Berwick council gets land donation; looks at annexation

BERWICK — The Town Council acted quickly Tuesday to accept donated land that may become a new park.
Also at Tuesday’s regular council meeting, Mayor Duval Arthur also floated the idea of annexing a strip of land between Railroad Avenue and the Atchafalaya River.
The donation includes about 2.6 acres “fronting on Belleview Front Street and extending in a more or less westerly direction beyond the concrete Floodwall to the properties of Fairview subdivision,” according to the ordinance.
The donation comes from Hine/Kyle Properties LLC, but it came with a deadline. The transfer would happen only if the town government accepted the land by Jan. 1. Accepting the donation of land required an ordinance.
Former town legal counsel Allen McElroy returned to the council to talk about the donation. He said the company wanted the donation to happen before the new year for tax reasons. Hine/Kyle also required that the land be used for some public purpose.
The property has an estimated value of $300,000.
Passing an ordinance usually requires at least two council meetings: one for introduction, followed by publication of the proposed ordinance, and a second meeting that includes a public hearing and the passage vote. The normal method would have made it impossible to pass the ordinance by Jan. 1.
But current legal counsel Robert Duffy said the town charter allows an ordinance to be introduced and passed at the same meeting in emergency circumstances.
“Failure of the Town of Berwick to act immediately may result in incalculable loss to the Town of Berwick and its citizens,” according to the ordinance.
The ordinance accepting the donation passed unanimously on yes votes from council members Raymond Price, Colleen Askew, Lud Henry, Kevin Hebert and James Richard.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality says the property is now unoccupied and had been used since the 1930s or 1940s by a lumber operation, a drilling mud site and completion fluids plant for the oil industry. The property had been leased to MI-SWACO.
According to the LEQ, sampling in 2018 and 2019 found regulated metals and petroleum hydrocarbons at the site. About 1,100 cubic yards of soil was removed. A 2021 inspection found no waste related to the investigation remained at the site, and the LEQ ruled that no further action is required.
Arthur said the site is under consideration for use as a park.
Annexation?
Arthur also discussed the possibility of annexing a piece of land south of River Road between Berwick South Road and the parish boat launch.
The area contains half a dozen businesses and an undetermined number of residents.
Arthur said the Berwick town government already provides water and natural gas service to that area. Sewer service and police protection comes from the parish.
Property owners in that area would be subject to town property taxes. But among the benefits, Arthur said, would be quicker response from the nearby Berwick Police Department.
The council took no action on annexation Tuesday. The next step would be a petition from property owners within the area proposed for annexation.