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St. Charles Parish council creates Department of Engineering and confirms directors for public works and engineering
Summary
The council voted to create a centralized Department of Engineering, moving engineering functions from Public Works, and confirmed Brandon Bernard as director of Public Works and Miles Bingham as director of Engineering. Supporters said the change will improve consistency and project delivery; some members urged minimum qualification language for future directors.
The St. Charles Parish Council approved an ordinance on June 1 to create a standalone Department of Engineering that centralizes design, bidding, construction management and technical review for parish projects.
Supporters, including Parish President Mr. Juul, said the move is organizational and meant to bring consistency to drainage, parks and capital projects while preserving institutional knowledge and reducing unnecessary consultant costs. The ordinance requires the engineering director to be a duly licensed professional engineer; the administration intends to nominate existing public works leadership to staff the new department.
The council then held confirmation hearings. Brandon Bernard was confirmed as director of the Department of Public Works after residents and council members praised his field experience and responsiveness to resident requests. Miles Bingham, a licensed professional engineer who described decades of engineering work and a commitment to growing in-house capacity, was confirmed as director of the new Department of Engineering.
Several speakers, including resident Milton Alam, urged caution about recruiting and retaining qualified engineers and recommended adding minimum qualifications for the director position. Council members responded that the parish charter and confirmation process provide checks and balances: the parish president nominates directors and the council must approve appointments. The administration said legal edits to parish code and budget-line changes will be brought forward in coming weeks and that the engineering director position will be included in the 2027 budget as its own line item.
The ordinance creating the department passed after debate and passed the council vote with one named dissent noted in the record. The confirmations for Bernard and Bingham passed unanimously. The council and administration said they will continue refining job qualifications and reporting structures as the department is stood up.
