Mayors, parish CAO tout accomplishments

All five mayors and the chief administrative officer of the parish gathered Tuesday at the St. Mary Parish Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon in Franklin to report on their various jurisdictions.
Baldwin Mayor Abel “Phil” Prejean kicked off the round of reports. “Baldwin is progressing, we’re moving along,” he said. He said the town is no longer under oversight by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and the Legislative Oversight Committee.
Prejean said, “We have remedied many of the financial problems that we’ve had.”
The town no longer produces its own water, instead purchasing that service from parish Water Dist. 4. “It’s easier for us, the water is bad, it’s got ammonia which we can’t treat, so we had to shut the plant,” he said. There are other water improvements on the way.
The town is acquiring new water meters to replace very old devices that often do not work properly, Prejean said. The new electronic meters should be more accurate and help recover water use losses.
“When I became mayor,” Prejean said, “I knew nothing about sewer systems. Now I know more than I ever needed to know.”
Grants have been secured for new pumps in all of our sewer district by the end of the month, he said. “Those may not sound like great strides, but for us they are,” Prejean said. “We’re moving forward now.”
Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur said the town was close to reaching city, rather than town, designation in the 2010 census; he anticipates that the next census will probably reach the threshold.
The town has hired a person to handle blighted property issues, a formerly retired individual, who has been working on mediation of those properties.
A new mayor and council now seated, Arthur said he’s working well with those on the council. “This group of council listens, they come up with fresh ideas, they don’t have any pre-conceived ideas about government,” he said.
Arthur said a sewer rehabilitation program has “tied in all our sewer lines throughout the town.” Also, a major drainage project in the Boudreaux Street and Gilmore Drive area, involved increasing culvert sizes and adding other measures to help prevent flooding.
Many streets were paved in Berwick, and Arthur said a street sweeper was purchased, a 150KW generator for the water plant intake on the bayou.
Franklin Mayor Eugene Foulcard said “we’ve been very, very busy, we’ve been rocking and rolling. I couldn’t have done this without the council. We’re a team effort.”
Foulcard said street overlays have been the most visible improvements across the city, such as Chatsworth Road near Franklin Foundation Hospital, south Willow Street, Wilfred Street, and they have repaved the parking area along Teche Drive, funding provided by St. Mary Parish Government in a recent bond issue.
There will be a second round in the near future, Foulcard said.
Franklin partnered with South Louisiana Community College to sponsor a job fair last year, and “almost 50 residents were able to get a job” after participating. There were two housing events, a priority for Foulcard, to slow or halt outward migration from the city.
A “community connection” meeting last year on the housing issue saw 100 or more people in attendance, he said. A later symposium on the same topic as well as others saw about the same number of participants.
Franklin is also continuing to address blighted properties, Foulcard said, and has seen success: “We had demolition orders on 57 properties 60 days ago; 30% of those properties have been demolished or renovated, the remaining properties will be dealt with later on during the year,” he said.
A $2.5 million rehabilitation is ongoing at the city’s sewer plant, he said.
Infrastructure improvements have resulted in increases in water pressure in certain areas of Franklin, which not only helps residents with water availability, but in some cases improves fire ratings.
Foulcard mentioned upcoming events including “Bikers on the Bayou” on July 13 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the film “Easy Rider” where Franklin and St. Mary Parish were filmed. He also spoke of Christmas events and decorations on the bayouside, and other functions.
Chief of Police Morris Beverly took over the department in December, he noted. Grants for the fire department were received for equipment, a Walmart grant, to increase access to healthy foods with renovations to rec centers, and playgrounds were improved as well.
An anti-litter and cleanup campaign is ready to kick off, the mayor said.
“We can make a difference and change the perception we have in our city,” Foulcard said.
Franklin will celebrate its 200th anniversary next year, with an event in the works.
Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi, Morgan City, said that the city was facing financial issues when he was elected, but today those conditions have been largely remediated. Software programs have been updated, he said.
Morgan City runs its own library, recreation, sewer, water, gas, fire and electrical services.
The city’s budget is $42 million. “I’m very fortunate that we haven’t had a hurricane in my tenure,” Grizzaffi said. “That’s about $2 million in costs.”
He said it’s been difficult to get reimbursed by FEMA, from 10 years ago, and they are finally coming through with reimbursement. Those funds have been put aside with guidelines for use in case of emergencies.
Automated meters are being installed at $1.4 million, allowing the city to notify customers if they have water leaks very early and spare them additional costs of wasted water.
Two companies relocated to Morgan City, Electra with 40 employees, and Seacor relocated to the city recently on a five-year lease.
“Something’s going on because we’ve been contacted recently by some major players, big oil companies, looking to locate material yards somewhere in the vicinity,” Grizzaffi said. He said Assumption’s tax rate is less inviting that Morgan City’s.
Grizzaffi said he’s been able to raise pay for employees, and make them more accountable.
Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan said the city will be featured in July at the Louisiana Municipal Association Conference, and statewide in a commercial.
Grogan said Patterson has just completed the first phase of a $1.9 million project at Morey Park through a $500,000 grant from the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, with the help of former Franklin employee Michael Domingue. “We’ve gone from no visitors at Morey Park to at least 10-15 families a day,” Grogan said. “We also had a kiosk donated by a local family. We completed the first phase of new playground equipment, a new walking trail, and the next phase will be a pavilion and restrooms.”
By July 1, a new water plant will go online, he said.
New Police Chief Garrett Grogan came aboard after the retirement of longtime Chief Patrick LaSalle.
Parish monies also aided in street improvements, he said.
“We were able to get 10 roads overlaid for $385,000,” Grogan said with low bids. “You can get more for the buck.”
He noted business activity and success in the municipality.
St. Mary Parish Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange, representing the parish president, said capital investments in the parish are many, with businesses and industries investing in the parish and expanding, bringing more jobs, including the carbon black industry.
The parish president and council invested in road infrastructure with a $10 million bond issue, and another one is on the way later this year, LaGrange said. That money was shared with the five municipalities.
The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act authorized sharing of oil and gas revenues generated from the outer continental shelf to coastal parishes and the state at 30%. In 2017, the parish received $730,000, in 2018 it was $830,000. The parish will bond $11.5 million from those revenues for more infrastructure in line with authorized uses, mostly environmental, wetlands, coastal restoration, etc.
Projects that fit criteria have been identified, LaGrange said.
There are also initiatives to expand bear-resistant waste containers for those unincorporated area residents who live in close proximity with the animals.
The parish also waived tipping fees on disposal of blighted properties, LaGrange said.
He said the 2020 census needs to be highly publicized, encouraging people to participate, increasing chances of additional revenues to the local governments.