Donaldsonville ups fees for sewer plan
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DONALDSONVILLE — The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to increase certain fees it collects for sewer services in order to fund improvements to the city’s sewer system.
The change increases the charge from $3.50 to $4.50 per 1,000 gallons of sewage discharge over the base limit of 4,000 gallons for both residential and commercial customers.
The adjustment, which will take effect in July, does not increase residential and commercial base fees for the first 4,000 gallons of sewerage generated.
Residential customers will continue to pay $14.75 per month for the first 4,000 gallons of sewage produced, while commercial customers will continue to pay a $23 monthly charge for the same amount of discharge.
Council Chairman Raymond Aucoin said the added fees will help the city service a $1.43 million loan from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality aimed at funding improvements to sewage lift stations across the city, as well as other sewer system renovations.
“We have to apply for this (increase) now because our bond attorneys are presenting this before the state Bond Commission soon, and a funding mechanism needs to be in the plan,” Aucoin said. “We’ve discussed this, and we feel this is the best option.”
Aucoin said the council would make public in the future exact spending schedules. The council also voted to grant a 5 percent increase in payment to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement within the city limits. It means an additional $3,727 per month, or $44,724 per year, retroactive to July 1.
According to an Oct. 5 letter from Sheriff Jeff Wiley to council members requesting the increase, the contract between the city and the Sheriff’s Office provides for an adjustment in actual cost not to exceed 5 percent per year.
The approved increase brings the amount the city pays annually to the Sheriff’s Office to $939,324. The actual cost to the Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement in the city is $1.34 million, Wiley said in the letter.
Aucoin said the city anticipated the increase and already budgeted for it earlier this year.
In other matters, the council approved a five-year residential and commercial garbage collection contract with Houma company SWDI. The most noted change in the pact requires SWDI to pick up bulk waste within the city on designated days, dependent on regular pickup schedules.
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