Mamou Council get updates on water project as it meets Wednes.

The Mamou Town Council received an update on the water system project at Wednesday’s meeting. Town engineer David Hidalgo of Aucoin & Associates told the council the Department of Health has become stricter on some issues. The town currently has three wells pulling from the Evangeline aquifer. When the water from the aquifer is treater with chlorine it forms a chlorine by-product which causes a discoloration and bad smell. Hidalgo said the town has been exceeding those limits for some time, and as a result, the Department of Health issued an order to the town to create a plan of action to remedy the situation or incur fines.
Hidalgo said they applied to the Department of Health for a loan and/or loan forgiveness. They received approval for the loan in the amount of $3.5-$4 million dollars. They will abandon the three wells in the Evangeline aquifer and drill two new wells in the Chicot aquifer, which is not as deep as the Evangeline aquifer. He said the water quality is better, but there is some hardness and iron which needs to be treated. As a result, they will have to construct a treatment facility.
The mayor found six acres of property by the ball park. They surveyed it and put their plans together to make a treatment facility which will have three filters to filter out the iron and manganese. After the filtration process, the water will then be softened, and then it will be chlorinated, but it will not have the chlorine by-products as it did with the Evangeline aquifer. The water will then be stored in a 150,000 gallon ground storage tank on the same property. From there, it will be pumped into the water system. Hidalgo said construction will cost a little over $3 million.
Since they are borrowing money from the Department of Health, they are requiring that the town meter all of its customers. Currently, Mamou’s out-of-town customers are metered, and in-town customers pay a flat rate. Now, meters will be installed at every user’s residence. The meters will be electronic.
By the end of March, all three projects should be ready to submit to the Department of Health to get permits. They are shooting for water rates for $30-$35 per customer. The loan is a 20 year pay-back, which will be funded through some bonds. The town is approved for over $4 million but will only borrow what they need to. The time line is about a year to complete the projects.
In other news, Police Chief Brent Zackery reported for the month of February there were 35 arrests with 17 arrests during Mardi Gras. There were 193 citations issued for February. Mayor Ricky Fontenot was absent. Mayor Pro Tem Leisa Deshotel thanked the chief for “a tremendous job” he and his officers did during Mardi Gras.