Sewer commission considers 2nd rate hike

PATTERSON — Facing a bleak cash flow, Wards 5 and 8 Joint Sewage Commission members agreed Monday to explore another rate increase in order to offset costs to purchase new equipment and hire another employee.
The commission is an intergovernmental entity created 41 years ago by the St. Mary Parish Council, the city of Patterson and the town of Berwick.
Its mission is to provide sewer services and to operate a regional sewage treatment facility which collects sewage from Calumet to Berwick.
On Monday, Calvin Sanders, plant superintendent, requested budgets to enclose an open warehouse which has been storing their equipment for years, and a new Mission Data System that monitors operational timing of the commission’s pumps and alarms.
Sanders also discussed adding an additional employee to help with the work load and concern over aging equipment that is so old, its parts to fix are obsolete.
Karen Sehon, the secretary/treasurer, also presented the profit and loss statement ending Nov 30, which showed $236,688 in the commissions’ coffers.
Commissioner Tim Kyle suggested the board contact Eric Duplantis, their attorney, to explore another rate increase to offset operational costs.
Commission Chairman Michael Stewart, along with Commissioners Chris Cooper and Brandon Monceaux, agreed.
Cooper also said that the town of Berwick should perhaps pay more for the increase since five of the commission’s 11 lift stations are located there.
“I don’t think it’s fair that Bayou Vista residents pay the same as the residents of Berwick, because we only have one lift station in our area,” Cooper said.
“Technically, why should Patterson pay as much? Berwick also has a couple of miles of pipe line.”
“Berwick should be paying the brunt of it, and at least 50% of our maintenance costs,” he said.
“Fair is fair until we can get results of a rate study.”
A lift station is a crucial part of wastewater systems that uses pumps to move sewage and wastewater, Sanders said.
He explained that there is one lift station in Bayou Vista, three lift stations in the unincorporated areas of Patterson, two lift stations within the city of Patterson and five lift stations in the town of Berwick.
There are also three ponds within the system, one in Patterson, one in Berwick and the other at the main plant on Cotten Road in an unincorporated area of Patterson.
The lift stations send sewage wastewater to the ponds in Patterson and Berwick, which then send the sludge to the main plant on Cotten Road for treatment.
Sanders said the ponds are really lift stations because they also work to pump the wastewater for treatment. “Technically, we’re operating 14 lift stations,” he said.
The joint commission raised its fees effective Oct. 1 of last year, raising charges $1.50 per 1,000 gallons of sewage in order to meet costs to continue operating.
Cooper, who was chairman at the time, said it was necessary, because the commission was on its way to going broke.
In other fiscal matters, Sehon presented a Nov. 30 profit and loss statement, which showed the commission collected $33,557 from Berwick, $29,836 from Patterson, $32,065 from Bayou Vista and $16,060 from remaining areas in the unincorporated areas of Patterson to Calumet.
But in December, Sehon presented a preliminary comprehensive 2025-26 Profit & Loss Budget, which revealed $1.3 million in revenues but $2 million in expenditures, resulting in a $664,523 deficit.
Sehon said then, the budget was based on the 2024-25 fiscal year and did not include any monies received from the rate hike, which she expects will be close to $360,000.
Kyle said the next step is to meet with their attorney, Eric Duplantis, to get his opinion.
Monceaux said it really would be best to bring everyone involved into one room, Patterson, Berwick, even the commission’s engineer, Providence.
On another topic, Sanders said the commission’s solar-powered buoy system is beginning to slowly tackle their high utility costs, which in 2024 total $286,000.
He said the commissioned saved about $2,500 last month.
The solar powered system takes less energy to break down fecal matter and is more environmentally sound and safe, he said. It takes the place of mechanical aerators to break down pollutants.
Kyle said that previously, the mechanical aerators act like a giant blender to rotate the water in order to break down the solids, where the buoy transfers oxygen from the air, supporting aerobic bacteria to break down the solids.
But repair and upkeep of the aerators is costly, Sanders said, and to replace just one is $70,000.
On another topic Monday, Sanders requested permission to purchase condex boxes, similar to shipping cargo containers, for storage at the commission’s main plant on Cotten Road.
He said its needed for things like sewer lines and couplings to keep them out of the elements.
“Our warehouse is presently nasty, filthy, and full of spider webs.”
Sanders said the warehouse is 100 by 50 or roughly 5,000 square feet in size. It has a door on one side but most of it is open.
“There is nothing there to protect our equipment,” he said.