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Parish approves $14.43 million pump‑station contract, outlines $110 million CPRA projects and local drainage wins
Summary
St. Charles Parish Council approved a $14,434,000 contract for Vernon's (Vermont's) pump station No. 1 and council and administration described $110 million in CPRA annual‑plan projects, a Munce pump‑station agenda item, and a parcel purchase saving the parish about $1.6 million on a drainage project.
The St. Charles Parish Council voted unanimously to approve a $14,434,000 construction contract with Sea Level Construction Inc. for Pump Station No. 1 on the East Bank‑West Shore hurricane protection levee system, a project public works officials described as a major upgrade to local drainage capacity.
Parish officials framed the pump station as a long‑planned element of the parish drainage master plan. Public Works Director and project staff told the council the new station will supply more than three‑and‑a‑half times the pumping capacity of the existing Prescott station and will protect more than 800 homes and businesses in the service area. Parish President Jewell and Public Works personnel said the project is under the engineering estimate and could improve the parish’s ability to fund and complete a second pump station and related upgrades.
"This is a great improvement for public works. We need a pump station in this area. It will greatly improve the pumping capacity in this area and do a lot to benefit this neighborhood," Public Works representatives said during the presentation. Parish President Jewell noted CPRA (Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority) funding in the parish's annual plan: "we currently have $110,000,000 of projects in the CPRA annual plan," he said, while emphasizing some funds are budgeted across multiple fiscal years.
Council discussion acknowledged the multi‑agency process — including permitting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — and praised staff persistence. Councilman Fisher called the approval "a big win" and thanked staff and contractors for long efforts to secure servitudes and funding.
Related drainage and infrastructure approvals on the agenda included: - Authorization for the parish president to execute an act of sale to acquire a 1.06‑acre parcel (Lot 1A) along Hahn Street for $115,525 to advance the King and Hahn Street drainage project; staff said the purchase saves about $1.6 million in project costs by avoiding additional box culvert work. That ordinance (file number 2025‑0100) passed unanimously. - A contract award for the River Oaks lift station replacement (file number 2025‑0105), $421,091.99, also passed unanimously.
Officials said construction sequencing will depend in part on river and spillway conditions. Parish staff said a planned bypass channel and laydown area require dry conditions and coordination with the Corps; if the Corps opens the spillway, certain digging activities must pause. Parish staff indicated they are coordinating weekly with Corps staff and that, if the spillway remains closed, they expect to begin canal excavation soon.
The council also heard that the parish has more than $30,000,000 of projects either out to bid or on the meeting agenda, including work on pump stations, shoreline protection and boat launches, and that some major CPRA projects cited by the parish exceed the CPRA line‑item amounts and will require additional funding sources.
File 2025‑0107 (Sea Level contract) passed unanimously; council members asked that staff maintain close Corps coordination and return with schedule updates when the contractor mobilizes.
