By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The St. John Parish Council on Tuesday will vote to seek out bids on the purchase of $15 million in bonds to improve sewer systems on the east bank of the parish.

St. John Acting Chief Administrative Officer Buddy Boe said the bonds, which will help expand capacity at the River Road wastewater treatment plant in LaPlace and correct a growing infiltration and inflow problem with sewer pipes parish wide, are revenue bonds levied against the parish’s sales tax income typically used for roads, bridges and sewers.

Unlike general obligation bonds, like the ones voted on in April, Boe said procurement of revenue bonds does not require a vote of the people.

If the council approves the bond resolution, Boe said the parish plans to use $10 million to expand capacity at the River Road wastewater treatment plant in LaPlace, which services the entire east bank of St. John Parish. He said the project, which will expand the plant’s capacity from four million gallons per day to six million gallons per day, will not require any new outer construction and will not expand the treatment plant’s footprint.

Boe said on a normal day without any rain, the treatment plant continuously operates at or near the four-million-gallon-per-day threshold.

“In a rain event, sewer process is limited because the treatment plant can’t handle the additional strain,” Boe said. “The expansion will allow us to account for future growth while maintaining complete services.”

The remaining $5 million will be devoted to infiltration and inflow problems affecting sewer pipes across the east bank of the parish.

Boe said older terra cotta sewer pipes in the parish, the majority of which lie in Reserve and older parts of LaPlace, have never undergone maintenance and are now experiencing serious cracks. The cracks allow an excess of rainwater to infiltrate the pipes producing further backups.

“We estimate that the parish in all has about $20 to $30 million worth of infiltration and inflow problems,” Boe said. “In the past, the parish has spent very little on the problem. This bond money will jumpstart our activity.”

In addition to the bond money, Boe said the parish also has applications at the state level for $500,000 in community block development grants and $600,000 in Louisiana Recovery authority money. The parish is also looking into taking out an additional $1.4 million loan for the project.

The St. John Council will meet Tuesday at the Percy Hebert Building in LaPlace at 6 p.m.