LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / August 9, 2000

HAHNVILLE – New standards for rail crossings aimed at setting a state safety standard were approved Monday by the St. Charles Parish Council.On parish roads, including streets in new subdivisions where a rail crossing is included, the crossing would include an 8-inch high median strip. The crossingwould also be protected with flashing lights and at least one automatic gate that when activated extends to within 1 foot of the median curb. Maximumlength would be 32 feet.

“These are the safest and highest standards for railroad crossings anywhere,” Planning Director Bob Lambert said, adding a push is on in the state Legislature to have the standards adopted across Louisiana, to affect state highways.

In addition, subdivision developers would have to submit a plan for their rail crossing for approval by the Planning Commission and Department of Planning and Zoning and must conform with standards for construction of the crossing set by the railroad affected, as well as all minimum parish, state and federal requirements.

The railroad builds the crossing and bills the developer for the cost, if the crossing is for access to the new subdivision.

The developer would also be responsible for reimbursing the parish for any repair or maintenance cost within the first two years of use.

The vote was unanimous of the eight council members attending, including Clayton “Snookie” Faucheux, whose grandfather, Police Juror Arnold Faucheux, died when struck by a train in 1974 on Paul Maillard Road in Luling.

Councilman Barry Minnich was absent from the meeting.

“It really puts the onus on the developers to do it right to begin with,” Lambert said.

In other business, the parish council heard a report from Linda Prudhomme, senior vice-president for MetroVision, on economic development progress in St. Charles Parish.While admitting that no project has yet to land in St. Charles Parish throughMetroVision’s efforts in the past year, “We’re very close,” she said.

In the past eight months, she emphasized, 22 prospects viewed 24 sites in the parish, doubling the efforts from the year previous. These includedindustry prospects in food processing, plastics, packaging, distribution and transportation.

Their most recent success in the River Parishes, she said, was locating Epsilon, a $700 million-impact facility in Reserve which added 758 jobs with a $16.7 million payroll. Prudhomme stressed that “we don’t look at economicdevelopment as having lines,” and that St. Charles Parish workers benefitfrom any new facility in neighboring parishes, as job openings occur.

St. Charles Parish Economic Development Director Corey Faucheux said laterthat MetroVision’s more recent local successes include the new Lamons Metal Gasket Co. in Dufresne Business Park, Luling, and the Office Depotdistribution center in St. Rose.”It’s only a matter of time,” Faucheux added.

MetroVision is a marketing cooperative involving the parishes of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John theBaptist, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa.It is also involved in school-to-career programs aimed at upgrading the local workforce.

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