Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LAPLACE — Recovery efforts in St. John the Baptist Parish are continuing well into the holiday season, more than a year after Hurricane Ida’s destructive path. 

The latest sign is repair of the roof at the Woodland water treatment facility pump housing building. 

Although the $33,795 price tag was not included in the original scope of the work, council members approved a change order during their meeting Nov. 22 that allows for its repair. Director of Purchasing and Procurement Peter Montz said the repair was recommended by the insurance adjuster and will be funded through the Hurricane Ida Fund with FEMA r e i m b u r s e m e n t . 

Montz said the damage to the roof was not originally discovered, explaining why it was not included in the original funding. He reiterated that FEMA will reimburse the parish for what is not covered by insurance. 

In other items, the parish is exploring a plan to address critical physical and social vulnerabilities to improve available housing in the parish. The council awarded a $20,000 contract for the Resilient Housing Plan to Desire Line LLC of Metairie, which was the only proposal received and reviewed by the source selection committee. 

Parish President Jaclyn Hotard said the project comes under the Planning and Zoning Department and at this point is only a plan to explore its feasibility. 

The hope is to be able to identify implementable funding strategies to improve housing in the parish. It will be funded through the United States Environmental Protected Agency through Smart Home America. 

A series of grass cutting contracts were approved, although the process was met with some opposition from council members Tyra Duhe-Griffin and Tonia Schnyder, who stressed that they did not have supportive documents to make an educated decision. 

Hotard explained the contracts were only renewals on what the council had approved them a year ago. She said no changes were made to the contracts, which are kept in the council office and available to council members at any time. 

The contracts were approved by a majority of Parish Council members.