The Tallullah City Council during its regular meeting Thursday received an update on a number of planned and ongoing projects across several departments.
Engineer Ken McManus told council members the current slate of ongoing projects are in various stages of completion, while a number of other planned upgrades are currently in the funding stages.
At the top of that list, McManus said, is the refurbishing of Tallulah's water plant, which was unanimously okayed by the council almost exactly a year ago. McManus said the $7.8 million price tag for work on the water treatment plant is "fully funded," with plans and specifications for construction currently in the hands of the U.S. Agricultural Department and the Louisiana Department of Health for review.
"They will respond back with comments and with changes," McManus said. "After that, we'll have 30 days to bid it out and probably another 45 days to enter into a contract."
The timeline on receiving comments and recommendations for changes from the two departments, McManus said, is fluid, but expected sooner rather than later.
McManus said work is currently underway by Watson Well Drilling on a new water well in Tallulah carrying a price tag of $510,000 as part of the city's capital outlay plan; $950,320 in Louisiana Community Block Grant (LCBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been applied for by the city for planned street improvements, including work to the entirety of Florida Street and portions of both University and Tank streets; another $172, 616 has been applied for through Delta Regional Authority for improvements to Dabney Street; $118, 600 is planned for sidewalk improvements; $100,000 for re-chlorination of water facilities; $1,347,320 applied for from the State of Louisiana Water Sector Commission for water distribution improvements; and a combination of $313,743 from Delta Regional Authority and $263,600 in capital outlay funds is earmarked for wastewater treatment improvements currently underway by Skylan Construction, with de-chlorination completed and manufacturing of headworks anticipated shortly.
McManus said grant money for improvements to Florida, University and Tank streets is winding its way through the application process, adding the city of Tallulah has cleared the first hurdle and a full application for funding from the city has been invited by the State of Louisiana.
McManus said more than $9 million in funding has already been secured, with another approximately $5 million currently in various stages of approval and praised City of Tallulah administration for being proactive in the process of seeking out monies for city improvements.
"It's a testament to the vision of this administration, to go after all of these different sources of funding," he said.
Tallulah Mayor Charles Finlayson said he and the council have explored myriad of options for funding and are optimistic about the projects' futures.
"If you don't ask, you don't get it," Finlayson said of the funding. "We have a lot of things going, from water to sewer to sidewalks and hopefully it will all come to fruition."
A total of $14,184,399 in funding is planned for projects across the board, while $9,052,343 has been secured.
