A Port Arthur’s Economic Development Corporation director is questioning an expenditure made by the corporation’s board members.

Langston Adams, secretary for the EDC board of directors is calling for a discussion on placing spending limitations on Floyd Batiste without first obtaining the boards permission.

Batiste says he has done nothing wrong, and, in fact, is only performing the duties of his job.

At issue is the hiring of Soutex Surveyors, a Port Arthur company was hired by Batiste to rezone and replat a portion of the 141 acres recently purchased by the EDC for an extension of its business park.

Riceland Farms, a Beaumont company that owns Riceland Hospital in Winnie, has expressed interest in building a meat processing plant on 10 acres at the rear of the business park off of FM 365 at Jade Avenue.

On March 7 a representative from Riceland Farms, Inc. made a pitch for the company to build a state-of-the-art meat-processing facility in Port Arthur that would slaughter cows, sheep and goats, but on Monday, EDC board members voted to restrict not just the Riceland facility, but also any slaughterhouse on business park property.

Adams says Batiste overstepped when he commissioned Souter to submit an application to the city to replant and rezone the property without the board having voted on it at the March 7 EDC meeting when it was first on their agenda for a vote.

“I know the board did not approve it because we lost our quorum when Carol Womack walked off. Because w lost the quorum, we never finished voting on the deed restrictions,” Adams said.

On March 11, Anthony Leger filed an application with the city requesting the property be changed from agriculture to industrial.

The EDC board had an item on its Monday, March 28 agenda to revisit the replatting and rezoning issue — more than two weeks after Leger filed the application.

At Monday’s board meeting, Leger said he was charging the city $7,500 for the work performed.

“Our board never told Anthony Leger we wanted to go industrial,” Adams said. “Who gave him the authority to do that? If Floyd can do that on his own, then what is the point of us putting it on the agenda. If he can rezone without board approval, then we are wasting our time.”

In a telephone interview with The News Thursday, Batiste said he could spend up to $50,000 without board approval.

“The deal this board purchased property. In order to get the property ready to sell, the first thing we have to do is replat and rezone. My job is to get that property ready to sell,” Batiste said. “Langston can have his say, but if I have to go to the board to buy toilet paper, if that is what they want me to do, well that is fine.”

To change the amount of money Batiste can spend without board approval would take the approval of the majority of the board, not just one member, Batiste said.

“I have an administrative responsibility on this land. I feel it was my administrative duty to make the property ready to sell for the board and that is why I engaged professional services to do the rezoning and replatting to make it ready for sale.”

Batiste said he believes Adams is trying to micromanage the system.

“I don’t rake direction from an individual board member. I take direction from the board,” Batiste said.

As far as the meat processing plant, Batiste said the City Council would have to decide whether to approve or disapprove the restriction placed on the new property Monday night.

“We will send the covenants to Council for approval. If Council approves, it becomes law,” Batiste said, noting that he had been surprised by the board’s action.

Adams said he was also suspect that the replatting application submitted by Soutex correlated with the number of acres Riceland had requested to purchase.

In addition to the request that that the board consider the director’s spending limits, he has also requested Batiste’s evaluation be performed by May 2016 in keeping with Batiste’s contract.

“His contract requires our board to evaluate him (Batiste) by May of each year. By our next meeting (Board President) Ingrid Holmes should have prepared for us some evaluation form,” Adams said.

E-mail: sherry.koonce@panews.com

Twitter: skooncePANews