.
“We had to lobby for when those 30 days would be,” Hebert said. “We were the only parish that submitted a plan for which days. They took our plan.
“We are doing everything we can to save you money.”
That is as important as ever.
“I have been on the Jury for 13 years,” Hebert said. “We have always prided ourselves on doing a balanced budget. We always had enough money from taxes and (oil) royalty revenue. For the past few years, we’ve had to dip into our reserves. We have a significant amount of reserves, so we are in good shape.”
Hebert said the drop in oil revenues has been significant.
“We used to have over $1 million in royalty revenues from offshore drilling,” Hebert said. “That has gone to almost zero.
“We have to find a way to manage our budget without those revenues.”
While doing that, the Police Jury continues to make improvements, including in an area that is among its most important, roads.
“We are in the process of doing a $2.4 million capital outlay program with roads in the parish,” Hebert said. “The state contributed $1 million, with the parish contributing the other $1.4 million. That sounds like a lot of money, but the parish has a lot of road miles. It takes over $100,000 to do one mile, if you just resurface it. If you redo the road, it could go over $200,000 per mile.
“One million doesn’t go that far, but we’re doing the best we can with those funds.”
Coastal projects, animal control, bridges, trash pickup and preserving the life of the land fill are among numerous other focuses for the Police Jury.
“The Police Jury has a lot of responsibilities,” Roy said. “When I joined, I didn’t really know all that they do.
“They have a lot of responsibilities.”
Hebert said it takes fiscal responsibility to make it all work.
“We have a $24 million budget,” Hebert said, “and we spend it as wisely as we can. It’s challenging, but everyone in this room has challenges with their businesses. I like a good challenge sometimes.
“It’s our job to spend that money as wisely as we can, and get the most bang for the buck.”

A man who allegedly fired shots at passing vehicles Tuesday evening in Abbeville has been arrested on multiple charges.
​On March 30, 2021 at approximately 5:45 p.m., officers of the Abbeville Police Department responded to a “Shots Fired” complaint near First Guaranty Bank, which is located at the corner of LA Hwy. 14 (W. Summers Drive) and Gaurard Street.
The complainant stated that there was a male subject shooting at vehicles traveling on La. Hwy. 14 (W. Summers Drive). Officers responded to the area within one minute of receiving the first call of the incident. Officers immediately began canvassing the area looking for the suspect. Officers were made aware that the suspect, after firing at vehicles, ran into the neighborhood behind the bank, and stole a vehicle from a nearby residence. The suspect then fled the area in the stolen vehicle. The suspect, later identified as 26-year-old Daquintin Peoples, was later taken into custody by Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Based on the investigation, officers have been able to determine that Peoples committed a hit and run on Charity Street in Abbeville. Peoples fled the area in his vehicle, and for unknown reasons, stopped his vehicle on the roadway, stepped out of his vehicle, and started shooting at passing vehicles. Mr. Peoples struck several vehicles traveling on the roadway. Peoples then fled the scene on foot, leaving his vehicle. Peoples stole a vehicle and fled, heading north on U.S. Hwy. 167. While traveling north, Mr. Peoples committed three more hit and runs, and stopped at a gas station in Lafayette. Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office deputies were able to apprehend Peoples.
