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New Iberia council advances sewer and drainage contracts, including a plan to fix failing backyard lines
Summary
Council discussed awarding several public-works contracts — including a sewer-improvement project that will relocate failing backyard sewer lines for roughly 20–24 houses at no cost to homeowners — and considered drainage and lake-cleaning contracts tied to larger road projects.
The New Iberia City Council reviewed and moved forward on multiple public-works contracts that aim to address longstanding sewer and drainage problems in older neighborhoods.
Mayor (presiding) described Resolution 2650, a contract with Domaine Zabo & Associates Inc. for the Victory and Prius Street sewer improvements project, and said the work dovetails with a larger drainage and road project that will allow crews to relocate sewer lines to the front of homes. The mayor told the council the lines "run between the houses in the backyard" and are failing; relocating them to the front will address hard-to-reach infrastructure and reduce liability for the city. He estimated the area affects "about 22" homes and said the city will cover the costs: "We will handle all the sewer... All the tie-ins," he said.
Council members asked whether homeowners would bear any costs for connecting to the new lines; the mayor responded the project would not charge homeowners for the municipal work and that new taps and cleanouts would be installed where possible. The council discussed the presence of utility easements, fences and buildings that have been built over old lines and noted that some easements may be subdivision-dedicated rather than city easements.
Separately, Resolution 2652 would award a contract to Triumph Construction LLC for Highland Area drainage improvements. The mayor said Triumph is the same low bidder used for recent road work and that the drainage crew is a different crew than the road crew; the council included contract penalties and scheduling to avoid impacts on school zones. The council also approved moving forward with a contract to Iberia Aggregates and Construction Materials LLC for a lake/canal-cleaning project (Resolution 2651), funded from drainage accounts and recent parish allocations.
Council members emphasized the long-standing nature of the problems (some infrastructure more than 60 years old), the need for careful engineering and the advantage of combining drainage, road and sewer work to reduce future disruption. Where cost estimates were incomplete, the mayor said engineers would finish designs and provide estimates before construction.
The transcript records motions and calls for votes but does not include final tallies in the provided excerpt.
