[StBernard] St. Bernard and Lake Borgne Basin Levee District begin joint community outreach effort

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard and Lake Borgne Basin Levee District begin joint community
outreach effort
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on April 15, 2014 at 1:20 PM, updated April 15, 2014 at 1:21 PM

St. Bernard Parish government and the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District plan
to hold a public meeting Tuesday afternoon (April 15) to discuss
construction and upgrades to the parish's interior drainage system.

The meeting, led by St. Bernard hazard mitigation technical adviser Michael
Hunnicutt and Lake Borgne Basin Levee District Executive Director Nicholas
P. Cali, is set to begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the the St. Bernard government
complex's Pecan Grove room, 8201 W. Judge Perez Dr. in Chalmette.

The drainage system upgrades are expected to create more efficient and
enhanced storm and rain water movement and runoff in canals and drainage
ditches, improving drainage throughout the parish.

The information session on Tuesday is pitched as the launch of a community
outreach initiative between the levee district and St. Bernard entitled
"Flood Risk: Safety, Control, and Responsibility."

"The partnership leverages its collective resources to bring continual
public attention to and secure state and federal dollars for flood risk
management, community resiliency and education, and coastal protection and
restoration efforts," according to an announcement about the effort.

Following that session, the St. Bernard Parish Council is scheduled to
convene at 3 p.m. at the Council Chambers for its regular meeting. The
council is expected to ratify the salary of Michael Albert, the new parish
director of community development.

Albert, previously a planner with the Guilford County Planning Department in
Greensboro, N.C., has a master's degree in urban and regional planning from
the University of Florida. He is expected to make $60,000 a year

He is filling the spot vacated by Candice Watkins, who left several months
ago to become a disaster recovery specialist with the state Office of
Community Development.