St. Martinville – The St. Martin Parish Consolidated Water District No. 4 board received word at its Oct. 28 meeting that the owners of property they wish to use to drill a new water well have signed a lease agreement.
The Billeaud Companies signed the lease agreement, Parish President Pete Delcambre told the waterworks board, and board President Donnie Laviolette was set to sign the agreement for the water district when he returned on Monday from an out-of-town meeting.
The board passed a resolution, slightly modified to correct an incorrect name on the resolution, to approve to the lease agreement so the lease could be signed by Laviolette.
“The lease agreement has been signed,” Delcambre said. “(Laviolette signing the agreement) will culminate the lease agreement and put that to bed.”
The parish is in the process of working out servitude agreements with other landowners between the proposed well site and the main water line that the well will feed into.
“Within three weeks we should have the servitude problem pretty much ironed out to where we can move on,” Delcambre said. “Once that happens, that’s going to expedite the permitting process and everything that’s going on with the new water well.”
Bidding for drilling the well will begin once that process has been done.
The project also may have to deal with the federal government shutdown.
“The reality of what’s happening in Washington is what it is but we’re doing the best we can with what we have,” Delcambre said.
Engineers’ reports
Engineer Nick Sonnier of Sellers and Associates updated the board about projects that his company is working on for the consolidation process, saying that contractors put in the block wall, inner walls and roof for the St. Martin Industrial Park control room with electrical and finish work remaining to be done.
The project has used 32 percent of its allotted time and 22 percent of the cost. That project is set to finish Oct. 6, 2026.
The Catahoula water system improvements have seen the majority of materials delivered and stored on site.
Lease
The project is 32 percent complete time-wise and 39 percent complete based on cost. The contract is set to end Oct. 16, 2026.
Main lines in the LeBlanc Subdivision area are near completion, Sonnier said.
Catahoula (St. Martin Water District 4) has had its software updated to the new system for the consolidated system and new meters will input into the new system. Billing will be done through the new system beginning next month, it is anticipated.
Board member Chuck Latiolais asked if the contractors are planning to install the new meters behind the homes in LeBlanc Subdivision, where they currently are. Sellers said 14 of the 23 homeowners in the subdivision have signed agreements allowing them to move the location of the meters but many are not responding when inspectors knock on their doors. Latiolais told Sellers to let any of the contract workers or inspectors to seek him out if they have issues.
“If they don’t sign the agreement, we’re still going to move the meter, and then they’ll have to figure it out later,” Sonnier said.
Jeremy Fontenot, lead engineer for McBade Engineers and Consultants, updated the board on the contracts his company is working on.
The US Army Corps of Engineers is pushing to wrap up the water well project prep work.
Water well rehab on another well saw a notice to proceed on Oct. 18. The contract end date is April 11, 2026. Testing the wells was to begin with work proceeding from there.
The elevated tank rehab in St. Martinville began July 28 with end date set on Nov. 25. The structural improvements have been finished and the inside of the well has been completed with only a couple of spots remaining to be touched up following an inspection. Exterior work is 80 percent complete with the top coat and stenciling remaining. Fontenot said the well is anticipated to be back online within two weeks.
Contract work on distribution system isolation valves is set to end Jan. 27, 2026. The contractor has potholed all of the locations, Fontenot said, with three locations set to be relocated because valves could not be found in those areas. Five other valves also will be moved. The valves will allow the system to isolate areas in St. Martinville if there are breaks in the lines or other problems.
The water line crossing contract is awaiting approval from the Corps of Engineers. Congressman Clay Higgins has asked the Corps to expedite the matter, Fontenot said.
Meters and hydrant replacement is set to go through Jan. 31, 2026. Delivery has been pushed back to the week of Nov. 17, with meters and boxes set to be delivered the week of Nov. 3 with installation beginning in Catahoula the week of Nov. 10.
Supervisors’ reports Water District 4 supervisor Ronald Daigle told the board that the Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative sugar mill is using 700,000 gallons of water per day on average, a 2530 percent increase over last year.
“We have not had a problem supplying the water,” Daigle said.
One of the two transfer pumps went down but has since been repaired, he said.
St. Martinville water supervisor Jonathan Vining told the board that two-thirds of the isolation valves that have been found in the city (305 of 449) are operational. Work continues in trying to locate lines and valves in the city to match up with what is mapped.
The city fixed a couple of leaks over the past month and is waiting on a part to fix one current leak, Mayor Jason Willis told the board.
