Sulphur council ratifies cooperative agreement for $5 million state water grant after public questions on fees and timing

The Sulphur City Council voted to ratify a cooperative endeavor agreement with the State of Louisiana Division of Administration that awards the city $5,000,000 for water-system projects and authorized Mayor Dana Hay to sign the agreement retroactively (Ordinance 43-25).

City staff told the council the city applied for the Water Sector Fund in February and was awarded $5,000,000 to support multiple water-system projects. The staff member said the city has already spent about $1,800,000 on work reimbursable under the grant and is now asking the council to ratify the agreement that was executed without prior formal council authorization in 2022.

The ratification matter drew several public questions. Resident Wendy Wingate asked why the council was being asked to retroactively approve a contract that dates to 2022 and expressed concern about transparency. "This is all pretty strange to me ... I at least respect that you were honest and that you did just, you let the public know why," Wingate said. She asked whether the state understood the city was seeking a retroactive ratification.

City legal counsel responded that "backdating" was the wrong term: the city is ratifying an agreement that was already performed in practice. "Backdating a document is ... intentional," the attorney said. He added that, in his view, the budget approvals and the city’s prior spending meant the agreement had been tacitly accepted and that a public ratification was a transparency step.

Councilmembers and staff also addressed how the grant related to a mandatory water-rate study. A member of the public and staff noted the state required completion of a rate study as a condition of the grant; that study in turn formed part of the legal basis for increasing water rates. The staff member explained the money is provided as reimbursement for eligible work and said, "If we do not do this, then the $5,000,000 goes back to the state," adding the city would have to absorb costs for projects already advanced.

Councilmembers proceeded to a roll-call vote. The motion to ratify the cooperative endeavor agreement carried.

The ratification authorizes the mayor to sign the cooperative endeavor agreement retroactively, clarifies the city’s ability to seek reimbursement for eligible expenses already incurred, and records that the state award enabled projects the city had already started.

Council and legal staff said the ratification does not change the fact that the state required a rate study as part of the grant conditions. Residents asked for clearer public notice about the timing and approvals when large grants are accepted and when associated studies require rate changes.

The council did not change the previously adopted rate ordinances at this meeting; the vote was limited to ratifying the cooperative endeavor agreement and authorizing the mayor’s signature.

The city staff said it will provide the executed agreement to the public as part of the official record and that project work funded by the grant will continue under the terms of the state award.