Retired State Highway Engineer to Represent East Feliciana on ARBC

Retired state highway engineer appointed to represent East Feliciana on Amite River Basin commission | East Feliciana | theadvocate.com

East Feliciana Parish Police Jury President Louis Kent announced Aug. 18 that he had appointed a retired state highway engineer to serve as his representative on the state panel trying to mitigate flooding on the Amite River.

Roy M. Schmidt was a district engineer for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. He told the jury he has 40 years experience in engineering and holds licenses in civil and environmental engineering.

As jury president, Kent can be a voting member of the Amite River Basin Drainage and Water Conservation Commission, but he can also appoint someone to represent him.

Ed Parker has been Kent’s designee on the commission, but Parker fell out of favor with most jurors and a segment of the public after the commission released a plan earlier this year that called for constructing two reservoirs on the river in East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes.

The jury voted to replace Parker in July, and the Jackson resident resigned at an ARBC meeting Aug. 12.

The Police Jury adopted a resolution in July opposing the reservoir plans, which would require obtaining large areas of private property to hold flood waters back from the river’s lower reaches. The projects would also require massive appropriations of federal funds to construct.

The commission has backed away from the reservoir plans and will concentrate first on restoring curves in the river and keeping sediment out of the stream.

“I think my role is to represent East Feliciana Parish; basically to work with you and this jury,” Schmidt said after Kent’s announcement. He added he will not work “in a vacuum” and will keep jurors apprised of commission actions.

“I feel I can represent this parish, and I’m willing to do so,” he said.