Broadband coming to Cade, surrounding area

As part of the broadband expansion funded largely with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) proceeds, Cajun Broadband, Inc. is currently laying fiber optic cable in the Southwest portion of the parish.

At the July 19 St. Martin Parish Council committee meeting, Cajun Broadband part-owner Chris Disher presented an update on the project.

Use of federal ARPA funds paid to parish governments is highly restricted, but expansion of broadband service to underserved areas is one of the allowed uses.

Disher said installation of the buried conduit through which the fiber optic cable will pass is nearing completion. The first home is expected to be connected in Cade on about Sept. 15. In all, the company’s current project will eventually provide service to about 750 homes.

Broadband provided through fiber optics is extremely fast and will become faster still as technology advances, Disher commented. Being buried in sealed conduit, he added, the cables will be all but immune to storm-related outages that affect electric lines. Service should be highly resistant to outages caused by flooding as well.

Parish President Chester Cedars said the contract with Cajun Broadband specifies that the rates for their service will be no higher than the average rates in the Acadiana area. “This is a real win-win for all involved,” he said.

Cedars also commented that the project has been delayed by fighting against pointless protests by larger broadband providers who, “object to smaller companies coming in and providing the service they  (the larger companies) will not provide.”

Projects in Progress

Public Works Project Manager Callen Huval reported on two projects  undertaken using Restore Act funding.

The Bayou Benoit boat landing project is now-complete. At the cost of about $750,000, the project involved raising the flood-prone parking area and boat ramp approach with compacted limestone. The ramp was then lengthened and lighting was added.

Construction of a pavilion adjacent to the Arnaudville floating canoe dock on the Bayou Teche began in late February. Contractor, Michael David Breaux, Inc., has been granted a 100 day time extension and the project is expected to be complete around December, 2022.

The decision was recently made to remove five poplar trees from the site to improve access and reduce the risk of damage to the new pavilion.

More Public Works

Superintendent Kasey Courville gave a briefing on canal and roadside weed control efforts. He explained the department’s development of criteria for setting the schedule for cutting, spraying and ditch clearing to aid drainage.

Factors considered in deciding what resources are appropriate for various tasks and where and when to focus those resources include resident complaints, visible erosion areas and reported incidents of actual flooding. The plan will give the department a consistent program for making those decisions.

“We have limited personnel and other resources and it can be pretty much of a juggling act,” Courville said. It takes more man-hours to cut saplings in ditches and canals more frequently, for instance, but allowing the trees to get larger makes the task much harder.   

Council members had several suggestions to offer. Daniel Richard suggested that it can help to spray the trees with herbicide first, then do the cutting after they die. Dean LeBlanc said he believes canal work should probably take priority over roadside cutting.

Courville added that the department appreciates residents maintaining ditches that border their property, but the down side is that spraying and killing grass on slopes can increase bank erosion.   

Load Limits

The Parish will consider waiving load limits on agricultural trucks and equipment on Bordelon and Melvin Dupuis Roads. Both roads connect LA 328/Anse Broussard Hwy, north of I-10 and  LA347/Grand Point Hwy, south of the interstate between Breaux Bridge and Henderson.

Councilman Chris Tauzin commented that farm trucks and equipment would be stuck with the option of negotiating the Henderson exit roundabouts without the load limit change. “There just aren’t any other ways  to transport large loads  north and south,” he said

The council will consider including other specific load limit exceptions such as for houses being transported by truck.

Also:

•Cedars reported that the parish has maintained its very favorable Standard and Poor’s bond rating. He said the rating greatly facilitated last week’s sale of the second and final $10 million in parish drainage bonds approved by voters in 2016.

•The council entered executive (secret) session to discuss the parish’s suit against Lafayette Consolidated Government  for the removal of a Vermilion River spoil bank in February. Following Lafayette’s failure to win a declaratory judgment in federal court, the St. Martin Parish suit will move forward.

Cedars reiterated that the suit is in no way a personal vendetta against anybody. It is a response to a violation of the sovereignty of St. Martin Parish and an effort to protect the residents of the Cypress Island community.