By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Budget amendments and a refinancing of public improvement bonds left over from a 1996 bond issue will be topics of discussion when the St. John the Baptist Parish Council meets Tuesday evening in LaPlace.

St. John Chief Administrative Officer Marie Brown-Mercadel said the parish is looking to add about $480,000 to the public works budget to help pay for an assortment of upcoming drainage projects, as well as the purchase of some new equipment.

According to the budget paperwork, the parish hopes to add $133,000 to building maintenance, $15,000 to street maintenance and about $100,000 to drainage projects.

“In addition to drainage projects on the horizon, we are also replacing culverts and doing some street overlay,” Mercadel said. “We also need to update some of our equipment by either replacing or repairing as needed.”

The parish also wishes to take out a $7.5 million bond as part of a refinance plan for bonds issued in 1996.

Mercadel said the bonds are up in 2014, so the parish is looking to refinance now to take advantage of lower interest rates.

“The bonds will be used to pay down the difference on those old bonds,” Mercadel said. “The new interest rate offers a savings of about $460,000 per year, which equates to about $1.8 million over the four-year period.”

Mercadel said the bonds were issued to pay for capital sewer projects throughout the parish.

Tuesday’s council meeting will also likely be the last for Division A Councilman-at-Large Richard “Dale” Wolfe, who was selected as the executive director for the St. John Housing Authority Thursday.

Wolfe, who is required to give up his seat on the council due to state laws on dual officeholding, spent nearly 35 years as a member of the St. John Parish Council and Police Jury. When he applied for the housing authority position, he had said on numerous occasions he would give up his seat on the council.

In order to replace Wolfe, the parish must now hold a special election to fill the remainder of his term, which does not expire until January 2012.

The council meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Percy Hebert Building, 1801 W. Airline Highway, LaPlace. A finance committee meeting precedes the council meeting at 6 p.m.