WASHINGTON - St. Tammany President Kevin Davis called his meetings in Washington DC Thursday, highly productive.
Davis is pitching hurricane protection plans, including a plan to fortify and upgrade the W-14 Canal, which his the primary drainage channel for eastern St. Tammany.
Davis wants to build a new pumping station at the Kingspoint subdivision. He and his Chief Administrative Officer Bill Oiler met with Army Corps leaders and several Congressmen Thursday.
"We're very close to getting it done," Davis told Eyewitness News. "We met with the Corps early this morning. They're acceptable to what we're proposing to them. So now, we're meeting with Congressional members to get the support on that side."
The W-14 project combined with a companion project to link all the levees around Slidell into one continuous system would cost around $350 million.
That's roughly one-fourth what the federal government spent to repair the area after Katrina, which is why Davis called the W-14 project crucial. "Possibly by the first of the year, they can start the design and the engineering of this pumping station, and the first part of this hurricane protection plan," Davis added.
The W-14 project is authorized, but for now, not funded.
Davis is in Washington with representatives from Orleans and Jefferson Parishes asking for SELA funding to pay for that project and others.
