By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Parish Council on Tuesday approved the execution of a contract for an engineering firm to begin the design phase for a levee to protect the Foxwood subdivision in LaPlace from tidal flooding.

The council also accepted bids from six firms interested in a separate project to improve drainage in the Homewood Place drainage basin in Reserve.

Shread-Kuyrkendall & Associates will design and engineer the levee, which will extend along the north side of the Foxwood subdivision from the LaPlace Plantation canal to the existing LaPlace Park levee. The new levee will protect Foxwood and other LaPlace subdivisions located west of Belle Terre Boulevard and south of Interstate 10 from flooding caused by tides out of Lake Pontchartrain.

Councilwoman Jaclyn Hotard, who represents the Foxwood area, said the levee will help the parish resolve street flooding problems that have plagued the subdivision since it’s approval and construction in 1999.

“I am happy to see this project move forward,” Hotard said. “We have made short-term efforts, but this project will be a long-term solution that will relieve a lot of flooding problems in this area.”

In addition to the design and engineering, Shread-Kuyrkendall will also provide assistance with wetlands’ delineation and acquisition of essential permits required for the construction phase.

Paige Braud, spokesperson for St. John Parish, said the levee project will be funded though a more than $1.3 million federal disaster recovery grant from the Community Development Block Grant. She said once the design is completed, the construction phase will be publicly bid.

Meanwhile, the parish is also hoping to resolve more than 30 years of street flooding problems in Reserve with a drainage improvement project for Homewood Place. The apparent low bidder for the contract was Gilmore and Sons Construction of Holden, which submitted a bid of about $1.2 million for the base project and first alternate. Five other firms submitted bids, which are all currently under review.

The project, which was designed and engineered early last year, involves adding a second 42-inch pump on the Reserve Relief Canal in an effort to double the drainage capacity in the area. Both pumps will also be moved further north along the canal to prevent water from backing up in drainage basins. The plan also involves work to redirect water flow to prevent recirculation of water back into neighborhoods by widening ditches and installing a small floodgate on the Trosclair Canal to prevent recirculation of water back into Homewood.

In other action, the council approved a resolution to adopt an updated Hazard Mitigation Plan for the parish. Braud said the parish received funds through a FEMA Planning Grant to assist in updating the hazard mitigation plan to reflect new information and identify specific cost-effective mitigation projects.

“The plan includes projects that may be eligible for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program,” said Parish President Natalie Robottom. ”By adopting this plan, St. John the Baptist Parish remains eligible to receive Hazard Mitigation funds in the future.”

The parish also opened bids for an open-air covered basketball court at the West Bank Recreational Park in Edgard. The apparent low bidder is Lance Construction, which bid $571,000 for the project and first alternate. Estimated budget on the project is $550,000.

The council also authorized renewal of a contract with FirstCall Network, Inc. through 2015 to provide telephone notification services to residents and businesses for emergency or informational purposes. Braud said the system uses the AT&T/BellSouth database, which is updated annually.

Both DuPont and Marathon access the system and are billed accordingly for fixed lists and geographic access. Approximately $5,000 of the $6,500 annual cost is born by industry, leaving the Parish to pay the balance. The system is routinely used to notify residents of maintenance and construction projects in their neighborhoods and when emergencies occur.