VIDALIA — After a four-year struggle, residents of Concordia Park are set to get some flooding relief soon.

The Concordia Parish Police Jury approved a $320,701.10 sewer renovation contract to Womack & Sons Construction Group of Harrisonburg.

The lift pumps in the area become overwhelmed during heavy rains because many of the sewage lines on private property are taking on water, said Debi T. Duncan with the Concordia Parish Sewer District No. 1.

The vote passed 6-1 with Juror Willie Dunbar, who lives in the area, voting nay. Dunbar agrees something should be done, but he has concerns this proposal won’t meet the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality standards.

Renovations include upgrading four lift stations and increasing the circumference of the pipes, but the plan also calls for using a lagoon in the area as a holding pond before pumping the water to the sewage treatment plant, Duncan said. The lagoon was once used for that purpose, she said.

Engineer Doug Wimberly said the plan had been approved by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and said the DHH supersedes the DEQ.

However, Dunbar said he’s been talking to the DEQ, and he believes a sewage retention pond is bad for the area.

“We have small children playing in the area,” he said. “When they get sick, who are they going to sue? The whole police jury.”

Duncan said this was good news for the area.

“When the police jury approved it, I wanted to give them a standing ovation,” she said. “This has been a long time in the works.”

In other news:

4The police jury approved a $21,096 contract to Roadside Inc. of Cut Off to spray portions of the parish for vegetation control.

4The jury also approved a $25,000 payment to Jordan Kaiser and Sessions of Natchez for geotechnical engineering services for the parish’s drainage project.