Opelousas aldermen add brown-water discussion, postpone budget items as officials describe $25M loan application and multi-year fixes

The Board of Aldermen added a discussion about brown water to the agenda and postponed several budget-related items to a later special meeting as members detailed long-standing water-system problems and possible funding paths.

Alderman Chastity Warren secured board approval to add item 2B — “Discussion of steps to address brown water” — under new business and asked the council to delay final budget adoption until city engineers and outside experts could present plans. “I’m not comfortable adopting a budget without a presentation,” Warren said, citing parents and children whose clothing has been stained by discolored water.

Mayor Alcindor (referenced in the meeting) and other officials outlined the city’s response: the city has applied for a low-interest loan — described at the meeting as a $25,000,000 loan — to finance water-plant improvements, but officials said plant upgrades and replacement of aging pipes will take years and additional funding. The mayor told the council the plant has not been updated in about 30 years, estimated the city has roughly 150 miles of piping that must be addressed and said true improvement at the plant likely will take about three years.

Donald Broussard, speaking as a community advocate, told the council the scale of the needed work extends beyond the $25 million figure and cited an estimate—based on a study he referenced—of up to $200 million–$250 million to comprehensively replace piping and tie in modern leak-detection systems. Broussard also urged the council to pursue large federal financing programs such as WIFIA (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act) and other loans for which the city may qualify.

Officials described steps already under way and constraints: design work for a targeted water project was said to be in design and awaiting approval from ODA; DEQ loans and design approvals were referenced for other system work. Staff and council members emphasized the need both to fix the water plant and then to address distribution lines throughout the city, which include pipe segments the mayor described as 75 to more than 100 years old.

Council scheduling and next steps

Clerk and council members recorded that items 3–8 (budget amendments and adoption matters) were postponed to a special meeting; the clerk and mayor said the special meeting to complete budget adoption is scheduled for Aug. 28, 2025, at 5 p.m. The city’s budget committee is scheduled to meet Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, at 5 p.m., to review proposed changes before the special meeting.

Board members and community speakers urged transparency and quicker communication with residents about timelines and interim measures. Some aldermen and residents suggested interim mitigation: distributing cleaning products sold at retail (referred to in the meeting as iron-removal agents available in the plumbing aisle at Walmart) that residents said helped with stained clothing, and increased public outreach while long-term work proceeds.

Ending

Council members said the brown-water issue will remain on the agenda for further expert presentations and that pursuit of state and federal financing will continue. No formal policy adoption or contract award was taken at the meeting; the discussion was recorded as direction to schedule technical presentations and to continue pursuing loan funding.