SOUTH TANGIPAHOA PARISH PORT COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026 9:00AM
CITY HALL ANNEX BUILDING - 110 W. HICKORY ST., PONCHATOULA, LA
The regular meeting was held on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at the City Hall Annex Building, located at 110 W. Hickory Street, Ponchatoula, LA. President Daryl Ferrara called the regular meeting to order at 9:05 A.M.
The invocation was given by Lee Barends of ITL Accounting, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Commissioner Logan Davis.
Commissioners present: Daryl Ferrara, Tina Roper, William Sims, Logan Davis, Brandon Schanzbach
Commissioners absent: Tim DePaula, Rhonda Sheridan
President Ferrara welcomed the attendees to the meeting. Others in attendance included Patrick Dufresne, STPPC Executive Director; Andre Coudrain, Cashe Coudrain and Bass; Lee Barends, ITL Accounting; Brandi Fontenot, GIS Engineering, LLC; Jason Wilson, Tangipahoa Economic Development Foundation; Richard Meek, Action 17 News.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA/MINUTES
It was moved by Commissioner Sims and seconded by Commissioner Davis that the South Tangipahoa Parish Port Commission approve the regular meeting agenda for March 11, 2026, as presented. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
President Ferrara told the commissioners that the minutes from the February 11, 2026 meeting had been sent to them electronically by the administrative assistant and assumed there were no changes. After a brief review, a motion was made by Vice President Roper and seconded by Commissioner Sims to adopt/approve the minutes from the regular meeting on February 11, 2026. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
TREASURER’S REPORT
Port accountant Lee Barends reviewed the financial reports from February 2026 with the commissioners. She said the total revenues were $146,119.03 and total expenses were $28,857.53, leaving the net income as $117,261.50. She said financially it was a quiet month, and she saw nothing outstanding. She said the total balance in the operating account was $331,217.68, and with the commission’s approval would move any amount over $250,000.00 to the Edward Jones account. Vice President Roper asked if there were any invoices upcoming this month from GIS Engineering, LLC. There was a brief conversation with Brandi Fontenot of GIS Engineering, and she said it’s likely that any invoice would go out in April. President Ferrara said that it would be a quick process to move the money between accounts if necessary.
The commissioners reviewed the Edward Jones statement and briefly discussed the final 2 CDs that should be due in July. Ms. Barends said the CD’s will likely be converted to the money market account. There were no additional questions.
A motion was made by Vice President Roper, seconded by Commissioner Davis to approve the financial reports from February 2026. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
OLD BUSINESS
Warehouse Buildings #2 & #3 – lease agreement and inspection update
Spreadsheet review
Mr. Dufresne reported that Premier Chemicals is in the process of replacing the safety railing on Warehouse Building 3. He explained that maintenance work had slowed because their maintenance program manager was on medical leave. Since there was no spreadsheet available for review, Mr. Dufresne clarified that progress had been delayed due to the manager’s absence, but he expected work to accelerate once the manager returned. Port attorney Andre Coudrain said the tenant had been communicating back and forth; however, they are not at a point yet to sit down and go through the spreadsheet line by line, item by item. Regarding the lease, he said both sides are “stuck in the mud” regarding the terms, and that the focus had been on the maintenance of the buildings. He said he did not see any urgency for the STPPC regarding the lease agreements, that the urgency for the tenant is that they wanted to start a longer-term lease on one building and reduce the term on the other leased building, but they haven’t come back with any solution. Vice President Roper said the urgency should be that the tenant needs to pick up some of the insurance costs for the building, that the STPPC is bearing the brunt of the increased costs because of what the tenant does in the building. Mr. Coudrain said that it is not required in the current lease, that strategically if someone else wanted to step into the building tomorrow, that might put some pressure on the tenant to make some decisions. He said if the STPPC wanted to force the issue with the tenant he wasn’t sure of what leverage the STPPC has or where this would lead to, but it would be up to the commission to give him direction. A brief discussion continued about the terms of the leases. There were no additional questions.
.
LA-DOTD Port Priority Program Application - Projects - update
Mr. Dufresne introduced Brandi Fontenot of GIS Engineering LLC with an update to the revised engineering proposal for the LA-DOTD Port Priority Program application projects. Ms. Fontenot said the engineering costs had been reduced by $2,500.00 due to combing 3 of the projects into one contract instead of 3 separate contracts. This had been agreed upon at the previous STPPC meeting. As the agreement had been modified, Vice President Roper made a motion to authorize Executive Director Patrick Dufresne to sign and secure the engineering services of GIS Engineering LLC. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Sims. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
Barge dock repair project – update
Mr. Dufresne said the design work for the barge dock is ongoing and he should have a progress report with an ETA for the final plans at the next STPPC meeting. There were no questions.
5-Year Master Plan – update
Mr. Dufresne said the group contract documents for the 5-year Master Plan must be approved by the Blanco Research Institute at ULL, and once this is received, the port can proceed with the plan update. Commissioner Sims questioned why this hadn’t been done yet. Vice President Roper said there were issues at ULL. There were no additional questions.
