Louisiana Voice

A couple of weeks ago, KNOE-TV in Monroe aired a fluff piece about the creation of a special fund to reimburse local utility systems for damages caused by the state’s broadband expansion in the parishes of LaSalle, Caldwell, Franklin and Catahoula.

State creates fund to reimburse water systems damaged during broadband expansion

The story by Shahid Evans noted that State Sen. Glenn Womack has been working with the Louisiana Department of Health “to establish the local infrastructure fund.”

His Senate District 32 just happens to encompass the parishes of LaSalle, Caldwell, Franklin and Catahoula (along with all or part of Avoyelles, Concordia, Ouachita, Rapides, Richland and West Feliciana).

Senate District 32 (in red)

Womack also is the owner of WOMACK AND SONS CONSTRUCTION GROUP,  along with several other entities, in Harrisonburg whose Utility Division “consists of underground water, sewer and gas piping,” according to the company’s WEBSITE, though Womack told KNOE his company is not involved with the projects.

The story quoted LDH as saying as many as 300 city and parish government water systems may be eligible to apply for reimbursement for damages to their systems during the broadband expansion from 2022 through June of this year.

Womack said broadband had committed no wrongdoing but rather damages occurred “at such a pace that our locals wasn’t (sic) able to stay ahead of them.”

To apply, each eligible utility system or political subdivision must provide certain damage documentation in order to receive reimbursement for the cost of materials, equipment, labor and professional support provided for eligible repairs the systems made to their public underground utility infrastructure.

Under the program guidelines approved last month, the local system may be reimbursed up to 100% of supported damage cost (or $50,000) when it serves 10,000 people or fewer, or 100% of supported damage cost (or $30,000) when it serves more than 10,000 people.

LDH’s Broadband Damage Reimbursement Program application portal opened yesterday (Nov. 1) and will close on January 1, 2027.  The LDH Bureau of Engineering Services will make funding recommendations by January 31, 2027.

Funding for the program was provided by HOUSE BILL 700 of 2024 by State Rep. Daryl Deshotel (R-Marksville). THAT BILL passed the House unanimously, 101-0 and the Senate, also unanimously, by a 34-0 vote.

While Womack says his company is not involved in the Broadband project, a review of Louisiana Checkbook, the state web page that lists all state contractors, shows that Womack and Sons Construction Group currently holds FIVE SEPARATE CONTRACTS with the state totaling more than $29 million.

They include $11.74 million for the Agriculture and Forestry Wood Products Education and Research Center at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston; $11.557 million for the Athletic Academic Center at Louisiana Tech; $5.2 million for Phase II of Drainage Outfall Project  and Infrastructure Improvements at LSU-Alexandria; $1.9 million for Pond Improvements to the Booker Fowler Fish Hatchery in Forest Hill, and $757,000 for Flood Damage Repairs to the Main Building of Northwest Louisiana Technical College in Natchitoches.