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We told you about it first! It was on March 9, 2022, that we broke the story of the clandestine spoil banks removal project. That story would spark debate, with some folks agreeing with the expressed intentions of the project and others calling baloney. However, as time passed, the curtain was pulled back, revealing a secretive and cloak-and-dagger operation conducted under the cover of night, which likely violated federal, state, and local laws. There’s only so much that can be done with limited time and light. So, even those who initially cheered the spoil bank removal project have now come to realize that the spoil banks only got a haircut — far short of what was recommended by experts to have any appreciable impact on Lafayette’s flooding and drainage system.

Join us as we recap the Guillory administration’s Spoil Banks Project and the recent 133-page report released by the Legislative Auditor.

Rigid Contractors, but not rigid legal compliance

In December 2021, Lafayette Consolidated Government was preparing for what seemed like a routine contract. The bid, advertised in December, was for simple “on-call, as-needed” excavation and disposal services within Lafayette Parish. It was the sort of bread-and-butter public works contract that kept crews ready to haul dirt, clear sites, and perform occasional excavation jobs. Rigid Constructors, LLC won the bid with a modest $390,050 offer, and nothing about it suggested controversy. Higher bids exceeded $1,000,000. However, the actual payments to Rigid would be almost four times the bid amount of the highest bidder.

Behind the scenes, a much larger and more contentious plan was taking shape — one that would stretch beyond Lafayette Parish’s borders, into neighboring St. Martin Parish, and far beyond the scope of the original contract.

The target was a spoil bank along the Vermilion River, which was created as a result of work performed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s. The bank ran through land on the St. Martin Parish side, acting as an elevated ridge that slowed or diverted floodwaters. Supporters within Lafayette’s leadership claimed that the Corps project did not intentionally create the ridge and saw its removal as a potential flood-mitigation measure. Opponents feared it could increase flooding in St. Martin Parish. Even so, the project began to move forward quietly.

Houston, we have a problem

The phrase ‘Houston, we have a problem’ is credited to Jim Lovell during the Apollo 13 mission. That is a paraphrase of what Lovell actually said following a cascade of system failures that forced the mission to abort the planned moon landing. Unlike the Apollo 13 mission, the spoil bank project would proceed regardless of the administration’s failures to comply with multiple legal requirements.

By early February 2022, the plan had evolved into a large-scale operation, involving the removal of roughly 1,000–1,200 feet of the spoil bank, clearing timber, moving massive amounts of soil, and even utilizing barges as a make-shift bridge to ferry equipment across the river. The cost was now $3.7 million — nearly ten times the original contract’s value — and the scope included cranes, temporary bridges, ramps, and patrol boats. The catch? It was still being handled under the original “as-needed” excavation contract, rather than put out for a new public bid as Louisiana law required for such a change. Even LCG’s retained public bid counsel made it known, “…we conclude that the Amendment was outside the scope of the contract and should have been let for public bid prior to the award.”

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Inside LCG, the project had a code name: Apollo. The Mayor-President at the time, Josh Guillory, reportedly chose the name because the work was “very secretive.” Only a handful of officials were aware of it. According to Mike Hicks, the Mayor-President’s then-Chief of Staff, secrecy was intentional because there was concern that St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars would seek an injunction if he learned what was coming.

Warp Speed, No Accountability

The property itself presented another problem. LCG owned only a two-thirds undivided interest in the tract where the spoil bank sat; the remaining co-owner opposed the project and was never approached for consent. Louisiana law is clear: substantial alterations to co-owned property require the agreement of all owners. Removing a levee-like structure and clear-cutting timber certainly qualified as a substantial alteration.

As the start date approached, heavy equipment began to arrive and stage near the site — before the contract amendment had even been signed. On Friday, February 18, 2022, Amendment No. 1 was finally executed, authorizing the removal of the spoil bank just three days before work was scheduled to begin. Over that weekend, the Mayor-President and his Chief of Staff, Hicks, exchanged upbeat text messages about the launch of Apollo.

Monday, February 21, 2022, became the pivotal day. That afternoon, Hicks interrupted a meeting between the Guillory and City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan to confirm whether the contractor could start. Both men, Hicks later recounted, gave verbal approval. At 5:01 p.m., the Hicks emailed Rigid Constructors with the simple message: “Consider this email as a Notice to Proceed with the Vermilion Water Control Project.” By 8:05 that night, work was underway, and the Guillory responded to a video from the site.

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That same day, LCG purchased its two-thirds interest in the property from the co-owners, but the sale would not be recorded in St. Martin Parish’s conveyance records until March 9, weeks after work began. The other third of the property still belonged to the dissenting co-owner.

More Violations of Law

Permits were another missing piece. A St. Martin Parish ordinance required a parish-council-approved permit for any levee construction or removal. LCG never applied for one. Additionally, the project fell under the federal Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act due to its impacts on wetlands and obstruction of a navigable waterway. LCG initially applied for a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers but withdrew the application when it became clear it would likely be denied. The Corps later confirmed that the project still required a permit; however, by then, the work was already complete.

The project’s execution left a trail of disputes. St. Martin Parish officials stated that they had been assured nothing would proceed without their consent, yet they learned it had gone ahead anyway. The private co-owner sued, and the succeeding administration eventually settled the case for roughly three times the property’s appraised market value.

Legislative Auditor Findings

The Legislative Auditor later conducted an investigative audit. A report detailing the findings was issued on August 13, 2025, but made public today. The Legislative Auditor concluded that the project was structured to avoid oversight — bypassing public bid requirements, skipping intergovernmental agreements, and disregarding property and environmental laws.

The report recommended: verifying jurisdiction before starting any public works project, documenting all permits, securing clear property rights, requiring intergovernmental agreements for cross-parish work, conducting formal legal risk assessments, and training staff to recognize and respect legal boundaries. It is a textbook example of how secrecy, compressed timelines, and procedural shortcuts can undermine public trust.

Guillory recently took to the radio and Facebook, criticizing the Legislative Auditor, the Boulet administration, and others while accepting zero responsibility for wrongdoing. Oddly, Guillory refused to be interviewed as part of the investigation. On defense, Guillory raised the point that the project was supported and funded by the Louisiana Legislature, the State Bond Commission, and the Lafayette City Council. This is a common trend among elected leaders who confuse an appropriation with an authorization to act without taking the necessary steps to ensure it is legal (i.e., Youngsville, Carencro, etc.).

Getting it done?

Guillory is still hailed in certain circles as a hero for blowing through red tape to ‘git er done’ and fix flooding in Lafayette Parish once and for all. Recent weather events may indicate otherwise, but tribalism is a phenomenon that exists in politics. Some people can seem to do no wrong when viewed through rose-colored glasses. John Conlee may have said it best in his song by that name:

These rose colored glasses
That I’m looking through
Show only the beauty
‘Cause they hide all the truth

In the end, what began as a quiet flood-mitigation idea evolved into a high-cost, high-risk operation marked by legal violations, political fallout, and a settlement that cost taxpayers far more than the project’s original price tag. To make matters worse, experts have referred to the entire project as a “show project,” which remains an ineffective, incomplete, and watered-down version of an initially well-designed proposal — one that internal messages revealed was crafted to be “perfect for campaign season.” Ultimately, it wasn’t performed to address flooding. It was a re-election strategy.

The matter has been referred to the 15th Judicial District Attorneys’ Office and the United States Attorney. It is not known whether either body will prosecute the violations. Those who received Kastigar letters see that the probe is real. The story of Spoil Bank Project serves as a cautionary tale — not just for Lafayette, but for any public body tempted to trade process for speed (“the new speed of government”), secrecy, and transparency.

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