St. Martinville – The final bid for drilling a well for the new Consolidated Water District No. 4 was about $2 million higher than anticipated when the project began, St. Martin Parish President Pete Delcambre told the water district’s board of directors at its meeting this past Wednesday, but additional funding was approved by the state water sector board and the parish already had the necessary matching funds set aside so the project will move forward. Delcambre told the board that thanks to the foresight of former Parish President Chester Cedars, funds had been set aside in case there were cost overruns for the project, and that left the parish with the necessary $425,000 to provide the needed 25 percent match money for the state’s additional $1.59 million to fund drilling the well, which will provide a third well for the consolidated district that will bring together the City of St. Martinville, St. Martin Parish Water District No. 4 and the St. Martin Industrial Park water systems.
Delcambre also told the board that the intergovernmental agreements among the three entities are being updated to turn over all assets and money as well as all liabilities to the new consolidated district, as well as updating the timeline for the handover.
The board also discussed its liability insurance plan, with parish Director of Administration Raymond Bernard Jr. telling the board that a Tax ID number had been received, allowing the board to review its general liability/theft insurance.
The board approved a resolution to allow board Chairman Donnie Laviolette to enter into an agreement and sign for the insurance policy.
Engineers’ reports Jeremy Fontenot, lead engineer for McBade Engineers and Consultants, updated the board on all projects in the City of St. Martinville.
Engineer Nick Sonnier of Sellers and Associates updated the board about projects that his company is working on for the consolidation process in the parish’s water systems.
Supervisors’ reports St. Martin Parish Water Manager Ronald Daigle told the board that Water District 4 had not received water quality complaints in the previous month.
Water was turned off due to a valve tap installation and was to be turned off again to repair a leak near a fitting that was installed, he said.
St. Martinville water manager Jonathan Vining informed the board of a flow gauge malfunction at the water plant during the last freeze and said the gauge was bypassed before it caused any issues in the system.
He also said that an electrical engineer was able to put Well No. 1 back online but that caused issues with the chlorine system due to back pressure. Well No. 1 had been taken offline to be serviced. Well No. 2 is scheduled to be offline for servicing next.
Vining said there have been some leak issues in the city and that once the city’s workers finish with an emergency at the lift station, they will work to repair the leaks in the water system.
