St. Tammany News

As 2006 wraps up and the post-Katrina recovery efforts in St. Tammany Parish enter the final stretch, Parish President Kevin Davis looks forward to getting some much-awaited road projects underway in 2007.

Davis said he had hoped to have all of the issues between the parish and the Federal Emergency Management Agency resolved by year's end, but as 2006 comes to a close, Davis said there are still some issues on the table.

PARISH PRESIDENT KEVIN DAVIS

Crews are still clearing some drainage ways, while Davis is still trying to get FEMA to approve the clearing of others.

The right-of-entry program, which includes the voluntary demolition and removal of private property, also is still in progress.

Davis said he hopes to have that program wrapped up in the next couple of months.

Otherwise, Davis said life in St. Tammany is starting to return to normal and many projects that were put on hold after the storm should be completed in 2007.

While the parish is trying to make up for lost time with some projects, it is also dealing with a 50,000 to 60,000-person population boom that has further congested parish roadways.

Davis hopes some projects planned to begin in 2007 will relieve some of the stress on local roads.

To get some planned improvements on state roadways moving, he struck a deal with the state Department of Transportation and Development for the parish to complete the road improvements now on several state highways inside St. Tammany Parish with the understanding that the state will pay for its share of the cost at a later date.

To help fund the projects, the parish sold $50 million in bonds in 2006 and plans to sell another $50 million in the spring.

The increase in sales tax revenue the parish received following Hurricane Katrina, which was attributed to the population boom and the rebuilding effort, will be used to pay off the bonds.

Davis said the process has not moved as quickly as he had hoped because he still has to wait on the state to approve each project before any work can start. However, many of road and drainage improvement projects are either in the design or bidding phase and are slated to move forward in 2007.

He is currently waiting for the state to approve the widening project on Louisiana Highway 22. The beginning of this project will be coordinated not to conflict with similar widening projects on Louisiana highway 1077 and 1085.

Brewster Road will also be widened with work slated to begin in early 2007. The new interchange at the Tchefuncte River rest area is set to go out to bid within the next couple of months, and crews should soon start clearing land for the new interchange at Louisiana Highway 1088 and Interstate 12.

Plans are also complete, and Davis is awaiting state approval on improvements at other interchanges, including the interchange at U.S. Highway 11 and I-12.

Davis is also pushing to have alternate routes constructed.

The parish has obtained approximately 70 percent of the right-of-way for the first phase of the Covington bypass road.

The parish is also working to identify landowners to construct extensions from Fairway Drive to Louisiana Highway 59 and from Harrison Avenue to Louisiana Highway 36. Eventually, Davis said Fairway Drive would continue on to La. 1088, which will also be connected to Bush by a yet-to-be-constructed state highway.

In addition to its large road projects, the parish has used an increase in sales tax revenue to channel $11 million into neighborhood street improvements in 2007.

Davis also has quite a few drainage projects he hopes to finance with federal dollars, and he is requesting federal dollars to complete the first phases of the parish's projects to centralize sewer and water in the Mandeville and Slidell areas. The 10-year program should kick off in 2007.

He also hopes to begin extending the runway at the St. Tammany Airport near Abita Springs to 4,000 feet, with plans to extend it to 7,000 feet in the future, which would allow for the landing of corporate jets.

While he spent a good deal of time and effort working on recovery issues in 2006, Davis' year was marked by other major accomplishments.

The parish is very close to adopting a new zoning ordinance, and the three-year process of rezoning the entire parish is expected to begin in early 2007.

The much-awaited Kids Konnection, a handicap-accessible playground, was completed and opened in conjunction with the kick off for the annual Holiday of Lights celebration at the Tammany Trace.

A finance authority, which will issue $36 million in bonds early in 2007, was created. The authority will use the money to finance loans for low- to moderate-income families to purchase homes through participating lenders. Depending on the demand, the finance authority has the ability to sell more bonds later in the year once this money runs out.

The parish also purchased the Champagne Beverage building in Covington, and construction was completed on a new public works building on Koop Drive. When Champagne Beverage moves out of its building, the parish will move its vehicle maintenance department to that location.

Remodeling work on the 911 facilities and the Emergency Operations Center is nearing completion as 2006 draws to a close, and Davis hopes to begin work on remodeling the Towers Building in Slidell in 2007. With that building still out of commission, he said, it is reasonable to say the parish offices on the east side of the parish will likely continue operating out of FEMA trailers for at least another year.