Price looks back, forward

It’s no secret, 2008 was a turbulent year for Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price and his city. But that’s yesterday, and today Price is looking forward to tomorrow.

Staying positive and focusing on the accomplishments of his city, Price rapped off a list of projects completed in 2008 and the upcoming plans he has for 2009, including the hiring of a new police chief.

Overall, from the city’s perspective, Price coined 2008 a good year.

“We got a lot accomplished,” including several high-dollar street improvement projects, Price said. Major drainage improvements were also completed in several neighborhoods around the city. The Trailhead makeover along with new exhibits was also completed last year.

The $20 million U.S. Highway 190 widening project is in the process of wrapping up with all five lanes open and only road striping and aesthetic items left to address.

But construction projects aside, it was a good year for policy making in Mandeville. In lieu of the audit released earlier last year that found numerous inefficiencies within city government, the City Council passed several policies to improve and enforce regulations with city-issued vehicle use, credit card use and travel reimbursements. The council also passed a code of conduct that all city employees and officials have to sign and abide by.

And that’s only the beginning of what Price expects to be another year of accomplishments.

“I’m really looking forward to getting the assimilation project finished in 2009,” Price said. The wetlands restoration project is the first of its kind in St. Tammany that will disburse treated sewerage across thousands of acres of dilapidated marshland. The 6,000 feet of piping materials arrived around Christmas at the same time the U.S. Corps of Engineers also gave their approval to proceed with the project. All that’s left is for the contractor to confirm his original bid price. Price said the restoration project will likely total $4 million upon its completion.

Price is also looking forward to moving ahead with the city’s master bicycle plan where sidewalks would be installed to connect different subdivisions to the Lakefront and then to the Trailhead.

Other projects include more street and drainage improvements, Bayou Castine dredging and coastline restoration projects, just to name a few.

The most significant change the city will see in 2009 is the hiring of a new police chief, now that longtime Chief Tom Buell has stepped down from his 30-year position after going under federal and state investigations for dodgy dealings with his charitable fund.

Price said he will likely appoint the next chief by year’s end.