MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING -BOARD OF ALDERMEN THURSDAY June 26, 2025

[City Clerk]

CITY OF JEANERETTE JEANERETTE, LA
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING -BOARD OF ALDERMEN THURSDAY June 26, 2025
Proceedings of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Jeanerette, State of Louisiana, at their Special meeting place held Thursday June 26, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at their regular place. The Mayor called the meeting to order and led the prayer and Alderman Duplechain led the pledge. Those present were: Mayor Carol Bourgeois Jr., Alderwoman Charlene Moore. Alderman Garland Bourgeois, Alderwoman Christia Simmons, Alderman Ray Duplechain and City Clerk Susan Colden. Alderwoman Mariah Clay, and City Attorney Lucretia Pecantte were absent. Mayor Carol Bourgeois Jr. determined that a quorum was present. There was no public comment cards submitted.
6A. City of Jeanerette Port Commission Representative, Resignation/Appointment-The Mayor addressed the board and stated that our current commissioner, Simieon D. Theodile Sr., resigned in a letter sent to all the Aldermen. In that letter he recommended that Mr. Isaac J Bowie be appointed to serve the remainder of his term. Mr. Bowie then addressed the board and introduced himself and described how his career experience in the oil and gas industry will help him be a valuable member of this commission.
On Motion by Alderwoman Simmons and second by Alderman Bourgeois to appoint Mr. Issac J Bowie to serve the remainder of Mr. Theodile’s term, roll call vote Yeas: Alderwoman Moore, Alderman Bourgeois, Alderwoman Simmons, Alderman Duplechain
Nay: None
Absent: Alderwoman Clay
Abstain: None
Motion Carried
B. Change the Scope of the Sewer Treatment Plant Project from Rehabilitation of the Current Plant, to the construction of a New Wastewater Treatment Plant Utilizing Funds from Water Sector, Capital Outlay, and LDEQ-(Mr. Nick Sonnier, Sellers & Associates). The Mayor reviewed the recent efforts and asked Alderwoman Simmons to ask Seller’s and Associates any remaining questions on the project. Alderwoman Simmons stated this is the biggest project that she has worked on and just wanted to have everyone have the same information. First, how much of the 9 million will be spent on the new plant and how much will be used to remediate the old plant, she went on to say that she understands that DEQ will not let us sit with an aeration pond filled with sludge. Nick Sonnier stated that the 9 million is strictly for the new plant. Then Alderwoman Simmons asked what is the plan for closing down the old plant? Mr. Sonnier paused and said he did not know if they had anything for the demolition of the old plant. Mr. Todd Vincent then stated that if there is money in the budget it could be an alternative bid to decommission the plant. If there is not money in the budget it would have to be done at a later date, to which Alderwoman Simmons asked how long DEQ would give us to clean the site up? Mr. Vincent then added that once the plant is out of service you can remove the liquids and dry the sludge in the drying beds and haul it out. The liquids can be brought to the new plant for treatment. Alderman Bourgeois questioned the cost, since it was quoted at 1 million to clean the aeration basin. The engineers said that you would be only hauling the dry material. Mr.Sonnier said that as long as the City is actively working to remediate the plant DEQ should be fine. Next Alderwoman Simmons addressed the new plant and if it needed a levee using material from the equalization basin, concern was the soil is mainly blackjack and of poor quality. Mr. Vincent responded that they would be increasing the height of the new plant so it is above flood stage. The 12 acre equalization basin will be excavated and the dirt used to make the levee around the basin. Alderwoman Simmons asked if soil will be needed to be brought in for the levee, Mr. Vincent said they will be bringing in dirt for the pad for the sewer plant but the soil in the equalization basin should be sufficient for the levee around it. Next Ms. Simmons talked about the bids and wanted the council to be informed about the bid openings. Mr. Sonnier addressed the bid process and will let Ms. Colden know to alert the Board to the date of bid opening. Next Ms. Simmons addressed the contract and how much remaining Mr. Sonnier responded that the invoice breakdown the fees and percent used and they still have to remain in the same budget. Next Alderwoman Simmons asked how much involvement does our operator have and will he get plans and Mr. Vincent said he will get the final plans and have involvement. Then Alderwoman Simmons asked if there will need to be extensions and Mr. Vincent said it will be necessary because the deadline for closing the DEQ loan was June 30 and showing proof of local match to Water Sector was June 22. They have a few approvals left to get. Alderwoman Moore asked if part of the current plant could be used as a retention pond? Mr. Sonnier said it is not big enough, and you would need to use a lot of new piping and pumps to make it work. The Mayor said that Mr. Allain was wondering about when we would need to start work on their property, Alderwoman Simmons stated that Water Sector said we can use those funds to purchase the property. Then the Mayor discussed the crop and the value of the land. Mr. Vincent said that when he talked to Mr. Allain, they concluded that if construction doesn’t start till the first of the year, they should be able to get another crop harvested, and the cost to acquire should be the original amount. There was some discussion on maintenance of the current plant and Mr. Vincent said it will be two years until the new plant is online, so it is necessary to maintain the current plant. Alderwoman Simmons asked about remediation of the current plant when the new plant comes online. She wondered how this will be done, will DEQ require us to dismantle anything? Mr. Vincent said he did not think they would tell us that, the City of Kaplan built a new plant 25 years ago and the old plant is still in place. Alderman Duplechain stated so as long as we suck out the liquids and treat that at the new plant and move the sludge to our drying beds and haul it out, we should be fine? Mr. Vincent said that is what he believes. He then went back over the schedule that has construction starting the beginning of next year. Alderwoman Simmons asked if there was anything at the current plant that could go over to the new plant, such as the generator? Mr. Vincent said no, the generator is too small. The Mayor asked if this new plant will be able to meet the permit requirements, Mr. Todd said your permit requirement will be the same as for the current plant and the new processes will be able to meet those levels of 10 BOD/15 TSS. Alderman Duplechain asked if they see any potential issues with the estimates for the construction costs, getting extensions, is it doable? Mr. Sonnier said we think it is doable, with the upfront discussions the water sector should agree to another extension, it is a tight schedule to bid, award, notice to precede and expending the water sector funds before the end of 2026. Regarding construction costs Mr. Vincent said that they created estimates for reasonable costs, but given inflation all bets are off for what the bids are. The bids for water plant in Abbeville came in overbudget and they went to the water sector commission for more money. We can review and if necessary, adjust the project accordingly. Mr. Segura asked if there is a change of treatment from chlorine and sulfur dioxide to PAA will that be a problem, Mr. Vincent said no.
On Motion by Alderwoman Moore Change the Scope of the Sewer Treatment Plant Project from Rehabilitation of the Current Plant, to the construction of a New Wastewater Treatment Plant and second by Alderman Duplechain, roll call vote
Yeas: Alderwoman Moore, Alderman Bourgeois, Alderwoman Simmons, Alderman Duplechain
Nay: None
Absent: Alderwoman Clay
Abstain: None
Motion Carried
C Authorization to Request Extensions from LDEQ and Water Sector On motion by Alderman Duplechain and second by Alderwoman Simmons to authorize the extensions, roll call vote
Yeas: Alderwoman Moore, Alderman Bourgeois, Alderwoman Simmons, Alderman Duplechain
Nay: None
Absent: Alderwoman Clay
Abstain: None
Motion Carried.
7.Adjournment Motion by Aderman Duplechain second by Alderman Bourgeois to adjourn, motion, carried on voice vote of all yeah, no nay and no abstain.

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Carol Bourgeois Jr., Mayor
ATTEST:

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Susan Colden City Clerk