FERRIDAY, La. – The newly-sworn Ferriday Town Council on Tuesday approved water and sewer service to two apartment complexes to be built on Lincoln Road.

A complex with 38 units will be built by the Macon Ridge Economic Development Region for the elderly; 40 units will be built nearby by developer Craig Smith for low-income people.

In Smith’s case, approval has taken two years. Both are using federal funds for their projects – and those agencies are demanding that the developers complete the projects or relinquish the money.

And when the Ferriday received money for sewer improvements years ago, it promised the Office of Rural Development it would extend service to anyone it feasibly could, said attorney Anna Brakenridge.

&uot;The decision needs to be made tonight and, if not, lawsuits will be filed&uot;&160;by Macon Ridge and Smith, she added. And state law says the town may extend service outside town limits – and Lincoln Road lies outside Ferriday’s limits.

A sewer lift station serving the area is already overtaxed, but Smith will give the town $20,000 to upgrade the lift station. Macon Ridge will chip in $25,000 and help the town find government funding for the remaining $31,000 cost.

Council members Dorothy Johnson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jerome Harris Sr. voted to approve service to the complexes, with Billy Rucker voting against and Mitch Ashmore abstaining.

The council also approved a $3,151,355 budget for fiscal 2000-01, up $540,029 from last year.

Additional spending will include a $11,000 salary increase for Police Chief Bobby Sheppard, bringing his salary to $36,000. The budget will include the addition of Administrative Assistant Alex Promise at $21,459 a year and a new Police Department position at $18,899 a year.

It will also include $30,000 in additional Police Department spending for two police cars and $37,493 for the Fire Department, to pay off a new fire truck.

The town must also transfer $292,959 from the general fund into its water and sewer funds to bring those funds up to levels the town agreed upon in government loan contracts.

&uot;But those funds should be full by Thanksgiving,&uot;&160;said Mayor Glen McGlothin.

He said department heads are coming to him with requests, but most of those requests will not be granted until the such funds are brought up to agreed-upon levels.

Ferriday still has a large debt load – more than $5.8 million in all it still has left to pay off on water, sewer, street and sales tax bonds.

But the town will also take in $360,000 more a year in sales taxes due to a 3/4-cent sales tax increase voters passed last fall, noted accountant Myles Hopkins.

The town will also get $250,000 in capital outlay money for industrial improvements later this year and anticipates collecting $9,000 more in utility fees now that the town has discovered and corrected alleged theft of town funds.