The Town of Mamou continues to forge ahead with its plan to replace water lines and add water meters throughout the town limits after it approved a bond resolution during the council’s meeting on Wednesday.
Improvements to Mamou’s water system became necessary when the town was cited on several occasions by the Department of Health for poor water quality. The department ordered that certain changes had to be made and the town was given a deadline of December 2019 to submit a plan for improvement.
At the council’s June meeting, Mayor Ricky Fontenot said, “The water is safe to drink. It just doesn’t meet certain criteria, like the fluoride and chlorine residual levels.”
During that same meeting, the mayor also shared that the problem with the water is also related to its color. “Our water is yellow,” said Mayor Fontenot. “We’ve got old, galvanized pipes carrying the water, our filtration system is old, and we’ve got many other issues.”
Since its decision to approve the bond resolution at a meeting on July 11th, the next step in this process before work may begin will consist of advertising the resolution, calling a public hearing next month, and attorney Eric LaFleur, with Mahtook and LaFleur Law Offices, will have the responsibility of approaching the bond commission to request the issuance of funds not exceeding $4 million.
LaFleur who addressed the council by phone at its meeting on Wednesday shared with council members that a loan forgiveness grant is available, which will allow around $500,000 to be knocked off the debt.
After approving the bond resolution, it was reported that the water project is expected to begin within the next 90 days.
Following this discussion, a member of the public addressed the council to share her thoughts on the Mamou Police Department.
Ellen Oinwabhagbe shared that recently she had reported an incident where she witnessed individuals entering an empty home near her house on Railroad Street. The Mamou resident continued to state that when she reported the incident, officers were quick to arrive on scene and examine the residence.
Oinwabhagbe said, “Our police department is doing their job and we as citizens and residents of Mamou need to our job by reporting suspicious activity that we see going on in our community. We need to pay attention to what these people are doing and if we see people breaking the law, we need to report it.”
Following the Mamou resident’s thoughts, council woman Leisa Deshotel shared that she had spoken with the chief about starting a neighborhood watch group.
The next Mamou council meeting has been set for August 8, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. at the Mamou Town Hall.
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ELIZABETH WEST Managing Editor