Avoyelles Police Jury wants to solve Tricia Park subdivision problems

Nobody can rightly remember -- or, at least, won’t confess to remembering -- how the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury became responsible for the Tricia Park subdivision just outside of Marksville.

In years past, the subdivision has cost thousands of dollars to repair or replace sewer pumps and for other maintenance, improvements and operation costs. Even in good years, such as this budget year, the Police Jury is losing several hundred dollars. The jury took a step to address that issue in the coming year by raising the $6 sewer fee charged to subdivision residents to $15, effective Jan. 1.

That decision was made at the jury’s Nov. 13 meeting, but most of the discussion on the issue occurred at its agenda-setting meeting on Nov. 8.

TWO POSSIBLE ANSWERS

Police jurors are looking at two possible answers to the Tricia Park problem.

At the agenda-setting committee, Parish Engineer Ron Bordelon said the $6 sewer fee added to the residents’ water bill is significantly lower than the average in municipalities who provide sewer service.

Raising the sewer fee so the system at least pays for itself would be a short-range solution to the jury’s concerns.

This past year the jury had no major repair costs to the sewer treatment system and it cost about $2,500 a year.

If every resident paid their $6 sewer fee every month, it would generate almost $2,400.

Joan Decuir of the Ward 3 Water District, which provides water and collects the sewer fee for the parish, indicated the district has several thousand dollars in delinquent bills. Most of that amount is owed by residents who left without paying their last bill.

The unpaid sewer fees on that delinquent amount would be several hundred dollars.

NO RESERVE

The main problem, Bordelon noted, is that with such a low sewer fee, even a 100 percent collection rate leaves the parish unable to build up a reserve in the Tricia Park account to pay for the next major repair that is needed.

If a pump goes down, it would cost over $10,000 to repair and more than that to replace the pump.

Decuir said the average water bill in Tricia Park is $25 to $30. She agreed with Bordelon that the Police Jury should raise the sewer fee.

Ward 3 provides water to the subdivision and charges the parish 25 cents per bill to collect the sewer fee, which comes out to just under $100 a year for 33 customers. Bordelon said his review of sewer fees in this area indicates a low of $15 to a high of around $45. He recommended raising the fee to $20.

Juror Trent Clark recommended a $15 fee, saying that would be more than double. Juror Marsha Wiley said the jury should accept Bordelon’s recommendation of $20. Jones proposed a “meet-in-the-middle” increase to $18.

Clark said the jury could approve a $15 fee now and increase it to $20 in a year or two, “to give the residents a little warning.”

At the regular monthly meeting, the jurors said the sewer fee would be raised to $17.50 on Jan. 1, 2020 and to $20 on Jan. 1, 2021 -- if the Police Jury is still saddled with the unincorporated subdivision at that time, which it hopes will not be the case.

TROUBLES WITH TRICIA

Several jurors asked how the parish could resolve its troubles with Tricia permanently.

Jones said Marksville had indicated it would be willing to annex Tricia Park or at least allow it to connect to city sewer. However, Jones said the city added a big “IF” to its promise.

The Police Jury would have to bring the street up to standards and install an adequate pump to get the sewage into the city sewer line before the city will even consider taking the subdivision in to the city limits or providing sewer service to those households.

Bordelon estimated the cost to comply with the city’s conditions would be about $100,000.