Berwick council OKs sewer system work

BERWICK — Residents along Bayou Teche won’t need septic tanks soon.
On Tuesday, the town council voted to grant permission for Mayor Louis Ratcliff to sign a contract with Bihm Construction Co. to start work on a new sewer system.
The new sewer system is a grant-funded project from the state that will give residents along Old Spanish Trail and La. 182 west of Country Club Estates a community sewer system.
Reid Miller, engineer consultant for the town of Berwick, said construction of the sewer system will begin between February and March and last six to nine months.
However, residents of the area will have to personally pay plumbers to rewire their plumbing systems from the septic tanks to the new sewer system upon completion.
Also at the council meeting, Berwick Police Chief James Richard had the council introduce an ordinance to set up an official policy to deal with several abandoned bicycles that are around the town.
Ordinance 691 says the Berwick Police Department will take custody of any abandoned bicycles left unclaimed on private or public property. Abandoned bicycles will be placed in storage for up to a year, in which any person claiming ownership has a year to make a claim and provide proof of ownership with the police department.
If an abandoned bicycle has not been claimed, then the bicycle will become the property of the police department, which will then be authorized to dispose of in any way it sees fit.
The ordinance applies to the current abandoned bicycles that are within the Berwick Police Department’s custody.
“We have about 40 to 50 bikes in storage,” said Richard.
A public hearing and action will be taken on the ordinance at the next council meeting on Jan. 9.
In addition, council member Duval Arthur requested that the mayor write a letter to the Louisiana Department of Traffic Development to consider the town when making street closures such as the one that happened on Dec. 8 in result of the snow. Duval said that redirecting 18-wheelers through the corner of Sixth and Utah streets was an extremely hard turn for the trucks that caused significant traffic jams and frustration.