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Berwick Mayor: New subdivisions under development

BY JANELL PARFAIT
The St. Mary Parish Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon at The Forest in Franklin on Wednesday for the parish mayors and leaders to give updates on their respective communities.
Mayor Louis Ratcliff of Berwick spoke about upcoming projects in the town.
“Our Renwick Subdivision continues to be a success story of our area,” he said. “Today, over 140 (homes) have been built in Renwick.”
In addition, two new Berwick subdivisions are in development: Centerview Park, which contains 59 lots, and Atchafalaya River Estates, which contains 40 lots. The construction of these subdivisions has allowed the town’s value to increase from $11.3 million in 1997 to $40 million as of 2016.
Berwick Elementary School, Berwick Junior High School and Berwick High School “continue to rank in the top ten schools of Louisiana,” Ratcliff said.
Berwick is working with St. Mary Parish to upgrade the storm drainage system; the parish managed to secure funding for the project in 2012.
“Like everyone else in the parish, our revenues have been down for the past two years,” Ratcliff said. “So we also had to reduce our expenditures by cutting or delaying nonessential projects. We have not yet had to reduce our manpower or cut wages or benefits. Hopefully in the midterm, we will see a more positive outlook when our revenue increases.”
Three events will be held in Berwick: the Fourth of July festival in Berwick Bay, a ham radio festival in August and the Lighthouse Tour du Teche Festival in October.

ST. MARY NOW

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