5. Air Products – update
Mr. Coudrain said he reported to Air Products that STPPC had approved the business terms. Air Products then sent the lease amendment, which upon review had one error. This was corrected and returned to Air Products about a week before the meeting. There has not yet been a response. There were no questions.
6. Invoice Payment Approval
The following invoices for payment were presented today for approval by Vice President Roper:
Cashe Coudrain & Bass
Services rendered through February 28, 2026
Inv# 133007 Matter # 4623-1 Amt. $ 400.00
STPPC General
Inv# 133009 Matter # 4623-7 Amt. $ 840.00
Lease with Air Products
Inv# 133008 Matter # 4623-13 Amt. $ 805.00
STPPC vs Wilco Marsh Buggies
Inv# 133006 Matter # 4623-0014 Amt. $ 420.00
Lease with Bayou Diesel (Bldgs. 2 & 3) __________________
Total Amt. $ 2,465.00
A motion was made by Vice President Roper and seconded by Commissioner Davis to approve the invoices presented for payment from Cashe Coudrain and Bass. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
NEW BUSINESS
1. Audit Engagement FY 2025 – Compliance Questionnaire
a) Resolution
Mr. Dufresne said the compliance questionnaire is a routine part of the audit process, and the resolution will approve the process to begin.
Before reading the resolution, President Ferrara asked port accountant Lee Barends if she had received an email from financial advisor Sean McArthur regarding the audit, and Ms. Barends said that she had not. Mr. Dufresne said the auditors send requests for routine information (to the bank and investment firm) as part of the annual audit process, and that they also send this annual routine request for information to Mr. Coudrain.
President Ferrara asked Commissioner Sims to introduce the resolution:
WHEREAS, the South Tangipahoa Parish Commission as part of its financial and compliance audit as of December 31, 2025, and for the year then ended, is required to complete the Systems Survey and Compliance Questionnaire furnished by the Louisiana Legislative auditor, and,
WHEREAS, upon completion, the questionnaire must be presented to and adopted by the board of commissioners of the South Tangipahoa Parish Port Commission, by means of a formal resolution in an open meeting and,
WHEREAS, the completed questionnaire and a copy of its adoption must then be given to the auditor at the beginning of the audit. The auditor will, during the course of his attestation engagement, test the accuracy of the response in the questionnaire.
WHEREAS, this Systems Survey and Compliance questionnaire was reviewed and all questions answered by the Board of Commissioners of the South Tangipahoa Parish Port Commission.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the South Tangipahoa Parish Port Commission hereby adopts this resolution on March 11, 2026 by the following roll call vote: Schanzbach – yes, Sims – yes, Ferrara – yes, Roper – yes, Davis – yes.
A motion to adopt the resolution for approval of the Compliance Questionnaire FY 2025 was made by Commissioner Sims and seconded by Vice President Roper. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
2. Southeastern Executive Business Forum 2026
Commissioner Sims informed the commissioners about the upcoming Southeastern Executive Business Forum, now in its third year. The event connects local government, education and businesses on the North Shore to expand economic growth, development and new opportunities. He described it as an excellent event that could help promote the port from a marketing and advertising standpoint, as well as learn about the happenings on the North Shore where there is ongoing development and growth. He said the request is for the STPPC to sponsor a table at the event, and the cost would be approximately $2,000.00 for 8 people and lunch is included. President Ferrara suggested the motion should be to purchase a table for $2,000.00 at the Southeastern Executive Business Forum 2026 for 8 people that fit in our realm of economic development to be invited on April 16, 2026.
Motion was made by Vice President Roper and seconded by Commissioner Schanzbach to purchase a $2,000.00 table for eight at the Southeastern Executive Business Forum 2026, inviting relevant economic development guests on April 16, 2026. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
President Ferrara asked Mr. Dufresne to have the administrative assistant send out the information regarding the event to the commissioners.
LITIGATION UPDATE:
South Tangipahoa Parish Port Commission vs Wilco Marsh Buggies, Inc.
Docket# 20240004367
Executive Session
Mr. Coudrain informed the commissioners that Executive Session was not needed, as the litigation is still in discovery and Wilco Marsh Buggies, Inc. wants to schedule Mr. Dufresne’s deposition, with dates yet to be determined. He said there are some deficiencies in their discovery, and they’ve responded to the port’s discovery. He said he is hoping for something more meaningful by the next STPPC meeting.
REMARKS
President Ferrara reminded the commissioners that the STPPC meeting in May had been changed to May 21st because of the insurance issue. Vice President Roper asked if the administrative assistant could send out calendar invites to the commissioners for the next 3 meetings. Mr. Dufresne reminded the commissioners that the next meeting is Wednesday, April 8th.
President Ferrara asked for a motion to adjourn the regular meeting. Vice President Roper made the motion to adjourn the regular meeting, seconded by Commissioner Sims. Motion passed. Yeas: 5 Ferrara, Roper, Sims, Davis, Schanzbach Nays: 0 Absent: 2 DePaula, Sheridan
The meeting adjourned at 9:32 AM.
Rhonda Sheridan, Secretary STPPC Daryl Ferrara, President STPPC
Cost of notice: $140.00