Sulphur council approves two state cooperative agreements to fund water equipment, senior-center work and hydrants

The Sulphur City Council on June 24 unanimously approved two ordinances authorizing Mayor Mike Danahey to enter cooperative endeavor agreements (CEAs) with the Louisiana Department of the Treasury to accept $250,000 and $200,000 in state supplemental appropriations for city projects.

The larger award, $250,000, is allocated in the paperwork to equipment for the city’s water plant; council staff indicated some pump work has been completed while about $156,000 remains to be paid. The second award, $200,000, was described in council materials as $50,000 for senior-citizen center improvements and $150,000 for fire-hydrant replacements.

Why it matters: the funds are intended to reimburse or pay for capital work on Sulphur’s water system and to finance improvements at local senior centers. Residents raised concerns at the hearing about gaps in the paperwork and the timing of the state agreement, and council members and staff described steps needed to return the executed CEAs to the state before the June 30 deadline noted in the materials.

City presenter and staff member Mr. Abrams told the council that the city received the CEA and its accompanying attachments from the state on May 19. “We received the CEA from the state on the 19th. It has to be completed back to them for them to act on it before June 30,” Abrams said. He and other staff also said the attachments included project lists and a blank progress report that the state provided.

Residents at the hearing urged more detail in the attachments before signing. Wendy Wingate, of 256 Madison Crossing, said she was troubled by the lack of planning detail in the materials: “So we’re signing an agreement that we have a plan. It literally has a plan attached that we are signing tonight,” Wingate said, pointing to blank or limited entries in the progress and budget attachments.

Council and staff clarified that the CEA process is administrative: the state provided the attachments and the city must return the executed agreement and required documentation to the Treasury. Staff said the funding operates as a reimbursement program. “It’s a reimbursement fund,” Abrams said; staff later confirmed that the state funds, when reimbursed, will post to the city’s general fund rather than directly to the water department’s budget.

On project details, staff said the senior-center work already recorded in the attachments totals $32,490 of the planned $50,000 and includes indoor tile replacement, a partition wall, an exterior slab, a new range, some electrical work, a replaced AC unit and a new stove. For hydrants, staff estimated replacement costs between $6,000 and $7,500 per hydrant and said the $150,000 allocation would allow replacement of roughly 20 hydrants at the higher estimate.

Public-works director Mr. Austin indicated hydrant replacements would be carried out where needed rather than being limited to a single plant. When asked whether the $250,000 award designates the North Water Plant, staff said the paperwork does not specifically designate a plant and that the city will apply funds where necessary.

After public comment and staff explanation, the council took roll-call votes on both ordinances. Council members recorded as voting yes were Miss Ellinger, Miss Hardy, Miss Abshire and Miss Thomas; both ordinance items passed.

The meeting record and staff comments note that the state’s attachments contained a budget worksheet showing $200,000 in revenue for the city but, in some attachments, no expense lines were filled in. Residents asked how quickly reimbursements would be processed; staff said turnaround is generally faster than large federal programs but declined to give a precise timetable.

The council adjourned after approving both items.