EDGARD — St. John the Baptist Parish Council members are going to start receiving regular, firsthand reports on drainage maintenance.

Drainage has often been the cause of concern for local residents who deal with ponding following heavy showers.

Council members adopted an ordinance instructing the administration subdivide and create a drainage maintenance and monitoring unit within the Department of Public Works.

In an earlier meeting, the Council passed a similar resolution but Councilwoman at Large Jaclyn Hotard pointed out last week this latest ordinance gives the resolution the force of law.

The resolution and subsequent ordinance is detailed in its requirements, mandating the administration report to the Council what duties workers are performing on a daily bases.

According to the ordinance, continuous maintenance must be performed on the drainage canals, with some personnel dedicated to that assignment.

Establishing a drainage maintenance unit has been a priority for the Council for several years.

“We don’t have a regular maintenance schedule,” Hotard said “We had to act on that.”

According to the ordinance, Parish President Natalie Robottom must present a report at the Council’s Oct. 10 meeting.

Council members also discussed a water leak and repair near Capt. G. Bourgeois and Pine streets in LaPlace on Sept. 1 that ultimately resulted in the water supply in LaPlace being cut off.

On Sept. 1, utility staff members were unsuccessful in identifying a small leak and the following day Fleming Construction was contacted for assistance.

That same day while digging to install a live valve, the piping coupling broke, which caused the water to be cut off. Service was slowly restored during the evening of Sept. 3.

Councilman Lennix Madere Jr. said parish staffers need to make sure they know where all cutoff valves are located.

“I don’t’ think we have a blueprint of where the valves are,” he said.

“What happened could have caused major problems somewhere else.”

Robottom said it’s a systematic problem and many of the valves are not where they are shown on a map.

— By Richard Meek