St. Mary mayors point to progress

Berwick’s new thing, the recently completed series of Friday night live music performances on the riverfront, is called Live After 5. The rest of the parish is still kicking, too, to judge by completed and pending projects cited by area mayors at April 27 St. Mary Chamber Business Luncheon.
Parish President David Hanagriff joined mayors Lee Dragna of Morgan City, Duval Arthur of Berwick, Eugene Foulcard of Franklin and Abel Prejean of Franklin. Patterson City Accountant Reginald Weary filled in for Mayor Rodney Grogan.
They came armed with a list of good things going on in each of their cities and, in Hanagriff’s case, parishwide. The list included a new water plant being planned in Morgan City, more than $1 million in street repairs in Patterson and long-awaited flood protection in Berwick.
“We’re not going to be the same old same old,” Dragna said.
At least one battle is ahead for Berwick, where Arthur said a Census 2020 undercount kept the town’s official population below 5,000, the point at which a town becomes a city in Louisiana. Arthur says indicators such as utility hook-ups show an increase in population, not the decrease reported by the Census Bureau, and he plans to appeal.
“I’m going to fight this until they tell me I can’t fight anymore,” Arthur said.
Here are highlights of the progress listed by east St. Mary mayors and Hanagriff:
Morgan City
About 1,800 tons of concrete from demolition of the old city power plant and the municipal swimming pool is being used to expand the marina at Lake End Park, adding 75 new spots. Plans also call for a development to make the beach area a bigger draw.
Water Sector Program funding, fashioned from federal COVID aid and administered by the state, will help Morgan City build a new $5.2 million water plant, modeled on the new plant in Patterson. It is designed to require fewer chemicals.
Dragna said the savings from labor and chemicals at the plant will amount to $300,000 a year.
The city government is now seeking $5 million in funding for improving the sewer system.
The city also acquired the M.D. Shannon Elementary building for $100,000 from the School Board, with plans for the city’s Development District to sell a portion of the city block as residential lots.
New equipment includes a street sweeper, police cars, a Bobcat and a dump truck, replacing equipment Dragna said was in bad shape.
“Now our employees want to come to work,” Dragna said.
The city is also expanding its walking and bike trail system with help from $1 million that St. Mary Excel helped the city obtain.
Berwick
The Live After 5 events were popular, Arthur said. More riverfront improvements have been installed or are in the works, including water and electric hook-ups for boat and security systems.
More housing is becoming available, too. The new Atchafalaya River Subdivision has 36 lots for sale and has a boat ramp. Southern Oaks consists of five 5-acre lots, and Berwick LLC plans a 10-lot subdivision on Patti Drive near the golf course.
Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act money paid for raising Front Street in the older part of town as a flood safety measure.
The state government has awarded $1.6 million to Berwick to deal with flooding in Country Club Estates. Flash flooding in 2019 pushed water into dozens of subdivision homes, leading the town government to design a solution.
Some steps are relatively easy, such as cleaning out ditches. But part of the solution includes underground work to install storm sewers, the objective of the $1.6 million.
The Police Department has been acquiring body cameras, and a private citizen donated eight bullet proof vests and a hand-held radar.
And Berwick’s story is being told at the Brown House, the town’s museum.
Patterson
A Community Development Block Grant provided $800,000 to rehabilitate 12 streets, and small, lightly trafficked streets are being improved with more than $500,000 made available because of a bond refinancing.
The millage that is repaying the $5 million raised for the new water plant has been reduced from 16 mills to 12.4 mills, Weary said.
Improvements at Morey Park continue as the city works to build a pavilion, restrooms and a walking trail.
Tutoring has resumed at the Patterson Community Center, which now also offers free aerobics classes.
The city is also involved in a feeding program offering free meals to senior citizens and disabled people four Wednesdays each month. Eighty-five percent of the food is donated, Weary said.
St. Mary Parish
A series of road improvement projects have been completed or are in the works, Hanagriff said. They include St. Peters Road, Proctor, Bergeron, East Martin Luther King in Charenton and St. James in Amelia.
Work is also under way on nearly $3 million in drainage district pump station work in eastern St. Mary.
Fairview Treatment Center has received a $1.3 million renovation, and $1.1 million worth of work is underway at the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center.
Hanagriff praised the work of the St. Mary Parish Levee District, the lead local agency on the new Bayou Chene Flood Control Structure. The Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure near Baldwin was completed recently, and an extension of the Yokely Levee is underway.