Berwick officials pleased with hurricane prep

BERWICK — Tropical Storm Cristobal provided the town government with a real-life hurricane drill. And at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, officials said they were happy with the way things turned out.
Also Tuesday, with social distancing precautions in place, the council approved some of the last payments for the street improvements in the area near Berwick Elementary and introduced an ordinance that will set the town’s property tax rates for 2020.
Cristobal approached the Louisiana coast last week amid predictions for a landfall near the Atchafalaya River with the potential for flash flooding, a storm surge that would push the Atchafalaya over 9 feet and enough wind to test the power grid.
Instead, the storm came ashore Sunday near Grand Isle. No widespread power outages were reported in St. Mary. About 1.3 inches of rain were reported Sunday at Harry P. Williams Airport near Patterson, and another 1.9 inches fell Monday.
The Atchafalaya rose no higher than 6.5 feet, or half a foot over the stage that causes minor flooding between the flood walls in Berwick and Morgan City.
Mayor Duval Arthur thanked the police and public works departments for their work with storm preparations.
Officials were also happy that workers were able to connect electrical generators to the flood-control pumps on Utah and Gilmore streets and the intake for the town water plant. That offered protection from power outages.
The Berwick Civic Center was also ready to serve as an emergency shelter.
“We had a good kind of training for hurricane season …,” Arthur said. “The only scare part we have is that this is the third storm and it’s only June 9.”
Also Tuesday:
—The council approved payments of $5,201 to Miller Engineers & Associates and $149,365 and $3,915 to Lege Construction for the street improvements on Fourth, Fifth, Texas, Ehrlich, Kyle and Francis streets. The town government secured a grant that financed paving and reconstruction on those streets.
Consulting engineer Reid Miller said the work is nearly complete.
—The council heard the re-introduction of an ordinance setting the town government’s property tax rates for 2020.
The rates are 12.88 mills for general purposes and 6.38 mills for public improvements.
A mill is 1/10th cent of tax applied to each $1 of assessed valuation, which for residential property is set at 10% of the property’s market value. Louisiana’s homestead exemption does not apply to municipal taxes.
—The council passed an ordinance that prohibits the operation of golf carts on state highways inside the town and on these streets: Thorguson, Robison, Bowman, Utah, Bellvue-Front, Gilmore, Gus and Sandra.
Their use is limited to licensed drivers. The ordinance makes parent liable for damage caused by children driving golf carts.
The restrictions apply to golf carts powered by electricity and gasoline.
—The mayor said Berwick’s 2020 Census participation rate is 59.2%, exceeding the state average of 55%.
The follow-up contacts for people who haven’t responded have been delayed by COVID-19 restrictions. Arthur said two Census representatives will be in Berwick soon. One speaks Spanish, and the other speaks Vietnamese.
Census Bureau and local officials have urged residents to take part in the once-a-decade count of U.S. residents. The numbers are important for uses such as redrawing the maps of political districts and determining how much aid governments and individuals receive from federal and state programs.
Berwick has another reason to hope for good results. The town is near the 5,000 population threshold for becoming a city under Louisiana law. Estimates differ on whether Berwick is above or below the 5,000-resident standard.
—The Town Market will be back June 20.
—The council approved the appointment of Karen Lopez to the Berwick Housing Authority board. She will replace Frances Daugherty, who died May 14.
—The city’s youth baseball and softball programs reported good participation and thanked the town government for its commitment to keeping the programs going despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
—The council approved a permit for a protest walk Wednesday afternoon by Bronwyn Colbert.
Police Chief David Leonard said a Friday afternoon protest event near the town welcome sign and the A.J. Dohmann auto dealership went off peacefully. The participants even picked up trash after the event, Leonard said.