Our first meeting in May was an extremely productive one for the Parish Council and Administration.

We unanimously voted to create a Flood Protection Committee of the Council whose sole focus will be working with the administration and local partners to move the West Shore levee project forward, as well as focusing on specifics related to this project once approved. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee gave us a 19-1 approval of the Westshore Project’s inclusion in the Water Resources & Development Act of 2016 (WRDA).

This is certainly the beginning of a much anticipated process of the West Shore Project. Parish officials in the Administration and Parish Council have been working diligently for years with the Army Corps of Engineers, Pontchartrain Levee District and our surrounding parishes in the River Region to push this project along. This approval and WRDA16 inclusion is the result of years of hard work and planning by numerous of officials. We are extremely grateful, but our work is nowhere near complete.

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, which Congressman Garrett Graves is a member, is scheduled to vote on the inclusion of West Shore in WRDA16. We encourage all residents to call your Congressman and neighboring Congressman and urge their support on this important project.

The Council also authorized administration to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation for life-saving swimming instructions. This is similar to last year’s agreement offering free educational programs for youth 5 to 17 of age. The program includes five 45-minute swimming lessons for up to 300 youth and up to ten water safety instructors. We are excited to offer this program once again to the youth of our parish.

Last but certainly not least, representatives from the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) gave a presentation to the Parish Council and Administration at our meeting on their organization and their strong interest in building a stronger partnership with St. John. The CCA is working closely with the state Wildlife & Fisheries to identify a potential location for an artificial fishing reef out of Peavine. This would work well in conjunction with the improvements the parish has continuously made and will continue to make in not only that area but all of our recreational facilities.

Hurricane Season is at our back door, don’t forget to Get a Game Plan!

Michael P. Wright is St. John the Baptist Parish Council District 5 representative. Contact him at District5@sjbparish.com or m.wright@sjbparish.com.