A moratorium on major new residential construction in St. Francisville will extend for another year, following May 23 action by the Board of Aldermen.
The board initiated the halt to new residential construction in 2020, before voters approved a half-cent sales tax to build a new sewage treatment facility to replace the existing flood-prone plant.
The board approved two contracts on May 9 to build the new plant on higher ground, but the project will take 12 to 18 months to finish.
Engineer Bianca Hillhouse said a pre-construction meeting will be scheduled with treatment plant contractor, L. King Co., and then the company will have two weeks to mobilize its equipment and materials at the site.
The treatment plant will cost more than $6.3 million.
A second $1.24 million contract, for force mains and pumping stations, was also approved in the May 9 meeting for Southern Underground of Louisiana.
Town Attorney Ben Klein said the ordinance the board approved will extend the moratorium for 365 days from May 23. It prohibits issuing permits for the improvement or development of any lots that are part of a “major subdivision” or resubdivision, as well as new apartment buildings with more than four residential units.
The last extension of the moratorium was to expire in June.
On another matter, the board ratified Mayor Robert Leake’s appointment of Klein to serve as the magistrate of the town’s Mayor’s Court. He will hear misdemeanor cases brought before the court, instead of Leake acting as the judge.
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