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Parish staff outlines awarded $7 million sewer grant and siting plan for Ponchatoula High School service
Summary
Staff said the parish won a Water Sector grant for roughly $7 million to build a five‑acre sewer facility to serve Ponchatoula High School and another school; using an old pond site on parish property could save hundreds of thousands of dollars, and staff will seek a formal agreement with the sewer district for an eventual easement.
Parish staff updated the Tangipahoa Parish School Board about a sewer project intended to serve Ponchatoula High School and a neighboring school, saying the parish was awarded a grant through the Water Sector program and is working on siting and an agreement with the local sewer district.
Mr. Joe, a parish staff member, told the board the parish applied for “about a $7,000,000 grant” through the Water Sector program and was awarded funding. He said engineers from Spangler Engineering initially suggested locating the roughly five‑acre treatment facility near Bridal Road at the south boundary of parish property, but staff and consultants identified an alternative siting on an older pond footprint on the same property that would avoid wetlands and tree clearing and “saved several $100,000” in mitigation costs.
Charlie Kirkland, the parish’s licensed operator for sewer facilities, suggested the older pond location and staff said the site could be donated to the sewer district after construction, with the parish granting an easement in the interim. Mr. Joe said the facility “will service two schools and eliminate two community sewage that currently exists,” and that the state is expected to pay about 67 percent of project costs.
Board members asked procedural questions and one board member observed growth at Ponchatoula that makes the project necessary: “We actually have more students than we’re permitted for on that facility,” one member said, and staff replied the parish would have had to address capacity in the next two years even without the grant. Mr. Joe told the board no motion was needed at that time but that he would return with a finalized agreement; the board will later be asked to authorize Ms. Stilley, a parish staff member, to sign the agreement with the sewer district once terms are finalized.
Staff identified related sites such as Hammond East Side Upper as other locations under review for similar sewer work and said regulatory input from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) had narrowed scope at one other site to pump upgrades rather than a full lift station.
This update combined grant, engineering and siting discussion; no formal board action was taken at this meeting.
