VIDALIA, La. &045; Despite consultant Oliver Schultz’s mistake with plans for school board redistricting, the Concordia Parish Police Jury this week hired him to work on community development block grant projects for the coming year.

Schultz told police jurors Monday about the reason for his mistake, which has caused the postponement again of the parish school board elections.

Schultz said he and his secretary miscommunicated about sending off the redistricting of for the school board and the police jury to the Justice Department, police jury secretary Russell Wagoner said.

The police jury’s redistricting proposal was sent while the school board’s was not.

Because the plans were not sent, the school board elections are postponed until March but the police jury elections are on schedule.

Wagoner said the two plans were identical, with the school board adopting the same plans as the police jury.

&uot;The police jury has to set the lines,&uot; Wagoner said. &uot;They have to follow the lines we set.&uot;

The only difference, Wagoner said, is that the school board has Ward 5 as a dual-member district, whereas the police jury has it set up separately into 5a and 5b.

Deciding whether to use a dual-member district or separate district is the only choice the school board has to waver from the police jury’s redistricting, Wagoner said.

In other business with Schultz, the board approved him to serve as the consultant for the community development block grant projects for 2004-2005.

Through the appointment, Schultz, who has worked with the parish for more than 30 years, will file all necessary paperwork for the projects.

New parish sanitarian Patrick Johnson, though on the job for a few months now, introduced himself to the jury Monday.

Appointments made by the board included:

4Charles Wilson and Charles Quimby to the Civil Service Board.

4Lisa Smith to the Lake St. John Waterworks Board.

4Henderson Cook to the Parish Planning Commission.

4Curtis Brown to the Mosquito Abatement Board.

Talks about the solid waste contract &045; whether to open the contract for bids or to extend the current contract &045; will continue at the next police jury meeting since the chairman of the committee, Blaney, was absent Monday night.