By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Parish Council will vote Tuesday to authorize parish administrators to open bids on a pair of drainage projects on the east bank.

The parish will reopen the bidding process on long awaited drainage projects in Reserve, and the Riverlands subdivision in LaPlace. The two projects are part of a list of infrastructure improvements that are part of the $29.5 million bond issue from April 2009.

The Reserve project calls for drastic improvements to the drainage basins that surround St. Peter Church. The parish is looking to replace and reposition culverts in drainage canals that line the streets surrounding the church.

The parish is also asking to reopen bids on the Riverlands drainage project.

The parish had received six bids for the project when the bidding was open in September, but all six came in well over the $1.2 million estimated budget for the project. The council rejected the bids at a Sept. 28 meeting.

The Riverlands project involves the installation of three new pumping stations that will help move water off residential streets and into drainage canals. The identical pumps, which will be placed at the foot of Chattsworth Drive, on Parlange Loop and on Welham Loop, will tie into the Vicknair drainage canal that runs from LaPlace into Lake Pontchartrain.

The council will also vote on recommendations from the administration for dental and medical insurance providers for the parish for 2011. The parish received several bids for the plans at a September council meeting.

Parish administrators will also ask the council to renew the parish’s engineering contract with C.J. Savoie Consulting Engineers. The firm currently holds a $120,900 contract with the parish, which is paid out in equal installments of $10,080 per month.

The new contract will go into affect Jan. 1, 2011, and expire Dec. 31, 2014.

The council meets Tuesday evening at the Percy Hebert building, located at 1801 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace, starting at 6 p.m.