Peoples was arrested on the following charges for the Abbeville Police Department:
• Hit and Run
• Theft of a Motor Vehicle
• Aggravated Assault with a Firearm (3 Counts)
• Possession of a Firearm by a Person Convicted of Certain Felonies
• Attempted 2nd Degree Murder (4 Counts)
• Aggravated Criminal Damage to Property (4 Counts)
• Illegal Use of Weapons (4 Counts)
• Aggravated Obstruction of a Highway
Peoples will have additional charges for crimes committed outside of the city limits of Abbeville. Chief Spearman would like to thank the following agencies for their cooperation and assistance:
• Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office
• LA Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division
• Louisiana State Police
• Maurice Police Department
• Lafayette Police Department
• US K9
​The Abbeville Police Department is asking that anyone who have any information regarding any crime to please contact the Abbeville Police Department by calling 893-2511. You may contact our “Tips” line at 892-6777. All callers may remain anonymous. Citizens may also send anonymous tips through the Tip411 system at the department’s Facebook page @ www.facebook.com/AbbevillePolice Department/, the official web page @ www.abbevillepd.com by clicking on the “Submit a Tip” link provided or through the official Abbeville Police Department app, which can be downloaded through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which works to support rural America and the Nation’s agricultural sector, including farmers markets, recently spotlighted the Delcambre Seafood & Farmers Market for its accomplishments with grant money awarded by the AMS from 2016 to 2019.
In its Seeds of Success series, that highlights the accomplishments and lessons-learned from Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) grant recipients, the AMS cited the Delcambre Market as “an example to farmers markets around the country.”
Since first acquiring the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) grant from the AMS, the Twin Parish Port District in Delcambre has taken its Delcambre Seafood and Farmers Market to new levels of success.
The market used the grant award of $195,000 to develop marketing strategies and create targeted advertising, and to implement marketing materials and directional signage. The funds also allowed the Delcambre Market to recruit more vendors and provide market customers with family-friendly activities, live music, and monthly educational demonstrations including how to can fruit and milk a cow (with the recruitment of a local dairy cow.)
“We were able to capitalize on what we were known for - selling seafood off the boats - by adding value-added products and creating a farmers market,” says Wendell Verret, market director and head of the Twin Parish Port Commission.
The results? By the end of the three-year grant, in 2019, the market’s car counter was recording an average monthly attendance of 896 cars, figuring a customer attendance of over 2,000. The number of vendors was up to 60 (a number that was maintained until COVID-19 hit), and Verret says sales from producers and fishermen increased by a whopping 7,000 percent. That included the line of available frozen seafood products which expanded from four items to 20, and soon brought the need for an accessible supply of locally-sourced seafood. Sales went beyond the monthly market to four retail outlets and through online sales.
Just before the completion of the grant, the e-commerce website, www.LouisianaDirectSeafoodShop.com, was launched, selling to consumers across the U.S. Although COVID delayed many other plans in 2020, an update and relaunch of the e-commerce website in March 2020, while consumers were isolating at home, proved timely. “In just two months, we saw online sales increase by 1,400 percent!” says Verret.
The market’s popularity caught the attention of travel writers and was featured, more than once, in Southern Living, as well as Farm & Ranch Living and local publications. And it would appear to have gained a level of community confidence that supported the renewal of a millage tax that funds Port investments as it did in the purchasing of a needed PA system and increasing the covered roof of the market’s pavilion to 14,000 square feet.
Last October, the Delcambre Market was awarded another FMPP grant and a Local Food Promotion Program Grant (LFPP) - the only market in Louisiana to receive grants from both programs. The objective in the FMPP grant will feature a health and wellness initiative and a new podcast. The LFPP grant will study the feasibility of a seafood hub that will feature a commercial kitchen, storage, a retail space, and transportation capabilities for local fishermen and farmers.
“We are very proud of how far the market has come and what business it’s brought to local fishermen and producers, as well as to Delcambre’s economy,” says Verret. “The market has grown in size, popularity, and visibility and we want to leverage that this year to promote health and wellness in the community and expand the market to meet the growing demand.”
To read Delcambre’s Seeds of Success story and others, go to https://arcg.is/11qjKL.

According to Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office PIO Eddie Langlinais, after a month long investigation into the theft of scrap metal from a local scrap yard, the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division has made two arrests.
Warrants were obtained for father and son Michael Rene Watson, 43, and Justice Rene Watson, 21, from Abbeville.
Each were arrested without incident for 3 counts of Felony Theft. Both have been booked into the Vermilion Parish Correctional Center with bond set at $15,000.00 each.