LAPLACE — An agreement struck between Belle Terre Country Club and St. John the Baptist Parish Government to keep certain drainage ponds clean on Club grounds has devolved into a legal argument with both sides unhappy.

St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney Bridget Dinvaut said there appears to be a line drawn in the sand between each side.

“We will take the position that is in the best interest of the parish,” Dinvaut told Parish Council members this week. “That is where we are at this point — not to say that we are not open to some additional discussions to alleviate or resolve this situation.”

Parish President Natalie Robottom said local government is seeking legal guidance on how to finalize the project, receive final payment from the country club and ensure there is a maintenance mechanism in place.

Parish Government said the two sides previously struck an agreement to clean water near golf course holes 3 through 8 and 16 through 18 because they are public drain outlets. The ponds were to be kept up by the country club after the initial work was completed.

St. John agreed to pay 70 percent of the cost, and country club owners were responsible for 30 percent, parish communications director Baileigh Rebowe Helm said.

The agreement called for the parish to remove pond debris, spray the sides, clean the basins and clean the culverts.

Robottom said the Parish has maintained its end of the agreement and is waiting on final payment from the country club.

The amount of the final payment was not mentioned at the Parish Council meeting Tuesday and a newspaper request for the total was not answered by press time.

“Our issue is two fold: It’s finalizing the payment and what are our abilities to make sure that is it maintained,” Robottom said. “The bottom line is it was a step and a stretch to do this work and we need to conclude this project.”

Belle Terre Country Club co-owner Semi Wadhwa, who was not at this week’s Parish Council meeting, said the Parish has not complied with the work agreed to by both parties.

“I don’t understand why they are going around circumventing the point, discussing at the Parish Council meeting for 20 minutes, which is stupid, because all they have to look at is that they did not finish holes No. 4, 16, 17 and 18,” she said.

Country club co-owner Manjit Wadhwa said the contractor hired by the Parish did not complete the work and “ran away from the job.”

“Therefore, they are at fault, not us,” he said. “Whatever needs to be done, they have to finish it.

“At the end of the day, if you have not done your job, then you don’t deserve (payment). The neighborhood people don’t know what is exactly happening behind the scenes, and (Robottom) is saying the wrong things.”

Manjit Wadhwa said he has paid the Parish 90 percent of the agreed-upon total and is holding the final 10 percent until project completion, which he said was the plan outlined in the contract.

District 7 Councilwoman Raj Pannu, who serves as Belle Terre Civic Association president, said residents are complaining the pond behind the hole closest to the country club is not clean, adding there is plenty of confusion.

“The residents are already fed up,” she said.

“The residents need something to be done because, constantly, they are worried it doesn’t look nice. The residents want some action to be taken.”