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Parish approves DEQ loan resolution and engineering, road contracts for multiple infrastructure projects
Summary
St. Charles Parish Council gave preliminary approval to a DEQ revolving loan for Hornville wastewater capacity and approved engineering and road maintenance contracts for culvert and street work, moving several grant-funded infrastructure projects forward.
St. Charles Parish Council on April 7 gave preliminary approval to a DEQ revolving-loan financing step for wastewater improvements and unanimously approved two ordinances to hire engineers and a contractor for drainage and road maintenance projects.
The council voted unanimously to approve a resolution to seek issuance of not-to-exceed $10 million in taxable limited-tax bonds through the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) revolving loan fund to finance improvements at the Hornville Wastewater Treatment Facility, parish officials said. Bond counsel Brennan Black of Foley & Lardner told the council the loan would be for 20 years at a 0.95% interest rate and that the parish expects to return in June and July with a bond ordinance and to close on the financing in August.
The council also approved an ordinance to authorize a professional services agreement with Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Inc., for engineering of new culvert crossings under the CN (Canadian National) Railroad (Project P250301) at a professional-fee not-to-exceed amount of $692,052. Public works staff said the design work is paid with a Louisiana Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) award and is intended to improve flow under the railroad embankment.
Separately, the council unanimously authorized a construction contract with Construction Company LLC for the 2024–25 road maintenance program (Project P220501) in the amount of $2,723,256. Public works officials said the program will address streets classified as poor or very poor and that a few targeted streets will remain for separate projects.
Parish president Matthew Jewell and staff emphasized the need to coordinate with the railroad on culvert work. Jewell told the council the railroad "hold[s] the keys to the kingdom" for projects that cross its right-of-way and said the parish has worked to scope contracts more fully after lessons learned from earlier projects.
What happens next: parish staff will complete required state bond-commission applications for the DEQ loan and return with a bond ordinance, engineers will continue design work ahead of solicitation for construction bids, and contractors will be scheduled to begin paving under the road-maintenance program once procurement is complete.
Votes and formal actions on these items were recorded as part of the meeting record.
