Parish Council member: Connect water systems for mutual aid

FRANKLIN — A parish councilman thinks St. Mary can be better prepared for a potentially catastrophic loss of water service. And the council has agreed to examine his idea for a solution.
Councilman Scott Ramsey of Bayou Vista suggested at Wednesday’s council meeting that municipalities and water districts should put themselves in position to offer mutual aid.
The move would require connections between water systems, as well as valves and meters.
It would also require agreement among those entities. Ramsey said his conversations with mayors in Berwick, Patterson and Morgan City indicate a willingness to look into the idea.
The mid-February freeze offered a glimpse at what might happen if a disaster interrupted water service. The 18-degree weather led to leaks and a loss of water pressure in some St. Mary communities. Thousands of residents were asked to boil water intended for consumption until the state government could perform safety tests.
“What would happen here if we had a hurricane or a spill? …” Ramsey said. “What if we had one or two water plants go down?
“Parts of the parish would be without water for an extended period of time.”
The council approved a motion to look into the possibility of making it possible for systems to render mutual aid. It’s not yet clear how much Ramsey’s suggestion would cost.
Also Wednesday:
—The National Association of Counties estimates that St. Mary Parish government will receive about $9.6 million in aid under the recently passed federal coronavirus assistance legislation, Chief Administrative Office Henry C. “Bo” LaGrange reported.
Governments are still waiting to learn exactly how much they’ll get or what limits might be imposed on the use of the money.
Councilman Craig Mathews suggested that the parish government should dedicate a portion of the money to direct rental assistance for parish residents. He considers previous rent relief programs for people who lost income because of COVID-19, programs administered by the Louisiana Housing Corp., to be failures.
—Parish President David Hanagriff said he’s glad St. Mary School Board teachers and support staff members will get a raise after a school sales tax passed in Saturday’s election.
But he said he’s sad for the School Board, which Hanagriff has said was unwilling to cut administrative costs or compromise on the proposal before asking voters for more money.
Hanagriff had been the most vocal opponent of the tax proposal.
The 0.45% sales tax was approved by St. Mary voters by a 62%-38% margin. The tax will raise $3.9 million a year to offer a $3,000 annual raise to certified employees and a $1,500 raise to noncertified employees.
—The council will send three names to the Governor’s Office as potential appointees to fill a vacant seat on the St. Mary Levee District. They are Andrew V. Mancuso, Dan J. Duplantis and Adam J. Blanchard.
The governor will choose one of them to fill the post left vacant when board member Barry Broussard died Jan. 11.
The council also approved the appointment of Raymond R. Beadle Jr. to the Gravity Sub-District No. 1 board serving Bayou Vista. Sheriff Blaise Smith and Edward Smith were reappointed to the 911 board, and Gerald Ohmer was appointed to the Drainage District No. 2 board serving the area from the Atchafalaya to Bayou Ramos-Morgan City.