FRANKLIN — The City of Franklin has been under a boil advisory by the Louisiana Department of Health for a month, and the city's mayor said that the order has not been lifted, despite complying with state regulations.

"I feel our citizens are being held hostage and penalized although the City of Franklin was denied twice the ability to receive Water Sector Grant Funding through the Federal Infrastructure Act although we desperately need it to address our 100-year-old water distribution system," Mayor Eugene Foulcard said at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

According to an ordinance filed by LDH, the boil advisory was put in place Aug. 19. This was after ongoing power surges due to severe thunderstorms the previous night caused the Franklin Water Plant's water pressure to fall below LDH standards, city officials said.

Later that day, Foulcard was told by LDH that the monitoring of water turbidity was not monitored continuously as required. According to LDH regulations, water turbidity — the measure of water clarity — must be done every 15 minutes.

"This BOIL NOTICE is to remain in effect until rescinded by the Franklin Water System after Louisiana Department of Health clearance," the Aug. 19 notice said.

One week later on Aug. 26, computerized turbidity monitors were calibrated and were back to monitoring turbidity at the state-required 15-minute intervals, as opposed to an actual certified operator every 2 hours for 24 hours per day, the mayor said.

The mayor said that he also met with consultants and Miller Engineering to finalize $2.3 million in funding from State Senator Robert Allain (R-Franklin) and State Representative Vincent St. Blanc (R-Franklin) to begin water plant and water distribution upgrades.

Still, the water advisory has yet to be lifted, Foulcard said, despite multiple in-person visits from LDH. He said the city has also complied with the turbidity parameters as requested by LDH. 

"I continue to ask for your patience as we didn’t just begin having problems with our water distribution 5 years ago with this administration. However, I did vow to not kick the can down the road and we are actively working each and every day to address a now 40-year-old problem," Foulcard said.