St. Martinville – The lease agreement for the new St. Martin Parish Consolidated Water District No. 4 water well has been signed, the St. Martin Parish Council learned at the end of a fast-paced meeting on Nov. 4.
Parish President Pete Delcambre told the council that water district President Donnie Laviolette signed the lease agreement that morning and once servitude rights are obtained from people who own property between the well and the water lines on Aubrey Ozenne Road that the well will tie into, all eight of the projects needed to complete the consolidation process will be under way.
Once servitude rights are obtained, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must issue permits for the work. Delcambre said the parish, which is overseeing the consolidation process, is getting help from the governor’s office to expedite the Corps’ response.
“Seven of the eight (consolidation projects) are presently under contract,” Delcambre said. “We have the water well, which will hopefully within the next month or two be contracted out.”
The meeting lasted less than 15 minutes as the council introduced an ordinance to change its parish government pay scale. That change came as certain pay level groups were eliminated after no parish employees remained in those wage levels.
The council also voted to approve several resolutions, including two that authorized change orders to parish work contracts.
The first of those approved a decrease of $267,198.54 for the Herman Dupuis Road Improvement Projects by Elliott Construction.
Another was for a change order to the parish Positional Disaster Debris Removal Contract with Ceres Environmental Services.
The council also approved resolutions:
• authorizing an amendment to the disaster debris removal contract;
• authorizing an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Breaux Bridge for the Goldie Drive Damage Project;
• and requesting the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to explore designating Spanish Lake a Wildlife Management Area and requesting LWFC implement the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Spanish Lake Renovation Plan.
The council introduced four ordinances for publication, including:
Council
• one adopting the Sinking Fund and Operating and Maintenance Budget for 2026;
• one adopting the parish Capital Outlay Budget for 2026;
• and two ordinances reducing servitude rights for the parish government for properties along two drainage canals.
The council granted two exceptions to zoning regulations as a board of adjustment.
One was to allow Kelly and Brandon McQuiston to build a single-family dwelling on property zoned C-1 (Light Commercial) at 4412 Main Hwy. Lot 2, Breaux Bridge.
The other was to allow Mallory and Cole Newland to build a single-family dwelling on property zoned I-1 (Light Industrial) at 2225 Main Hwy., Arnaudville.
Councilwoman Carla JeanBatiste said that the La. 182 extension work is completed and traffic has been flowing smoothly there, and work on La. 92-1 also has been completed and traffic is flowing well there also.
Council Chairman Chris Tauzin thanked the administration for getting the work done to reopen the Delcambre Road bridge quickly. The bridge has been reopened after closing for a short time for repair work to be done.
Councilman David Poirier asked about the closure of Ches Courville Road Bridge, which the Department of Transportation and Development ordered after a routine inspection on Oct. 22, which will be until further notice.
Delcambre said that it would probably take two years before the bridge reopens if the state fixes the issue, so the parish would like to handle the matter internally.
“The problem looks to be similar to what just occurred on Delcambre Road, so we should be able to get this thing taken care of in a very short manner and get everything back in order for the people in that area,” Delcambre said.
