Patterson gets 'paddle trail' designation

PATTERSON — The city received recognition Tuesday as part of the Bayou Teche Paddle Trail, a designation that allows communities along the trail to develop a “recreational economy” along the waterway, said Connie Castille, executive director of Teche Project.
Castille spoke at Tuesday’s city council meeting. The Teche Project is a nonprofit organization that participates in ecological work along the 135 miles of Bayou Teche and the Lower Atchafalaya River, she said. The project is based out of Arnaudville.
About a year and a half ago, the Teche Project applied through the Department of the Interior’s National Parks Service for a program called National Water Trail Systems, she said. The project was recently awarded that recognition as a National Water Trail System. The program is mostly for “bragging rights” and does not have new regulatory measures accompanying it, Castille said.
“This is kind of just developing a recreational economy along the water from Port Barre to Berwick, and we got the nomination,” Castille said.
Organizers called the path the Bayou Teche Paddle Trail but the Lower Atchafalaya River, which goes through Patterson, is also part of the trail, she said.
In addition to the designation the project received, organizers are in the process of using grant money to install trailheads and floating docks, which move with the water levels, she said.
“We are putting two (floating docks) in each parish, and Patterson is actually getting one,” Castille said.
The group will put trailheads at different locations along the waterway to encourage recreational paddlers to come to the area, she said. During the meeting, Castille presented a certificate to city officials from the Department of the Interior recognizing the Bayou Teche Paddle Trail as a National Water Trail.
The floating dock in Patterson is supposed to go by Cajun Jack’s Swamp Tours on the Lower Atchafalaya River. Project organizers will also put signs along the trail.
Also at Tuesday meeting, the council authorized Grogan to proceed with obtaining funds to overlay First Street.
“We need to start trying to find money somewhere,” Grogan said.
In the past two months, the estimated cost to do street work on First Street from Railroad Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue rose from $100,000 to $129,000, Grogan said.
However, officials are hoping to spend about $125,000 to put a 2-inch overlay on the street, Grogan said. The city also applied for state capital outlay funds to do some repairs on the street and hope to get a grant to pave First Street.
During the meeting, Patterson Public Works Director Steve Bierhorst got the council’s approval to apply for a Louisiana Governmental Assistance Grant for $35,000. If the city receives the grant, it will allow the city to put a valve on the main water line on Plum Street. That valve would give the city the option to shut off that valve and not shut off the entire city in the event of a water line issue, Bierhorst said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Mark Bogan of Verdunville asked the city to help get a stipend for volunteer drivers who drive veterans in St. Mary Parish to appointments in a parish van.
The St. Mary Parish Council and city of Franklin have agreed to contribute to the stipend, Bogan said. Though the drivers are volunteers, the stipend would help offset some of the costs associated with traveling, Bogan said.
Bierhorst, who is also a St. Mary Parish councilman, said the parish council purchased the van to transport veterans.
Currently, due to lack of funds, drivers are only available two days a week, but are needed five days a week, Bogan said. Drivers are required to be veterans themselves, Bogan said. Bierhorst said Bogan should check to make sure the drivers have to be veterans. Bogan said he would do so.
In other business, the council:
—Approved a proclamation for Lena Bernauer, who recently passed away. She was a former educator and wife of former mayor Jimmy Bernauer.
—Approved a proclamation for Leaders Against Litter, which will take place from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. March 13. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Keep Louisiana Beautiful and Keep St. Mary Beautiful are partnering for the event. Participants will pick up trash from Drinkwater Products at 10789 La. 182 West in Garden City to Mustang Trail.
—Approved permission to rebid surplus items.
—Approved the low bid from Southern Constructors LLC in the amount of $108,428 for the city’s proposed gravity sewer extension along Progresso Street and Veterans Drive.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of the Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com