By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE — The St. Charles Council approved a contract that will allow the public works department to go forward with repairs to the parish’s East Bank sewage treatment plant.

With a unanimous vote, council members granted the $345,500 project to Cajun Constructors Inc. out of Baton Rouge. It is the first phase of a $1 million rehabilitation of the 10-year-old plant.

Sam Scholle, public works director for St. Charles Parish, told the council that hydrogen sulfide, a corrosive gas emitted by bacteria being treated at the plant, has eroded away a layer of protective coating designed to protect the concrete headworks from the gas.

Scholle said the work involves construction of a bypass to route the hydrogen sulfide waste around the corroded flow diversion structures. The project will also repair the damaged headworks.

Scholle told the council that the extensive cost of the project is due to the fact that the plant, which services the entire East Bank of the parish, will still be in operation during construction. He said the work is critical in order to avoid significant interruption of plant operations. According to the contract, the work is scheduled to take about 5 months to complete.

In other action, the council approved a measure that regulates the obstruction or barricading of streets, right-of-ways, neutral grounds or other public property along parade routes in the parish.

The ordinance, introduced by District 2 Councilman Shelley Tastet, states that neutral grounds cannot be barricaded with vehicles, or roped off with tape or cables, and must remain free and left open for general public use. It also mandates that no vehicle can be parked along a parade route before noon the day of parades.

Tastet said the rules are designed to keep people from staking out public property before a parade begins. He said the council would allow special waivers for residents and business owners who wish to construct viewing stands in front of their property, but said all materials must be at least five feet from the edge of the street.