St. Charles Parish details upgrades and funding for Cross Bayou Pump Station after acquisition from Pontchartrain Levee District

St. Charles Parish officials told the council on June 2 that the parish has taken operational control of the Cross Bayou Pump Station, acquired from the Pontchartrain Levee District, and has begun upgrades intended to improve reliability and remote monitoring.

Parish President Jewell said the parish installed new fuel tanks and added telemetry to allow remote monitoring of fuel levels at the station. The parish will prioritize projects at the facility to bring it to parish standards, which officials described as integrating more technology than the original Corps of Engineers construction.

During the meeting officials clarified the financial terms conveyed in the acquisition agreement. The parish will receive a total of $7,500,000 as part of the agreement, $3,500,000 of which has been received up front; the parish will receive $1,000,000 per year thereafter until the $7.5 million total is reached. Parish staff said the dollar figure was set after internal and third-party evaluations of the station and that they have prioritized projects for the funds already received.

Parish President Jewell and staff described the telemetry and new tanks as measures to reduce the need to man every pump station and to allow more efficient operations and preventive maintenance. No formal action was required at the June 2 meeting to accept the station; budget bookkeeping for the acquired funds was addressed as part of the consolidated budget amendment (File 2025-0153), which created a Cross Bayou pump station account to capture the initial $3.5 million and future payments.

Officials said additional capital work at the station will be scheduled and funded from the agreement proceeds and that projects will be prioritized based on the evaluations that were performed before the transfer.