By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — A project to improve drinking water cleanliness and an additional phase of a comprehensive drainage project in Reserve were both given a green light at this month’s St. John the Baptist Parish Finance Committee meeting.

C.J. Savoie Consulting Engineers Inc. was awarded an engineering contract for an Ultraviolet Disinfection Project at the Lions Water Treatment Plant.

Funded through the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals $5.5 million Drinking Water Loan Fund, the contract amount of $88,187.65 was based on an estimated construction cost of $547,965.

The UV Disinfection Project involves upgrading the current disinfection treatment process at the Lions Water Treatment Plant in Reserve. The existing chlorination disinfection system will be supplemented with a UV system that should be in place by October of 2015.  

Parish Communication Director Paige Falgoust said the UV project was recently approved for award by DHH.

In preparation for Phase III of the Reserve Drainage Improvements Project, a contract with Buchart Horn Inc. was approved by the Finance Committee at an estimated amount of $284,525 for engineering services, which includes topographical surveying, design, resident inspection, permitting and bidding.

The drainage project will include ditch work and culvert and catch basin alignment on areas east of Central Avenue to East 31st Street.

Funded through the 2014 Bond Issue, the total project is estimated to be $3 million. Once the design for Phase III is completed, the bid process will begin for construction of the project.

Phase I of the Reserve Drainage Improvements Project was completed in 2011 and Phase II — which will address Terrance Street, West 8th Street, Marmillian Loop, Toni Drive, West 2nd Street, West 4th Street, Cornland Drive and Hart Drive — is currently in the final stage of design.

District III Councilman Lennix Madere Jr., whose area of representation includes a large portion of Reserve, said drainage projects are “extremely important” to his constituents, as is the upkeep of the improvements once they are completed.

“It’s one thing to improve culverts, line them up and clean them out,” Madere said. “When these important projects take place, we need to properly maintain them.”

When he took office in 2012, Madere suggested a parish drainage department be formed with the sole purpose of clearing debris from drainage and performing other preventative maintenance to drainage improvements. The suggestion has never garnered administrative approval.

“That’s a full-time job,” Madere said of the parish-wide task of keeping drainage measures clear and clean. “We need people solely focused on drainage so we don’t revert back to the same problems.”