Berwick council resolutions back crime lab, repaving for La. 182

BERWICK — The Town Council on Tuesday expressed its support for a new Acadiana Crime Lab and for a smoother ride on La. 182.

Also Tuesday, the council passed a resolution honoring a longtime town employee, recognized a pair of police officers for service and paid tribute to a Berwick High junior who brought a mental health and suicide prevention pro-gram to the community.

Crime lab
The council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the construction of a new Acadiana Crime Lab.

District attorneys representing the eight parishes served by the lab, including St. Mary, are making the rounds of local government boards seeking support for the new lab. Officials hope to use that support to obtain state funding.

Sixteenth Judicial District Attorney Bo Duhé told the council about plans for a new 40,000-square-foot lab near the current site near Acadiana Regional Airport in northwest Iberia Parish.

The lab analyzes evidence, including ballistics and DNA, for law enforcement and courts throughout the eight parishes. But Duhé told the council that the current lab, occupied since 1989, is too small and has a leaky roof. It’s also in an area vulnerable to hurricane damage.

If evidence is destroyed, Duhé said, so are prosecutions.

“I think it’s definitely needed,” said Councilman James Richard, a former Berwick police chief. “I’ve been there many times.”

The new lab is expected to cost $25 million. Lab board members, including Duhé, are hoping to receive capital funding from the Legislature, but that would require a $5 million match.

They’ve developed a formula for which agencies pay how much based on the number of evidence samples submitted in 2019, the last year before COVID. The formula would require about $140,000 based on Berwick’s 174 cases in 2019.

But Duhé wasn’t ask-ing for an actual appropriation. He said legislators involved in the capital funding process, including state Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, and Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, have told him they want to see a commitment of support toward meeting the $5 million match.

The match needn’t require a direct appropriation for the full amount, Duhé said. Other possible alternatives are phil-anthropic donations; federal funding through the offices of U.S. Sen. John Kennedy and U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins; and an emergency waiver from the Division of Administration, eliminating the need for the match.

La. 182

The council also passed a resolution asking Allain and state Rep. Vincent St. Blanc, R-Franklin, to seek state funding for an overlay of La. 182 in Berwick.

The resolution says the condition of the highway creates public safety concerns, especially since both Berwick High and Berwick Junior High are on La. 182.

The last overlay and patching was in 1999, the resolution said.
The resolution passed unanimously.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development recently began an over-lay of La. 182 between La. 3069 at Franklin to a point just east of La. 317. The 4.8 miles of overlay, scheduled for completion this summer, is expected to cost just more than $3 million. Huey Stockstill LLC is the contractor.

Beacon

The council presented its monthly Beacon Shines On award to Berwick High junior Ella Hover, who won praise for taking a leadership role in bringing the “My Ascension” suicide prevention movie and pro-gram to the town.

Berwick High Principal Paul Broussard described the student as friendly but persistent as she, along with a group of teachers, put the spotlight on the mental health needs of her school mates.

“Not often do students take a stand such as this,” Broussard said.

Employee honored
The council passed a resolution honoring the memory of David Duhon II who died April 8.

Duhon worked for the Public Works Department and as a police officer for 10 years. He was also a Berwick volunteer firefighter.

He stayed on as a re-serve officer after leaving the Police Department in 2008 and worked overseas for a year with the U.S. Army Corps of En-gineers.

A copy of the resolution and an American flag were presented to Duhon’s wife Stephanie, daughter Addison and mother Karen Lopez.

Officers
The council recognized police Sgt. Quentin Menard for 10 years of service.

Officer Josh Hudson received a commendation.

On April 5, not long after he completed drug enforcement training, Hudson stopped a minivan on U.S. 90 for a traffic violation and wound up seizing 46 pounds of marijuana.