(Special to the American Press)

The Sulphur City Council approved two cooperative endeavor agreements (CEAs) to receive reimbursement funds from the Louisiana Department of Treasury during a special meeting on Tuesday.

During the 2024 legislative session, state lawmakers dedicated $113 million to be distributed to Louisiana nonprofits and charitable organizations — museums, churches, health care organizations — and to local governments through the supplemental appropriations bill, which passed as Act 776.

Sulphur Mayor Mike Danahay said at the meeting the city received word from state Sen. Jeremy Stine in April 2024 that Sulphur qualified for two dedications: $250,000 for water plant equipment and $200,000 for general appropriations.

The $250,000 allocation will be put towards the replacement of equipment of water plants, but does not designate which plants will receive replacements. Danahay said the funds will be used “wherever necessary” for the city’s water plants.

The $200,000 will reimburse the city for improvements to the senior citizen center. Public Works Director Austin Abrahams said some of these repairs included the replacement of an air conditioning unit, a new stove, electrical work, tinted windows and the replacement of the main building’s tile.

The other $150,000 of the $200,000 allocation will reimburse fire hydrant replacements. He said the city will be able to replace about 20 of the 11,000 hydrants in the city.

He said the reimbursements have a “pretty quick turnaround” once the CEAs are submitted, less than six months. After projects are completed, the reimbursements will be sent from the state and placed in the city’s general fund, which funds capital projects.

The city is operating on a “compressed” timeline to sign the CEAs and return the documentation to the state before June 30, Danahay said. They were notified of the awarded funds on May 12 and received the CEAs on May 19. The items were introduced during the regular June meeting.

While the CEAs are required to be completed, returned and acted upon by the Louisiana Treasury by June 30, Abrahams said that the city will file an extension for the projects that cannot be completed by the end of the month.