by KAREN LAGRANGE COX
At tonight’s city council meeting, Ordinance #23-756 was adopted by the Broussard City Council. The ordinance is to amend the 2022 / 2023 Operating Budget of Revenues and Expenditures by $575,000 for a water line connector for the Waterline Extension on Ambassador Caffery between Bonin Road to Highway 89.
According to Mel Bertrand, Public Works Director for the City of Broussard, this connector is to extend Broussard’s water supply by connecting it to water lines from the City of Lafayette (LUS) South Water Treatment Plant. The plant is located at 810 West Broussard Road in Lafayette.
Daniel Hutchinson, with Comeaux Engineering & Consulting, APC, advised BY Local News (BYLN) the city must first go through the required government processes before the water connector project can start. Those processes are expected to take three to four months to complete.
It is unknown how long it will take to add the new water connector and connect it to LUS South and to Broussard’s water supply.
Bertrand advised the current water supply for Broussard comes from the Garber Road well and from LUS on Commisson Road in Lafayette. Once the Waterline Extension is completed, Broussard will have use of the new water source from LUS South.
In other water news, BYLN reached out to Mayor Ray Bourque this past week to inquire on the status of the abandonment of the old, cast iron water line along Main Street in Downtown Broussard. This old water line is thought to be sixty years or older.
Bourque said the city has $250,000 budgeted to abandon the old water line. Before the old water line can be abandoned, the Public Works Department must first connect the property owners to an existing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) line on Madison Street. The connections are currently in the process of being made from residential and business properties to the water line on Madison Street. Once the connections are completed, Broussard can abandon the old cast iron water pipe.
Bourque couldn’t advise on a specific completion date for the connections to the water line on Madison Street, however, indicated the connections may be completed in the next three to six months.
