ST. MARTINVILLE — Engineers working on the project to replace the pontoon bridge at Butte La Rose are not only hoping to improve the ability for residents to safely access their community, but are also looking to save the existing bridge and preserve it.

Parish President Chester Cedars told members of the St. Martin Parish Council about his meeting with engineers from Huval and Associates to discuss some of the considerations at play in what he called a “major project.”

“This is one of the biggest projects this parish has undertaken,” Cedars said. “This bridge is in dire need of replacement.”

The first steps, Cedars said, will be completing a survey of the area and acquiring rights-of-way for the new span. Some of the questions at this point include where the new bridge will be constructed and whether or not the old span can be preserved.

“One thing to look at is whether the site for the new bridge can be moved so the old bridge can remain in service while the new one is under construction,” Cedars said. “That may not be optimal, but it will be looked at.”

He also said the engineers are studying whether or not the existing pontoon bridge can be preserved for historical purposes.

“We will look at that as well,” Cedars said. “It probably could be, but it is too early to tell.”

Another concern is the load limit for the new structure.

“One of the concerns with the load limit is that right now we can’t cross the bridge with a fire truck,” District 5 Councilman Chris Tauzin said. “We can only get the smaller truck across.”

Cedars said that is a primary concern for the engineers.

“That’s one of the driving forces behind this bridge replacement,” Cedars said. “We’re looking at making it passable for fire trucks, school buses and other vehicles.”

Cedars also addressed negotiations that had taken place between the parish government and the city of Breaux Bridge over parish road taxes being levied on residents in a portion of Breaux Bridge north of Interstate 10 annexed after the taxing district was in place.

Cedars said the city’s request to exempt areas annexed in the taxing district after 2022, when the taxing district is up for renewal, would destroy the parish’s road maintenance program.

“We felt that abating the road tax in that area would put our road maintenance program in peril,” Cedars said. “We offered the city to take over road maintenance within that area, but the city rejected that offer.”

The one-cent sales tax brings in approximately $9,000 a month from the area Breaux Bridge annexed, Cedars said. He also said that the Breaux Bridge slice of the taxing district is not the only area that is in the taxing district that has been annexed into a municipality.

“If we abate this tax, we will have to abate that tax for every area that has been annexed since 1998,” Cedars said. “This is critical for our road maintenance fund. It gives us bonding ability. This is why instead of just overlay projects, we can construct roads.”

The taxing district, as established in 1998, includes all unincorporated property in the parish on the day the district was established with the exception of Cade, which has its own taxing district. Cedars said that when the tax comes up for renewal, he plans to keep the district as it is.

“I will take the appropriate steps for the parish as a whole,” Cedars said.