By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

VACHERIE – The St. James Parish Council on Wednesday approved an agreement with the city of Donaldsonville that would allow the Ascension Parish town to receive and treat residential sewage from a St. James community on the west bank.

The agreement allows Donaldsonville to process sewage coming from the recently completed Sugar Hill Crossing Subdivision, a community of 150 units in St. James. Parish President Timmy Roussel said the subdivision was developed with sewer facilities and a pumping station that can utilize an existing oxidation pond in Donaldsonville that has the capacity to handle the subdivision’s wastewater needs.

Roussel said fees for the sewage processing, which would be paid for by the subdivision’s developer and its residents, would be set by an ordinance that was introduced at Wednesday’s meeting. The ordinance will create a monthly fee per unit as well as monthly fee for every 1,000 gallons treated.

Councilmen Alvin “Shark” St. Pierre, Jason Amato, Terry McCreary, James Brazan, Charles Ketchens and Ken Brass voted in favor of the measure. Councilman Ralph Patin was absent from the meeting. A public hearing on the ordinance was set for June 20 in Vacherie.

In other action, the council voted in favor of the parish applying for a $682,476 grant through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program to fund the local match for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ fresh water diversion project in the Blind River.

The diversion project would provide additional freshwater, nutrients, and sediment from the Mississippi River into Maurepas Swamp and its surrounding areas. Construction of the Mississippi River levee has stopped annual spring flooding that, in the past, had nourished the Maurepas Swamp area. The influx of fresh water would help replenish wetlands in the area.

Roussel said the funds from the CIAP grant would help the parish reimburse the Department of Natural Resources the cost of a feasibility study and environmental review of the project.쇓