Berwick council OKs budget and deal with new subdivision

BERWICK — Berwick has a new town government budget and a new deal that could lead to a new 10-lot subdivision.
The Town Council on Tuesday approved a new consolidated budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, a little leaner but with no cuts in services or staffing levels.
It also agreed to enter an agreement with Berwick LLC that opens the door for the new subdivision on Pattie and Fairview.
Also Tuesday, the council approved plans for the Berwick High homecoming parade Sept. 30 and a Gospel music event on the riverfront Oct. 16; heard about Port of Morgan City operations; and praised town government employees and residents for pulling together in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
Budget
The 2021-22 budget that passed unanimously Tuesday anticipates revenue of about $5.7 million, roughly $40,000 more than this year. The council budgeted a $25,000 increase to about $2.7 million in the revenue expected from local taxes and franchise fees.
The budget calls for spending $58,000 less than in the current year for a total of about $4.2 million. After $1.3 million in intergovernmental transfers are backed out — mostly spending financed through grants — the town government will be left with a $132,000 surplus.
That surplus will raise the accumulated fund balance to about $3.6 million.
The council also amended the current year’s budget to account for revenue and spending that arose since the original budget passed.
The biggest item in the amendment is a little more than $1 million for street overlay and repairs financed through grants. The town government also anticipates spending $350,000 on the new roof at Town Hall and spent $150,000 on a new excavator and $125,000 for two police cruisers.
A new pumping station cost $175,000. And $200,000 was transferred to the general fund from a 1% sales tax.
Subdivision
The agreement approved Tuesday will result in construction of a pump and lift station for the sewer system that will serve the subdivision at Pattie and Fairview.
The station will be turned over to the town government along with ownership of the 35-foot-by-35-foot piece of land where the station will be constructed.
The council gave preliminary approval in August to plans for the residential development. Berwick LLC has plans for a 10-lot subdivision on about 17 acres. The Planning & Zoning Commission had recommended approval.
The project will require further approval from the town government, but the preliminary OK gives Berwick LLC what it needs to move ahead with more detailed engineering plans, Planning & Zoning Director Gary Beadle told the council in August.
Berwick LLC’s incorporation documents list Kyna N. Smith of the Hancock Whitney Bank legal department in New Orleans and Patrick Loupe as agents. Its managers are listed as Hancock Whitney, Joseph Exnicios and Steven Barnett, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office.
Hurricane Ida
Mayor Duval Arthur talked about the time leading to Ida’s Aug. 29 landfall, when town officials gathered in the council chambers to watch National Weather Service reports. Until late in the afternoon Aug. 28, predictions were for a landfall near Berwick, possibly to the west.
“They were beating us to death with that storm,” Arthur said. “They said it was coming directly to Morgan City and Berwick.”
Instead, Ida came ashore at Port Fourchon, causing catastrophic damage in its path but sparing most of Berwick anything more than a couple of days without power and interrupted phone service.
But that meant long hours of work for police officers, firefighters and public works employees.
Berwick police, for example, were stationed to handle the traffic generated by returning evacuees and people from the hardest hit areas coming west for food and gasoline.
The town also hosted a shelter at the Berwick Civic Center. Residents of the town brought food to the shelter, Police Chief David Leonard said,
“They’re still bringing food,” Leonard said.
The chief and council members thanked town employees for their work and citizens for cooperating and pitching in.
Events
Berwick High sophomores Cherish Lewis and Paulina Trejo and class adviser Kim Vasquez sought approval for the Berwick High homecoming parade at 6 p.m. Sept. 30.
The parade will start at the high school and move through Country Club Estates on its way back to the school.
The students also asked the town to take part in Paint the Town Gold activities as part of the homecoming week theme of “Go for the Gold.” Homecoming week will be Sept. 27-Oct. 2.
The council approved the parade.
Also, the council OK’d the use of the riverfront pavilion by organizers of the Gospel music event Oct. 16. It will feature performances by music programs at several local churches.
Port
Port of Morgan City Director Raymond “Mac” Wade told the council that three dredges are authorized for work at the same time in the port channel for the first time ever. A fourth is scheduled to join them.
The dredging is a step toward deepening the channel between the Gulf of Mexico and the port’s dock to its authorized depth of 20 feet and width of 400 feet. That would make the port accessible by large cargo vessels for the first time in six years.