NICC approves purchase of police motorcycle

The city of New Iberia received a “clean” audit with no complaints or concerns from the contracted auditors.

The City Council received a report of the recently completed 2017 fiscal audit audit at Tuesday’s meeting from auditor Burton Kolder. The audit itself was sent to Baton Rouge following the report, and should be available in the coming weeks.

The gist of Kolder’s report was that the city managed to stay within its means despite facing continual revenue declines. Most budgeted funds were closely within the budgeted amounts, going either slightly over or under.

In a climate where most municipalities are receiving several violations or concerns in their annual audits, Koder said New Iberia was performing very well.

“Overall, it is a good report, it’s a clean opinion,” Kolder said. “You’re very close to budget.”

“We had a transitional year, (former finance director) Fayetta (Dupre) helped some and we have a new city manager,” he added. “This was a transitional year and it was a little bit stressful I’m sure for the mayor and administration. It is commendable that we had no findings.”

In other business, the council took action on a small claims lawsuit between the city of New Iberia and Jeanne Wilder.

The council met in executive session for about 20 minutes to discuss the litigation, which was followed by Mayor Pro Tem Dan Doerle making a motion to authorize a settlement claim of about $4,000 for the lawsuit. 

In other business: NICC unanimously voted to:

• Enter into an agreement with Domingue, Szabo & Associates for the necessary engineering services in connection with the Tete Bayou wastewater treatment plant equalization basin levee repairs. 

• Award a bid to Dixie Electric for repairs to West End tennis court and basketball pavilion lights, to be paid for through FEMA money. 

• Authorize the mayor to negotiate and sign contracts with Domingue, Szabo & Associates for necessary engineering repairs for projects that involve Silver Street, Tampico Street and Squirrel Run.