The Church Point town council unanimously approved motions to finalize plans for a proper boundary line for the town.
Mayor Ryan “Spanky” Meche said, “We have done all the work behind it. Now we are laying the foundation of an introduction that will be finalized next month. This is not an annexation that is moving boundaries out. It’s actually making one boundary for the census, the voter and the assessor’s office. Before they just had an interpretation. There was no line. They had places that were out, they had places that were in. Nobody knew because they never had a proper boundary of Church Point.
“We have been working on that for a little over a year, and we finally got everything signed, sealed, everything, so now we just need an introduction for the property owner and registered voters petition for annexation.”
Meche said property owners who will be affected by this have been spoken to and signed to the law.
“They have a percentage of them that have to sign and this, that and the other,” he said. “The voters, we had to do a petition for the voters. We had to do a petition for the property owners and that was only the property owners that we could not find actual annexations that were done already. There were only like 22 properties on the whole boundary of Church Point, but everything else had an annexation. They had like maybe 50 percent of it was marked in town and the other side wasn’t, and they had differences.”
During the council’s regular March meeting on March 1, the council unanimously approved the property owner and registered voter petitions for annexation and the introduction of the annexation ordinance. A public meeting for the introduction of the annexation ordinance will be hosted just prior to the council’s regular meeting on April 5.
In his Mayoral Report, Meche addressed the town’s record freeze during the week of Feb. 14 and the Water Department’s work to keep up with water demands during the below freezing temperatures.
“On a regular day, we do about 400,000 gallons (of water) a day,” he said. “Those five days during the storm, we did over 5 million gallons. That goes to show you how much water was used. We handled it, and it went good.”
Meche also gave the town’s Water Department Report.
Meche said February water bills for those who live north of Main Street will be higher than normal due to the weather and the meters being read at later date.
Meche said the reading of the meters was pushed back by about two weeks, and March water bills for those who live in this area will then be short by 13 days.
“It should all even out, but I just want to tell you, if you live north of Main Street, you will be paying for six weeks of water and not four weeks of water,” he said.
Meche also addressed needed repairs at the Buggy Town Playground.
“There are some areas that are worse than others,” he said. “When we built the Buggy Town playground, in the instructions, it said it had a 20 year lifespan. Right now, we are at 13 years. It’s rapidly getting out of control with the rot.”
Meche said the park will close for about two weeks during the summer and repairs will be made. Repair work is also planned for the children’s playground.
Town Engineer Pam Granger with McBade Engineering gave the town’s Engineering Report.
Granger said she and a team recently visited Church Point to complete an engineering report and identify water and sewers needs that may be eligible for USDA grants or loans, and the report will be presented at the regular April council meeting. Granger said one of the subjects she and the team discussed was the cost of water meters that can be read digitally.
Le Vieux Presbytère Museum Curator Harold Fonte addressed the council, and he said improvement work at the museum continues, including the recent installation of lighting on the building’s second floor. Fonte said he also accepted a donation of $500 for the museum from organizer’s of the Church Point Cajun Crawl event, which was hosted on Feb.13.
The council also unanimously approved the following items:
— Resolution supporting the Church Point Volunteer Fire Department District 10 authority to extinguish any fire that may be out of control and hazardous to life and property.
— Resolution approving the Municipal Water Pollution Prevention Environmental Audit Report.
— Resolution authorizing mayoral signing authority and/or assigned signing rights for USDA grant.
— Budget amendment match of $15,000 with the drainage board for Plaquemine, Harmon and Breaux streets drainage project.
— Budget amendment of $18,966 for asphalt repair work on MLK, Eby, Robert and Estillete streets.
— Approval of previous minutes.
— Approval of January financial reports.
