Parish utilities director details $120M-plus utility work and timelines for wastewater and water consolidation
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Summary
Director Chris Tissue told the committee the parish has spent about $120 million on utilities infrastructure in recent years, much of it grant-funded; he outlined multiple wastewater consolidation and water-sector projects with phased timelines, grant and loan funding, and targeted construction windows through 2027.
Chris Tissue, identified in the meeting agenda as director of utilities, gave a wide-ranging update on the parish’s wastewater and water-sector consolidation program, saying about $120 million has been invested in recent years and that more than $100 million of that total came from grant funds including ARPA, HUD and water-sector grants.
Tissue said the Brewster Road water-sector projects will consolidate nine smaller wastewater treatment plants into the West St. Tammany regional wastewater treatment plant, add screening and a new lift station to reduce head pressure on pumps, and improve operating efficiency; he described that work as roughly 90% complete in key areas and tied to grant requirements and final invoices.
He provided project-level details and timelines: the Crossgates wastewater treatment plant is under construction with internal walls and foundations in place and an estimated completion around January 2027; several lift-station and force-main projects (Turtle Creek, Harwood Bluff, Faubourg, Dominion Highland Oaks) are in varying design stages (some at 95% design) with bid windows planned for late spring and anticipated nine-month to one-year construction contracts once awarded.
On the water side, Tissue said the Alton interconnect is out for construction and will provide a secondary water source, Safe Haven well sites were recently rehabilitated, and two water towers (Willowwood and Ozone) each provide roughly 400,000 gallons of storage; he said Willowwood is online and Ozone is about 95% complete, with several water components expected online by August subject to weather and electrical connections.
Tissue discussed the Goodby project — funded in part by a $7 million loan — and other consolidation efforts that aim to reduce the number of small plants, centralize treatment and lower long-term operating costs. He also described capital outlay and grant funding being used to procure generators at critical well sites and said procurement documents and electrical sizing are near completion.
Council members asked for copies of a recent ASCE article that mentions parish projects and pressed for clearer timelines and the number of individual properties to be moved from private systems to central systems; Tissue said the plants and systems were sized with some capacity for future ties but that specific property tie-in plans depend on funding and later phases.
