The holidays are past us, and the new year has begun. Iberia Parish Government continues to be extremely busy with many projects and issues in various stages of completion. Every day the staff and I come to work focused on improving the quality of life for the residents and the businesses of Iberia Parish.

In August 2022, we began a renovation project for Courtroom A on the second floor of the Parish courthouse building. I am happy to announce that these renovations are complete.

This marks the first major renovation to the second floor since the building’s dedication on Armistice Day, November 11, 1941. The new courtroom interior matches our previous second-floor lobby renovation, completed earlier in 2022. The courtroom upgrades include:

• Public seating and all millwork refinished.
• Ceiling grid and lighting replaced.
• Acoustical tiles installed.
• Walls repainted.
• Jury box expanded and new seating installed.
• Jury deliberation room refinished.
• Jury room restrooms renovated.
• Existing carpet removed, and new carpet installed.
• Window drapes removed and replaced with motorized blinds.
• Seating area for Court staff reconfigured.

The result is yet another step in the preservation of our historic Art Deco courthouse. The Iberia Parish community can be proud of this distinguished setting for our judicial proceedings to take place daily.

In addition, I would like to report that progress is underway at Waterwork’s District No. 3. We have a company contracted to oversee the maintenance and operation of the water plant and field infrastructure under the supervision of the newly appointed interim Director Brad Cradeur.

Already, we have significantly increased the chlorination output of gallons per minute. This has helped the water storage tanks maintain capacity during the day, when consumption is higher, and increase capacity at night.

Independent engineers are scheduled to visit the plant next week to evaluate current equipment and processes to maximize our facility’s production. They will also help us to produce a long-term plan to allow for redundancy within our plant and future growth in the parish.

Additionally, there are contractors and technicians systematically inspecting all controls and monitoring devices for accurate operation. Devices found to be unsatisfactory will be replaced with equipment that provides remote 24-hour monitoring, which is critical in emergency situations.

It may seem these fixes were simple, but they were not. We may suffer setbacks from time to time, but we are doing our best to remedy the issues as they arise. This is just the beginning of a long journey, we are making positive steps toward a long-term solution.

Please know that everyone involved is working as fast as possible while being thorough, safe and accurate. I thank you for your patience and understanding during this process.

M. LARRY RICHARD serves as Iberia Parish President.