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Jurors vote to issue RFQ for hydrologic/hydraulic study and engineering design in Lavenderville area
Summary
The parish's engineering and grants committee approved a motion to request RFQs for an H&H study covering roughly 4,500 acres in the Lavenderville/Plattenville area and to include follow‑on design and specifications, after GIS engineering staff described multiple drainage findings.
Assumption Parish's engineering and grants committee on March 12 voted to request qualifications (RFQ) for a hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) study and subsequent design work covering a broad drainage area in Lavenderville and adjacent rural tracts.
Joe Lamore of GIS Engineering summarized field findings from site visits and mapping, telling the committee the study area would encompass roughly 4,500 acres from the railroad tracks east to the wood line and south toward existing plantation properties. Lamore identified five findings: (1) culverts under Highway 398 and the direction/volume of flow toward Sophie Street (existing pipes there are undersized); (2) need to clear and possibly dredge the Lavenderville drainage canal; (3) reestablish an outfall on the Talbot property that connects east of Locust Street; (4) review of an historical ditch that was filled after 2004 imagery; and (5) dredging or extending the Locust Road ditch to improve outfall and grading to the Georgia plantation ditch.
Lamore recommended an H&H study because it would produce a hydraulic model to determine appropriate culvert sizes, slopes and channel geometry rather than relying on assumptions. Jurors asked whether any immediate, low‑risk steps could be taken while the RFQ process proceeds; Lamore and staff recommended targeted clearing or grading where improvements would not shift flood impacts downstream, and noted ongoing coordination with landowners on potential outfall access.
A motion to go out for RFQ that included both the H&H study and the follow‑on design/specification phase was made by Juror Climbell and seconded by Juror Diaz; the motion passed.
The committee discussed procurement rules for GOMESA and other funds: jurors noted RFQ processes take time and that funding for engineering services is allocated in the parish budget; staff said they would prepare an RFQ scope, estimated schedule and an anticipated procurement timeline to present at the next meeting.
Ending Staff will draft the RFQ scope to cover the H&H study and the design/specification phase, circulate it to committee members for review, and return with a recommended timeline and proposed funding source.
