Updated list of drainage projects totaling $28.5 million to be funded by tax

SLIDELL SENTRY-NEWS

SLIDELL -- A more comprehensive list of drainage projects expected to be funded by the city's proposed sales tax was released with a few new additions.

Four new projects that have been added to the list since last week plus a new cost estimate that was previously unknown for one of the projects already on the list brings the total cost to over $28.5 million.

If the sales tax is approved by voters, it is expected to generate over $2 million per year. There is no ending date set for the tax.

City Barn pump station improvements are still at the top of the priority list at a cost of $3.1 million.

Number two on the list of priorities is installing new automated trash screens and rakes at the Schneider Canal pump station at a cost of $1.6 million. Raising the Schneider Canal West Levee to 9 feet is a little further down on the list, costing $655,000.

One of the new additions to the list is also the most expensive project on the list. About $5.6 million is needed to install culverts in the Driftwood ditch from the W-14 Canal to Christian Lane.

The rest of the new projects are not quite as costly and include installing a one-way flow structure at the W-15 Canal at a cost of $975,000 and cutting a small ditch on park property behind homes on the east side of Stratford Drive at a cost of $33,000. Bulkheads at Northham Drive will cost $110,000.

The cost of installing culverts in the Audubon Tanglewood ditch has finally been given a cost estimate of $996,000.

The cost of installing a storage pond in the northwest corner of Camp Villere, however, is still unknown.

Other improvements include installing new drain pipes and culverts in various areas.