Infrastructure a focus for parish leaders

Lots of upgrades to infrastructure in St. Mary Parish are in the works, including wharf and sewer projects, a new shopping center, new vacation cabins and park developments along with street repairs, area leaders said today.
The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce held a Business Breakfast this morning at The Atchafalaya at Idlewild Golf Course near Patterson. Mayors and other parish officials gave updates on their respective community projects and activities.
The town of Berwick recently reached the 5,000-person threshold needed to become a city, Berwick Mayor Louis Ratcliff said. During the next year, Berwick officials will work to complete the efforts necessary to officially be recognized as a city, which brings additional benefits to the community, Ratcliff said.
Berwick is set to enter into a new garbage collection contract with Pelican Waste & Debris beginning Nov. 1, lowering residents’ garbage pickup rates from $19.50 to $15.77 per month, Ratcliff said.
As part of the BP oil spill settlement, Berwick received roughly $19,000 that the town will use to buy recreation equipment for Willie Steward Sr. Memorial Park, Ratcliff said.
Town officials are approaching the start of construction of a more than $1 million sewer project that will serve the industrial area by Cameron Ironworks and residents along Old Spanish Trail in Berwick, he said.
Morgan City leaders are focusing on keeping recurring expenses under control during the tough economic times, Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said. Morgan City operates with a $38 million annual budget and receives much of its revenue from its utility service, Grizzaffi said.
Three new cabins and docks are under construction at Lake End Parkway in Morgan City to add to the three cabins already in place. State funds of $1 million are paying for the additions to the parkway, Grizzaffi said.
Morgan City’s riverfront wharf is also undergoing a makeover, which city officials have been working toward for the past eight years, Grizzaffi said.
Morgan City originally received state grant money meant to build an icehouse on the riverfront, but city officials were able to get permission to use the funds to rehabilitate the city’s wharf, Grizzaffi said. The Port of Morgan City contributed $290,000 to the project. The total project cost is $1.8 million.
The new Walmart Neighborhood Market that opened several weeks ago will be a big tax boost to the city and parish, Grizzaffi said.
For garbage collection in Morgan City, city officials decided in August to sign a five-year garbage pickup contract with Progressive Waste Solutions. In July, Morgan City signed a temporary garbage pickup contract after the city was having issues with city-run garbage collection, Grizzaffi said.
In Patterson, the City Council has approved using $1.2 million to overlay streets that are in need of resurfacing, Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan said. Patterson has a total of 18 streets that Grogan hopes to eventually get the funds to repair, Grogan said.
A new strip mall is set to come to Catherine Street in Patterson with a drive-thru Pizza Hut, drive-thru Subway, a finance company and a Boost Mobile store, Grogan said.
Also on Catherine Street, the St. Mary Parish school system is constructing a new Patterson Junior High School, Grogan said.
Patterson is working to redo and expand downtown Morey Park, and city officials learned Friday that the city does own land at the back of the park that had originally been disputed, Grogan said.
Grogan expects to break ground soon on construction of Patterson’s non-conventional water plant. The plant will use water from the lower Atchafalaya River and sand to break down sludge, which lessens the amount of chemicals needed to treat the water, Grogan said.
The plant will cost $5.5 million to $6 million, about half the cost of a traditional water plant, Grogan said.
St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin also spoke about some of the ongoing and recently finished parish projects. The parish just completed a $4.9 million shoreline protection project and is working on a project to raise the levees in Siracusaville to the city limits of Morgan City at a cost of $2.3 million.
Sewer lift stations and pumping stations are also being upgraded throughout the parish, Naquin said. The Amelia area is also getting drainage improvements, he said.
On Monday, the recreation district in Bayou Vista had a grand opening for its 18-hole, mini-golf course and a reopening of the Bayou Vista skate park. Bayou Vista already had a spray park that attracts lots of visitors, St. Mary Parish Recreation District 3 Chairman Stan Robison said.
The recreation district has completed three projects in the past three years at a cost of $3 million without raising the millage rate the district receives, Robison said.