SMP flood readiness improved by bagging machine purchase

The parish has taken delivery of a new sand bagging machine. Now, according to President Guy Cormier, residents who depend on sand bags to help keep water out of their homes or businesses will be able to get flood preparations started much sooner.
The new bagging machine was on display at the July 18 parish council meeting. It is the same type of equipment that proved very useful when St. Landry Parish loaned theirs to St. Martin Parish during the June high-water event in Lower SMP. The machines can fill up to 5,000 bags in an eight-hour day.
Councilman Byron Fuselier, who represents the lower parish, said the new machine will make a big difference. “It’s hard to believe people used to have to fill their own bags by hand.” During recent flood events, even with teams of hard-working volunteers, it was difficult to fill enough bags. Now there won’t be any shovels involved in the process. Sand is dumped into the machine’s hopper with a front-end loader, a bag is placed on a conveyor belt under a chute and filled. The machine then seals the bag with a metal clamp. With four operators, filled and clamped bags will fly off of the machine’s conveyor belt at a rate of thirty per minute.
Cormier said the parish will use a training session in operation of the machine to pre-fill about 3,000 bags which will be kept in readiness for the next time they are needed.
In other business, Cormier said that the parish had received 10 bids for the construction of a new parking lot near the courthouse. The lowest bid of $93,475 is 25 percent under the budget estimate. The contractor will be Slade Landry Construction, LLC.
The lot will provide reserved parking for courthouse employees. Work should begin in late August or early September. The parish purchased the lot with an old home on it in 2015 and removed the home to make way for the needed parking lot.
Also, a resolution was passed allowing the receipt of serviceable used culverts to be donated by Iberia Parish. Cormier said the culverts will save a considerable amount of money on up-sizing existing culverts as part of extensive drainage upgrades now underway.
Clearing of the parish ditch along Henderson Main Hwy./La352 is in progress as the box culvert project that is responsible for the road closure continues. Cormier said the road closure will provide a good opportunity to complete the work without traffic interference.
Finally, Acadiana Planning Commission CEO Monique Boulet addressed the council to speak about an upcoming Vermilion watershed Summit to be held at the Cajundome on Aug. 3.
Boulet credited Cormier for organizing cooperative efforts with a watershed-focused perspective rather than one based on political boundaries. She said her priority is to “bring more science into the decision-making process.”