By Jerry Bell, DeQuincy Emergency Manager
The recent rainfall was one of the major topics of discussion at the Monday morning meeting with Mayor Riley Smith and his department heads. Mayor Smith asked the Acting Public Works Director, Hank Frazier, to give a report on the effects of the recent amount of rainfall that deluged DeQuincy last week.
Frazier reported that there were several problems because of the amount of rain but that they have taken care of most of them and are continuing to work on a couple more. Frazier reported that he had dug several ditches to alleviate one of the problems where a citizen had gotten some water in their home. He is working on digging more ditches out.
On another problem concerning a business, they had discovered the cause of the water back up and had already taken measures to alleviate that problem.
Mayor Smith pointed out that thousands of our citizens had no problems with the rainfall and that so far DeQuincy has probably the best drainage in the Parish in that we are at a higher elevation, being one of the reasons.
The Mayor pointed out that when the city crews know of a problem, they respond as quickly as possible, sometimes the weather being a factor.
Mayor Smith wants the public to know that all concerns are taken seriously and will be attended to. Many times, when the city crews go to a residence, they quickly discover the problem, and it is a homeowner problem. They still try to help in any way they can.
The Mayor has implemented a work order program. If a citizen has a sewer, gas, trash, or drainage problem, here is what you should do. Call City Hall at 337-786-8241, ask to speak with Anna. She will take your information down and make a work order. That work order will then be passed to the appropriate personnel to check into it. Make sure that you leave your phone number and a point of contact for the city crews. Those work orders will be prioritized by the seriousness of the concerns.
For example, the leaking gas work orders will certainly be a priority as opposed to a water issue. Safety is always paramount.
Mayor Smith also stated that sometimes, the situation is overwhelming on any system, and it must be worked through. Eventually all concerns will be taken care of if possible. Sometimes there must be coordination with the drainage board and other entities such as the water company. Mayor Smith stated that his job is to take care of all our citizens no matter what their problems are, but that often it takes time, more resources and money.
Presently the city crews are working as hard as they can with their equipment and manpower. Our city crews excelled greatly during the last two hurricanes and the ice storm.
