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Parish outlines tree‑removal and lateral‑opening work to improve drainage
Summary
Officials said crews will manually clear 8–10 fallen trees along a wooded bank between Vitash and Weir with landowner approval, and pursue intergovernmental agreements to open plugs and swales into a lateral that drains to the Vermilion; Corps of Engineers items and servitudes remain in progress.
During the meeting Speaker 1 described two maintenance efforts aimed at improving local drainage: clearing fallen trees along a wooded bank and opening plugged swales into a drainage lateral that ultimately feeds the Vermilion.
"Between Vitash and Weir, there's about 8 to 10 trees that have fallen in," Speaker 1 said, and he described meeting with the final landowner that morning. He said crews plan to "try and do it off by hand" because the area is wooded, to winch cut trees out of the canal and store them on the bank to decompose rather than using heavy equipment.
Separately, Speaker 11 explained an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) drawn up by LCG to open plugs and swales feeding a lateral north of Boxhall Road that drains into the Vermilion. "The intergovernmental agreement has been drawn up by LCG. It was sent to Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee Durio took a look at it — one small change," Speaker 11 said, indicating the parties are close to agreement and expect to proceed once the minor change is resolved.
Speakers discussed jurisdictional nuance: "Everything to the right side of Chez Broussard going towards Box Call, that's Lafayette Parish," Speaker 11 said, and that water does not respect parish lines. The parish also noted it is pursuing servitudes and title work where necessary; Speaker 8 said utility servitudes will be required when underground piping is needed and that title work has been outsourced to locate long‑deceased property owners for compensation where necessary.
No formal vote or budget appropriation for these maintenance items was recorded in the transcript. Staff said the IGA and servitude work are moving forward and will be followed by permitting and bid steps where required.
