LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Parish Council on Tuesday approved a pair of resolutions asking federal officials to expedite hurricane safeguards for the region in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac.

The parish petitioned Congress and President Barack Obama to expedite funding and construction of a hurricane protection levee for St. John Parish. The resolution indicated that the levee is needed to protect the region’s millions of dollars worth of residential property and heavy industrial and commercial property. It would also keep Interstates 10 and 55 from being submerged in floodwater.

A copy of the resolution has been forwarded to the President’s office, as well as to Louisiana’s congressional delegation representing the River Parishes.

The other resolution implores that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fund, install and maintain an accurate system of real time gauges and storm surge measurement devices in Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. The resolution states that the present system of gauges and flow meters are a compilation of data from various agencies and have shown failures during various recent tropical events.

In other action, the council approved a $65,800 contract with Professional Engineering Services for design specifications for a telemetry system for major sewer lift stations in the parish.

The project calls for the installation of telemetry sensors on major lift stations that can send alerts when the stations are not functioning properly. The $500,000 project would be funded by a bond issue from 2010.