Berwick to negotiate mitigation for sewer project

Work is moving forward to expand and upgrade Berwick’s sewer system, and officials anticipate finishing the project by the end of the year.
On Tuesday, the town council approved Mayor Louis Ratcliff to negotiate with a mitigation bank for the La. 182 and Old Spanish Trail sewer project.
The project entails expanding Berwick’s sewer system on La. 182 by Cameron Ironworks and upgrading the system on Old Spanish Trail.
Currently, Berwick purchases mitigation through the Atchafalaya Land Bank, and mitigation with that bank costs about $25,000 per acre, Ratcliff said.
Town officials may be able to move the sewer project into the Teche Land Bank, which would cut Berwick’s mitigation costs in half, he said.
Berwick is required to purchase about 3 to 4 acres of mitigation bank credits to account for the impact the sewer project will have on wetlands.
The total project cost is $1.3 million.
Final plans for Berwick’s sewer project are at the state Office of Facility Planning and Control for review, Jason St. Romain of Miller Engineers said.
Engineers hope to go to bid on construction in about a month and expect to start construction in April or May, Ratcliff said. The project should finish construction by the end of the year, weather permitting, he said.
Also at the meeting, Police Chief James Richard said the Krewe of Dionysus parade will start at 2 p.m. Saturday on Gilmore Drive, go through Golden Farms to La. 182 to the Country Club area and finish in the Berwick Junior High parking lot.
As a change this year, organizers will line up on Pattie Drive or in the junior high parking lot, and a police unit will escort parade participants to the start about 15 minutes before the parade, Richard said.
Town officials have re-opened all of Berwick’s floodgates with the exception of the First Street gate, Public Works Director Rafael Lopez said during the meeting. Workers are doing the typical cleanup required when the waters recede, Lopez said.
The Atchafalaya River has been receding since it crested in Morgan City at 8.18 feet Jan. 22. As of 9 a.m. today, the river was at 6.83 feet.
Plans are also in the works to renovate and expand the Berwick Library to the Fifth Street side, Councilwoman Jacki Ackel said at the meeting. Fifth Street will become the library entrance, and the library’s parking area will be on Fourth Street, Ackel said. Ackel expects the renovations to be complete in about three years.
“Our library is going to get a much-needed facelift,” Ackel said.
In other business, the council postponed a public hearing and consideration to amend Berwick’s pond construction ordinance until the March 8 council meeting.