LHA taking over program

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, July 10, 2018

JEANERETTE — New management for Section 8 program under the umbrella of Housing and Urban Development, pending audits  and new concrete for a sewer plant road were among the items fiscal administrator David Greer listed as he gave an update on the Jeanerette fiscal status at a Board of Aldermen meeting Monday

Greer announced that Lafayette Housing Authority has started the process of coming in and looking over records for the town where Section 8 program has been poorly managed. At an earlier meeting, he said the program was found to be in zero compliance in reporting information to HUD.

“The management agreement with Lafayette Housing Authority is in place. We still have several issues to address with the program,” Greer said.

Audits for 2015 through 2017 fiscal years are pending, he said, noting the firm Garrety and Associates will release its findings of the 2015 audit this week and that information will  affect findings and finalization of the 2016 and 2017 audit reports as well.

Greer said he could not present a budget for 2019 right now but will do so next month.

“We don’t have a budget yet for 2019 for two reasons — one, the reliability of the information we have is an issue,” Greer said, “and, two, we are still assessing the revenue we have available. We are trying to work out a few funding mechanisms for certain departments.”

The fiscal administrator also said although Jeanerette doesn’t own Sewer Plant Road it is under agreement to maintain it and he’s working on having concrete poured on the road and entering into contract to have it maintained.

Other items on the agenda included Barry Segura, owner of Statewide Electrical Services, announcing that he will be seeking grant funding to place a monitoring system and a backup generator at the sewer treatment plant. Recent rains have caused the power to go out several times, he said, which forces workers to have to go in and reset equipment.

Segura said he’s rewired the control panel at the lift station which would previously require the stations to be pumped down by hand. There are 26 lift stations throughout Jeanerette, he said.

Also at the Board of Aldermen meeting, approximately $100,000 is needed for a project that involves installing a water line to the northwest portion of town that would increase water pressure for residents. Greer suggested looking into contingency funds while Alderman Clarence Clark suggested asking Iberia Parish government for assistance.