By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Drainage, garbage, lighting and redistricting were the major talking points at Tuesday’s St. John the Baptist Parish Council meeting in LaPlace.

The Council voted in favor of going out for bids on a major drainage project to help the Homewood Place neighborhood of Reserve. The parish is looking to increase pump capacity and reroute drainage in the area.

According to documents from the contractor, Shread-Kurkendall of Baton Rouge, the work includes the addition of a second 42-inch pump on the Reserve Relief Canal. Both pumps would also be moved more north. Estimated cost of the project is roughly $1.3 million, which would come out of the parish’s 2009 bond issue. Bids are expected by March 22.

The council also approved a pair of contracts with engineering firms to assist the parish in securing permits to clear and excavate major drainage canals that run through protected wetlands. The parish will pay $48,000 to Royal Engineering of New Orleans to secure permits for 11 canals, and $50,000 to Krebs, LaSalle & Lamieux Inc. to secure permits for 12 other canals. The canals are situated on both the east and west banks of the parish.

In an item left off the regular agenda, the council requested that the parish seek proposals for residential garbage collection services. The parish’s current contract with SWDI/IESI expires July 1.

Just before the end of last year, SWDI had requested a renewal of their contract for twice-per-week pickup for another five years at the current rate of $13.38 per month per household, but the parish chose to seek new proposals after seeing St. Charles Parish secure a $9.74 per household per month rate from SDT Waste and Debris earlier this year.

The I-10 interchange at Belle Terre Boulevard will become much more illuminated now that the parish has secured an agreement with the state to install street lights near the onramps and offramps. The parish will be responsible for 10 percent of the $743,000 price tag to install the lights and must also conduct all maintenance as needed. St. John Chief Administrative Officer Marie Brown-Mercadel said the parish has already paid the $74,300 needed to put the project in motion. The lights should be up by May of this year.

After a lengthy and heated discussion, the council voted to table a decision to hire South Central Planning and Development to assist the parish in the redistricting process. The firm was recommended by an evaluation committee consisting of parish administrators and three council members, but representatives from a competing firm, Data Center, challenged the recommendation.

Data Center President Cedric Floyd said his firm was more experienced and offered a lower rate than South Central Planning, but was looked over in the evaluation process. He added that his firm has successfully challenged the School Board and Council’s redistricting plans after the 2000 Census.

Finally, the council authorized the administration to seek a more than $99,000 grant from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture for construction of a farmers market on Louisiana 18 near the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Wallace.