Parish Council will look at grants for Bayou Vista, Amelia walking trails

Walking trails for Bayou Vista and Amelia are on the agenda for Wednesday’s St. Mary Parish Council meeting.
The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Parish Courthouse in Franklin.
The agenda includes separate proposed resolutions authorizing grant applications for walking-bike trails in Amelia and Bayou Vista.
The grants would come from the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreation Trails Program.
The Bayou Vista walking trail became an issue at the June 9 meeting when Councilmember Scott Ramsey of Bayou Vista tried to have a member removed from the St. Mary Parish Recreation District No. 3 board.
Ramsey said the member seemed to be holding up plans for the community’s walking trail by, among other things, not taking up a land donation for the new recreational feature.
St. Mary Parish needs activities for its residents, Ramsey argued.
Board members said they want to see detailed plans for the trail before committing district resources.
Ramsey eventually withdrew his attempt to remove the board member.
Also Wednesday, the council is scheduled to take up a change order in the Gravity District No. 2 and 2A improvements project.
The agenda doesn’t specify the nature of the change order.
On June 8, Parish President David Hanagriff sought and obtained a letter of credit from the St. Mary Levee District to beef up plans for a new pump station.
The district operates Morgan City pump stations that pull water from within the levee system when heavy rain is falling.
There are plans to move an existing pump station with four pumps from near Ochsner St. Mary to near Lake Palourde at Lake End Park.
Plans call for a fifth pump to be added to the new station, but the anticipated state funding for the additional pump aren’t yet available from the state.
The loan from the Levee District will allow the Gravity Drainage District to add the fifth pump sooner and at the current price.
The council will also be looking for a replacement for Tammie Moore on the Recreation District No. 5 board, which serves the Four Corners-Sorrell-Glencoe area. Moore submitted her resignation recently.
“I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve on the board of this fine organization for the past few years, and I offer my best wishes for its continued success,” Moore wrote.