Photograph by Bobby Ardoin.
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting
Many Opelousas residents will soon begin examining their monthly bills for possible increases that city officials say will assist in paying for municipal water and sewerage upgrades.
Bills that in some cases could reflect a projected 50 percent residential increase and escalated commercial costs that could reach as high as 165 percent, were scheduled to be mailed to city water and sewerage users sometime this week.
Calculating the new monthly usage increases, according to city officials, was scheduled to begin July 1 for residents who already had new computerized meters installed on their properties.
The Board of Aldermen passed a resolution in May which authorized the monthly increases that city officials indicate will help pay for $99 million in required upgrades for Opelousas water and sewer infrastructure.
Mayor Julius Alsandor and city engineer William Jarrell have acknowledged previously that the $2.1 million meter installation project will probably cause customers to realize water and sewerage increases.
Installation of the new meters which Jarrell said was about 55 percent complete in mid-July, will more accurately measure water and sewer consumption than the previous meters which reportedly were often problematic.
Jarrell said city workers in some cases resorted to estimating municipal water and sewerage uses due to the false readings obtained from the old meters.
City Attorney Travis Broussard said during the May meeting that the city was scheduled to face state and federal compliance fines if a long range plan for addressing water and sewerage issues was not developed.
In an Environmental Protection Agency letter obtained by St. Landry Now.com and addressed to Alsandor in September of 2022, federal officials threatened the city with a $12,000 civil penalty for failing to submit a non-compliance report for sanitary service overflow issues from the wastewater collection system on Candy Street.
Broussard said during an interview last month that the Board following a closed session discussion, agreed to pay a fine of $4,800 in order to settle the issue with federal officials.
In May the city received a final grade of “D” after the Louisiana Department of Health finalized a revised grading scale for rural community water systems.
Meter Installation Problems
During a June meeting of the Board, Jarrell said there have been a number of ongoing issues associated with the installation of the new meters.
Jarrell noted that some of the installation problems have included the quality of work, plumbing issues that are occurring while the meters are being installed and complaints from customers about the behavior of contractors in charge of the project.
In some cases the installation process was deterred as antiquated pipes and cut off valves at some residences needed to be changed, said Jarrell.
Alderman Marvin Richard said he has fielded complaints about installation workers going onto property unidentified during meter change out work.
Opelousas resident John Guilbeaux, who spoke at the meeting, suggested that the meter installations would have been more effective if the project had proceeded in sections of the city.
That mapping procedure Guilbeaux said, would have given residents a better idea about when their meters were scheduled to be replaced.
