Council also hears about school board millage renewal on May ballot
director of the Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District about projects the district is undertaking, including replacing the 80-yearold Ruth Canal control structure south of Breaux Bridge.
The committee also heard from St. Martin Parish Schools Superintendent Frederick Wiltz about $30 million bond issue on the May ballot that would pay for school infrastructure and equipment.
And the committee heard a proposal from local veterinarian Dr. Megan Simon to donate a building to the parish animal shelter to house cats and kittens.
Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District Executive Director Donald Sagrera told the Public Works Committee that the Ruth Canal control structure project will likely take about three to four years to complete.
The project’s total cost will run to about $8 million, according to water district commissioner Tommy Thibodeaux, who repre sents St. Martin Parish on the district’s oversight board.
The control structure is located south of Breaux Bridge and just west of Louisiana Highway 31.
Ruth Canal runs roughly east-west and connects Bayou Teche on its eastern end to Bayou Vermilion on the west at its border with Lafayette Parish. The western portion of the canal is called Evangeline Canal.
In order to replace the structure, a bypass channel will have to be built around the current structure, Sagrera said. That structure will have its own control structure built.
After that first phase of the project is complete, sheet pilings will be placed on each side of the Ruth Canal control structure so all the water can be drained from the canal there.
Projects
The old structure will then be removed and replaced with a new control structure.
“We’re be doing soil borings soon to determine what the condition of the soil is,” Sagrera said. “That’s going to need to be known to determine how deep to drive the pilings to form a coffer dam.”
That phase should take about two years before the coffer dam and bypass are completed with the entire project done in three to four years. Bids are expected to go out in the next year, Sagrera said.
Sagrera said that another project the Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District also had applied for a grant to fund clearing of trees along Bayou Teche from the Keystone Lock just south of St. Martinville, all the way north to Port Barre.
After applying to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the grant, the Corps of Engineers informed the fresh water district representatives that the Corps was planning to clear the trees from the Keystone Lock to Arnaudville as part of its regular work, so the grant would not be needed. “I think what they’re intending is to remove the trees that are in the bayou and logs that are in the bayou, but they don’t have any intention of dredging,” Sagrera said.
The Corps is trying to determine how to get barges for dredging further upstream to clear the bayou, Sagrera said. Further clearing of trees from the bayou from Arnaudville to Port Barre would help the Teche-Vermilion water district, Sagrera said, and the district is talking with the Corps of Engineers about getting that work done.
School bond proposition Wiltz talked to the Public Works Committee about the bon issue the school board will place on the May 3 ballot.
“It’s important for the public to understand that there will be no expected increase to our millage,” Wiltz said. “This is a renewal.
“What’s vitally important about this proposition is that our district wants to utilize much of the funding to continue to upgrade things that we’ve done in our district.”
Because current economic conditions make building of new schools nearly impossible to afford, he said, it is vital to maintain the current facilities.
The school system came up with a capital improvement plan based on talks with school administrators and what each felt was needed at their schools.
Security upgrades across the district are high on the list, including possibly a computer security system tying into the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office and local police departments for quicker response to incidents on campuses.
“As a public body you understand that parents are concerned more than ever about safety and security in our schools, and that’s vitally important to us,” Wiltz said.
The school board’s financial stability and its record of paying back bonds quickly has put it in position to get approval from the state bond commission for the $30 million bond that residents can vote on in May, he said.
The money raised will be used parishwide based on student populations. Once the larger projects are completed, smaller projects can be addressed, Wiltz said. The school board is looking into transitioning to a fleet of air conditioned buses, he said.
Teaching is the foundation everything that happens in a community, he said.
Businesses don’t come into an area just because they want to come into an area,” he said. “One of the first things they look at is the school system. We’re proud that we’re a ‘B’ district and we’re going to continue to work and push because we want to become an ‘A’ district. “We talk about how our students are no different than students in any other parish. That’s why it’s important that we provide them with safe and secure facilities where they want to be and where their parents want their kids to be in our public schools.”
Parish Councilwoman Carla JeanBatiste said that first impressions are lasting impressions and said she hopes the school board takes into consideration general exterior work.
“The painting, making the names of the school stand out,” she said. “I know with the STEAM Academies, just passing (the sign) catches your eye. With some of ours schools it’s just kind of lost in the mist, so just general pressure washing, painting and upgrading, could that be considered as part of that plan for the plan?”
Wiltz said those are not part of the big ticket items in the capital outlay plan, but those are items that the school system wants to consider doing.
Some of the work being done would be to help students feel more safe and comfortable, and therefore more receptive to learning, Wiltz said.
JeanBatiste said that in her experience, if a place is inviting and has an attractive and appealing appearance, then students are more apt be more comfortable and more likely to receptive to their education.
“It may not be a big ticket item but it should be a first-ticket item,” she said.
Wiltz thanked her for her input.
Building donation
Dr. Megan Simon of Country Place Veterinary Clinic offered to donate a building to the parish Animal Services Shelter to replace the one that is used to house cats.
The old building is falling apart and has some mold issues and is not safe for housing animals, Dr. Jackie Simon said.
“The last price she got was an $11,000 building,” Jackie Simon said. “It would be completely finished. It would be transported to the Animal Control Shelter, all included in what her donation is. She wants it specifically used as a cat/kitten facility for those cats that are most likely to be adopted by parish residents.”
The only thing the parish would be asked to do is accept the building and facilitate hooking up water and electricity to the building, Jackie Simon said.
Parish Council President Chris Tauzin said he thinks it is a very generous donation and noted that, as Parish President Pete Delcambre has said, the parish is mandated to provide an animal shelter, so any donation of that kind is appreciated.
Delcambre said that the parish would work with Megan Simon to complete the donation.
Parish President’s report
Delcambre discussed several items, including the Henderson Control Structure built in the early 1960s that controls the water flow into and the water level of Henderson Lake.
The parish has some Gulf of Mexico Energy and Security Act funds initially used to rebuild the Butte La Rose Bridge that came in under budget. The parish is asking FEMA if it can use the $1 million left from those GOMESA funds for upgrading the Henderson Control Structure.
The use of the funds is restricted but Delcambre said the parish will reapply to use the funds for the project as it is related to the Butte La Rose Bridge project.
The parish has about $4.5 million in Sales Tax No. 1 Road Improvements funds to be used with construction expected to start on projects in the third or fourth quarter of the year and be completed in 2026, Delcambre said.
Parish council members submitted roads in each of their districts that need work with the administration choosing the ones most in need of work from that list.
Delcambre also talked about the $1 million the parish had budgeted for its annex building project. The state is requiring the parish to deduct 4.5 percent of that money ($45,000) for state administration fees, reducing the amount of funding to $955,000. An additional 5 percent ($50,000) must be held back for contingency fees, so the state is requesting a resolution confirming that the parish has $95,000 available to balance the total budget at $1 million.
The parish would have to make a budget amendment and find the $95,000 somewhere in its budget before the project can go forward.
Engineering plans for the Box Car Road project are nearly complete and the Corps of Engineers is being contacted about permitting to do the work.
The Vermilion eroding the embankment along the road, and as soon as that is gone, the road will begin to slide into the bayou and property owners on the other side of the road will begin losing their property to erosion, Delcambre said.
Tauzin said he had been out to inspect the damage being done by the water, recently and said the damage is much worse than people could ever expect, and the work is needed quickly.
The project is expected to cost between $1.5 and $1,8 million.
The parish courthouse renovations are nearing completions with final walk through on April 24, Delcambre said.
Doyle Melancon Road work is also near completion, he said, with Breaux Bridge being contacted about what their portion of the 50-50 cost split would be.
