By Renee Allemand
I’d like to thank everyone who has contacted my office to offer suggestions for the parish’s new Web site. You want the site to be informative and constantly updated during emergencies. Those things are and have been in our plans.
Keeping the Web site up-to-date will be one of my responsibilities during times of emergency.
You also want to view the government access channel online, and I am working on solutions that will make all the information on Channel 6 available to online readers. Many residents are switching to satellite television, and others get TV over the air, making Channel 6 inaccessible.
The Web site committee has finished accepting proposals for the new parish Web site. Look for information about its progress in upcoming columns.
For now, be sure to check the Web site for parish news that is updated daily at www.stcharlesgov.net.
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Infrastructure needs are the focus of a new long-range plan compiled by the St. Charles Parish Public Works Department.
Critical projects include fixing gaps in the levee protecting Boutte’s Magnolia Ridge, completing repair work at the East Bank wastewater treatment plant and upgrading a sewage lift station at Laurel Court and Beaupre Drive in Luling.
The list also includes projects slated for the town of Montz included in a 2005 drainage study. Each project is accompanied by a cost estimate, totaling $157 million.
Public Works Director Sam Scholle and his staff created the list through interviews with employees and residents, who are familiar with the parish’s infrastructure needs on a street-by-street basis.
Parish council members were asked to help update the list at a recent committee meeting. You can download the plan at www.stcharlesgov.net.
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The parish has achieved StormReady status with the National Weather Service.
St. Charles officials recently toured the offices of the National Weather Service in Slidell to fulfill a final requirement of the certification. NWS officials said the status could lower flood insurance rates for citizens of St. Charles Parish.
To qualify for the program, St. Charles Parish fulfilled these basic requirements.
–Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.
–Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public.
–Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally.
–Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars.
–Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
For more information on the program, you may visit http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/.
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Plans for the parish’s July 3 Independence Day Celebration are moving along at full speed. We expect to have live patriotic music, a DJ, an F-15 flyover and, of course, an impressive fireworks display.
There is an opening at one of the West Bank Bridge Park’s vendor booths for a local nonprofit organization.
If your organization would like to use the booth to sell items and raise money on July 3, contact me at (985) 783-5000 or rallemand@stcharlesgov.net by May 31. The booth will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Parish President V. J. St. Pierre is reviewing his first 100 days in office via the parish Web site.
Accomplishments and ongoing projects are both internal and external. The parish has hired a firm to evaluate its pay policies, and there’s also a new take-home vehicle policy to curb unnecessary use of parish-owned cars and trucks.
The parish is also still working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DNR to get a permit to complete the West Bank Hurricane Protection Levee. The parish has also applied for a grant to install sheet pilings above Bayou Gauche, which will offer storm surge protection for residents.
To view the rest of the list, log on to the parish president’s page at www.stcharlesgov.net.
St. Charles Parish Public Information Officer Renee C. Allemand can be reached at (985) 783-5000 or rallemand@stcharlesgov.net
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