The members of the Iberia Parish Council will be approving new council districts in the coming two years, with population shifts over the past decade forcing a redrawing of precinct and district lines in the coming months.

Lafayette-based demographer Mike Hefner said that it takes a population change in the latest census of plus or minus five percent to trigger the need for reapportionment. The final 2020 Census data is not out yet, but Hefner said he believes the changes in Iberia Parish will trigger the need to redraw districts.

“You are probably going to have to reapportion,” Hefner said, “You have had a lot of shifting of population.”

The process is not a simple or quick one, as Hefner explained, and like everything else the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t make it any easier.

“Normally, in two to three weeks we’d getting census data,” Hefner said. “But because of COVID, the Census Bureau has asked for an extension. They are still striving to meet the April 30 deadline to report to the president.”

Louisiana’s data will not be among the first reported. Because it is considered a Tier 2 state, there are eight states in the first tier that will be finished and out the gate first.

And, because of the constitutional requirements for districts to be set prior to an election and the epossible COVID extension, it cuts into the time usually available to make and approve changes to the districting map.

“I can start doing all the preplanning now,” Hefner said. “I can make good use of that delay and be able to hit the ground running when I get the info.”

Because the Iberia Parish Council and Iberia Parish School districts mirror each other, the timeline to complete the basic redistricting needs to be done before summer of 2022.

“Basically, we’re looking at August of ‘21 to June of ‘22 developing a plan,” Hefner said. “It gets implemented for their election, then for yours in 2023.”

The council also continued the debate from its last meeting over how to pay for work on a lift station at the Port of Iberia for an incoming tenant. District 10 Councilman Eugene Olivier was pushing for the $10,000 for the parts needed to complete the work to be taken from the Port’s sewage fund, while a motion on the agenda was poised to take it from the Economic Development District fund.

“It’s my opinion that maintenance should be covered by the existing agreement (between the sewage district and the port),” Olivier said. “What I would like to see is cost shared, with $5,000 from the Port of Iberia and $5,000 from EDD.”

Iberia Parish Sewage District Director Brad Cradeur said that the funds would cover parts only. The sewage district would be providing the workers and equipment to do the repairs and to add another line at the site.

“It’s pretty bad off,” Cradeur said. “You’re looking at a large scope of work and what we are asking for is a small amount for parts.”

The motion to take the funds from the Economic Development District fund passed 10-3, with Olivier, District 2 Councilman Michael Landry and District 4 Councilman Lloyd Brown voting against the measure.

In another change, the council took to its former seating arrangement for the first time since the spring of 2020, with 11 of the 13 council members in attendance sitting at their regular seats around the rostrum rather than being socially distanced around the room. Only Olivier and Lloyd Brown chose to observe social distancing, sitting across the room for the other council members.

District 13 Councilman Marty Trahan announced that the last of the parish’s bonded bridge repair or replacement projects, the Hayes Road Bridge, was finally complete — seven years after Wayne Labiche Engineering was contracted to construct it.

“I didn’t know if I would live to see it, but I did!” Trahan said.