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4A-SEA COAST ECHO?THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1981
Sm
Bay council tables study
By BRENT MACEY
The Bay St. Louis City Council'
Tuesday decided to wait until...........'a
recessed meeting scheduled Aug. 25, before deciding whether or not to have a Louisiana firm undertake a study of an alternative Wastewater treatment facility for the city.
Gene Owen, partner in the engineering firm of Owen and White of Baton Rouge, informed the board his original $17,000 proposal to undertake a study of an anaerobic wastewater system is now lowered to $6,500.
Owens said he learned no federal money is available to help the city fund the study. His firm therefore agreed to reduce the fee fra- the study to the actual cost figure, he said.
The council had approved having'the engineering firm undertake^the $17,000 study contingent upon receiving a 75 percent grant from the federal government for the study.
Owen said the study will be completed by Oct. 31, for the councils review.
He stressed the council?s need to decide what to do before a Dec. 1, deadline.
?If you have no plan before Dec. 1, then you will be in violation of discharge permit requirements and will be subject to fines,? Owen' said.
Owen said having the study completed by Oct, 31 will give the council one month to decide what they want to do.
Your problem is simpler in one degree and more complicated in other ways in eomparision to other cities on I the coast,? he said.	f
He said the size of the dty makes the [ problem smaller but noted the greater i number of alternatives Bay St. Ixniis has the option of reviewing.
Bay St. Louis currently has an option of joining a three county regional plaji, | joining Waveland?s wastewater ? treatment plant, or creating its own treatment plant.	E
Bay St. Louis Mayor Larry Bennett stated, ?I?m not saying I?m for or1 against the study until I can look it over ^.discuss it.	|	|
?jxidertak* this atudy and fird ft is the nrcng derision we will have s clear conscience ?hat we lool^-d at ?3 tho alternatives.
Wilmer Seymour, council president, a.iV.?5 Owen if his firm would have enough time if the council watted for
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The mayor said he is currently a . member of the Waveland Wastewater ' Authority and a member of an ad hoc committee consisting of mayors along the Gulf Coast.	*
Bennett Wednesday said that committee is looking into the possibility of acquiring funds from the Gulf Coast Wastewater Authority to conduct studies of the anerobic type system.
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He added those funds would only be available to coastal communities which agree to entering into a contract with ~ the GCRWA.
Councilman Gene Taylor argued the council should approve contracting Owen?s firm to undertake the study-?I think it would be foolish not to consider another plan. Even if we undertake this study and find it is the wrong decision we will have a clear conscience that we looked at all the alternatives.	I
Wilmer Seymour, council president, ? j asked Owen if his firm would have	,
enough time if the council waited for one week before deciding to give approval.
Owens again stressed the importance of time but stated the study could be completed in two months. He said his ^ firm could wait.	"?	^
Sheldon Seuzeneau, council member, said he felt the council needed more time to consider whether to approve the contract for the study.
The council then tabled the issue until the next meeting.
In other business at the meeting, Councilman James Thriffiley urged council members to accept an or- - ^ dinanee he has written forbidding building structures on beach front property not in the dovntown area.
Thriffiley said two oriinances on the
books are either ?both good or both bad? depending upon their interpretation.
Joseph Gex, council attorney, stated frankly, ?Anybody owning property on the beach front can question whether or not they can build.?
Gex said one of the ordinances contains a scrivener?s error and another was not signed by the mayor and aldermen of the dty in 1972.
Review of the records shows an original ordinance dated July, 1972 was
later amended in August of that year. The amended ordinance was never signed by the mayor or alderman. A second amendment was added in November of that year. However, that ordinance contained a scrivener?s error and was also never published to become offical.
The council again decided to wait until their next meeting before approving Thriffiley?s recommended ordinance. *
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