More changes ahead for sewer commission

PATTERSON — St. Mary Parish Joint Sewage Commission members of Wards 5 and 8 received a surprise Monday. The longtime superintendent, Mickey Carmouche, handed members a letter stating his intention to retire Nov. 30.
Also, Commissioner Matthew Kidder resigned, because he has moved out of the Bayou Vista area.
And if that wasn’t enough news, after discussing applying for a rate study and a grant, and having a brief debate over the rate increase the commission approved to begin Oct 1, it was discovered the commission could have been out of compliance with Environmental Protection Agency issues regarding fecal sampling.
Carmouche, 72, who said he has been fastidiously at work on a comprehensive grant to send off to the Louisiana Infrastructure Technical Assistance Corporation, said he will remain in his job until the grant is completed, but will be available as needed.
“I’m not going to stay here forever,” he said.
But Commission Vice Chairman Michael Stewart said he wasn’t going to accept it until the grant application is complete, “and we know we have money coming in.”
Carmouche’s letter comes one month after the Joint Commission’s President Chris Cooper resigned, after serving on the board for three years. Cooper cited public ridicule and condemnation as reasons for stepping down, after publicly announcing a commission rate hike because they’re basically broke.
During his report to the body, Carmouche said the commission is also facing rising costs; for instance, prices on chemicals like chlorine have quadrupled.
Parish Councilman Patrick Hebert, who at the meeting said he previously suggested the commission apply to LITA, saying he feels the nonprofit organization could pull in a couple of million for the strained operation. He became familiar with LITA while serving on the Louisiana Police Jury Association.
According to their website, LITA was established in October 2022, as a collaborative partnership that solicits proposals, to provide technical assistance to rural and economically distressed communities in Louisiana.
Stewart said the commission operates under an intergovernmental agreement between the parish, the city of Patterson and the town of Berwick, serving an area between the Calumet Cut and Berwick.
Commissioner Tim Kyle said the commission charges each entity $3.50 per 1,000 gallons of sewage outfall processed, by the commission’s equipment.
But Stewart said that charge can’t cover rising costs and equipment issues, thus the reason for the rate hike of $1.50 per 1,000 gallons of sewage outfall.
Carmouche said this is the first rate hike the commission has asked for in 10 years. “In the 20 years I’ve been here, we only went up three times, and this is the largest one.”
Kyle said the commission has to grapple with incredible costs on fixing and band-aiding equipment, and paying hard costs like their electricity bill which is over $20,000 per month.
Stewart said the new rate hike kicked in Oct 1.
But Andrew Bienvenu, city of Patterson utility billing clerk, questioned how can that be possible when, according to the intergovernmental agreement which governs the organization, all entities have to confirm any rate increase.
“Patterson has never objected before,” Commission Secretary Karen Sehon said.
Bienvenu answered, “That’s because we haven’t received copies of the minutes of this meeting in 10 years. And according to the agreement, we’re supposed to.”
“Just ask,” Sehon said.
“We don’t have to, according to the agreement,” Bienvenu said.
Stewart said, “We either have a rate hike now, or we come to the city of Patterson, and the town of Berwick, and we get the money we need. Y’all own a part of the commission, don’t you?”
“Is Patterson willing to pay its share to help us?” Stewart asked. “We’re going to do this rate increase now, and when we get results from our rate study next year, we may do another.”
Details on when the Louisiana Rural Waste Water Association could begin the rate study weren’t clear. Commissioner Brandon Monceaux posed the question, “What happens if the rate study suggests we should be charging more?”
Pam Fromenthal of Fromenthal Plumbing, one of the commission’s contract firms, suggested that getting the grant to LITA on time is imperative, because if the commission waits, the grant may not get funded if the results of a rate study show the commission should have been charging more initially.
In other business, Hannah Orgeron of Providence Engineering, whose firm has been working for the commission for decades, said the joint sewage commission is considered a major treatment plant because it has a design capacity to discharge 6 million gallons of water a day. And because it is so, it should have been conducting fecal sampling five days a week.
“Sampling for fecal five times a week in the state of Louisiana is standard for a major treatment plant. The Wards 5 and 8 was one of the treatment plants left that did not sample five times a week,” she said.
Carmouche said the commission was not in compliance with the new EPA fecal sample ruling.
“According to my spreadsheet, there were some monthly, possibly weekly issues where the amount of fecal exceeded standard requirements,” Orgeron said.
Calvin Sanders, a commission employee, said that to adhere to new standards, “we started sampling five days a week on Oct 1. We sample every day. They pick up samples at 7 a.m.”
Carmouche said, “We’re back on track.”
Monceaux said the Wards 5 and 8 may be the only sewage system in the country that is using solar power equipment to break up fecal matter. “We are on an experimental trial. This will also save on electricity.”
Questioned after the meeting, Orgeron, who is a scientist with her firm, said in some instances fecal sampling discharge was over state allowable monthly and weekly limitations.
In other matters, it appears the commission may have been in violation of fecal discharge requirements in years prior, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality website.
In 2020, the commission was cited for having “effluent limitation exceedances, record management deficiencies and storm water pollution prevention plan deficiencies.”

This story has been edited to make it clear that Carmouche is retiring.