Police Jury approves Keep Louisiana Beautiful grant submittal for litter-capture pilot after flow-impact questions

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury voted March 26 to authorize staff to submit a grant application to Keep Louisiana Beautiful to purchase litter-removal devices designed to capture debris in waterways and stormwater systems.

During discussion, Police Jury member Mr. Bourley asked whether the devices "would be raised up like during floods and stuff when we don't want to restrict the flow at all," expressing concern about potential flow restriction during high-water events. A staff member responded that the devices are "essentially just like an oil boom that would go across there" and described them as "low low low impact" while adding that they "will catch trash" and that the deployment was intended as a test pilot. When asked about the length of the device skirt, the staff member said they did not have that measurement at the meeting and would provide the details later.

Staff framed the purchase as a pilot demonstration to test debris-capture effectiveness with limited hydraulic impact; the transcript records the staff explanation but does not include vendor specifications, installation plans or dollar amounts. The Jury approved the motion to submit the grant application (motion by Mr. Bartie, second by Mr. Bowers) and the motion carried.

Next steps recorded in the meeting transcript: staff will follow up with the Jury with technical details about the devices' design (for example, skirt length and installation method) before implementation decisions are finalized.