St. Tammany Invests in Water and Sewage Upgrades

 St. Tammany Parish, with the help of the American Rescue Plan Act, will embark on water and sewage infrastructure projects. The projects, estimated at $48 million, will be done over the next several years, explains the Parish President Mike Cooper.

“This allocation renews my commitment to ensuring that every citizen of St. Tammany Parish has safe drinking water and reliable water and sewer infrastructure,” Cooper said.

The initial project estimated to cost $20 million, will upgrade water and sewage for around 6,400 St. Tammany residents located in the west part of the parish around Brewster Road. Seven new wastewater pumping stations, five miles of force main, new emergency generators and monitoring technology will be part of the project.

The east side of the parish which will include residents from Cross Gates and River Oaks and the surrounding areas will have $20.4 million in upgrades. The current water system has been having a hard time supporting the area’s fast population growth. This project will include two new elevated water towers, eight miles of water main, two generators and remote monitoring technology.

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

What FEMA Says About New Flood Insurance Rates for St. Tammany Residents

 A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official, Gilbert Giron, has addressed St. Tammany residents' concerns regarding the huge increase in their flood insurance premiums. The spike in rates can be contributed to the "overhaul currently taking effect" with a complex new system. The official explained that for years Louisiana residents have been paying artificially low rates for years while the state has had a large amount of claims paid out.

“We are addressing that not just in Louisiana,” said Giron. “We're addressing this in the entire country.”

This new system is called Risk Rating 2.0 and will take the place of FEMA's maps for setting rates. The system will look at each property taking into consideration the individual characteristics basing the premium on each property. The change will bring FEMA's national program up to date with how many in the private sector practices.

FEMA says that rate increases to existing policyholders will be phased and will be at a maximum of 18% per year. The increases will continue each year until the policyholder's home reaches their full risk rate. Insurers and real estate agents in the state have already seen some premiums quadruple or more compared to what they saw with the old system.

Parish leaders are afraid of what these new rates will do to the housing market in Louisiana. The state has the most residents participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. The state and parish leaders want to be able to set a limit to increases but so far they have not been able to set a limit.

“We have people who are leaving because they simply can't afford to live there anymore,” said Bonnie Peyroux, president of the homeowners association in the Moonraker Island subdivision.

Although FEMA officials have explained in detail the new system, residents still are taking the new rates hard. St. Tammany President Mike Cooper was thankful for FEMA's presentation to St. Tammany residents, but this still does not put their concerns at ease.

“Last year when we were aware of this, there were too many unanswered questions,” Cooper said after the meeting. “And Congress has tried to intervene. Our local officials have met, other parish presidents have met. And we have asked Congress to intervene with FEMA.”

Click Here For the Source of the Information.