VIDALIA — Representatives from federal agencies calmed the worries of the Concordia Parish Police Jury Monday night, saying there is no problem with accrediting the parish’s levees.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Corps of Engineers were on hand at the jury’s request.

A letter from FEMA was sent to the Fifth Louisiana Levee District in July stating that since FEMA had not received required data and documentation for levee certification it would “initiate a map revision to de-accredit the levee systems.”

The letter came after the Fifth Louisiana Levee District failed to supply data and documentation demonstrating that the levee systems meet the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program within a 24-month timeframe.

FEMA engineer Shona Gibson clarified the purpose of the letter saying that any parish with a non-accredited levee was simply put on hold while FEMA worked through final details of its revised analysis and mapping procedures for non-accredited levees.

“Until we have final guidance from headquarters, we’re not doing anything,” Gibson said. “It’s not budgeted in the 2012 budget, and we’re not putting it in the 2013 budget because we don’t want to throw money at that before we get the final guidance from headquarters.”

Police Jury President Melvin Ferrington requested a letter be sent to the Fifth Louisiana Levee District and the police jury clarifying that the original letter did not mean the parish’s levee systems would be de-accredited, but that the entire process has been put on hold.

Gibson agreed to send the letter and also said that if the levees continued on the right track to get accredited, than everything would resume once they had been accredited.

“Our analysis will start back up when the new levee guidance is developed and approved or when your levees get accredited,” Gibson said. “If the levee gets accredited, we’ll just move on with the mapping process.”

Juror Randy Temple said he and other jury members read the letter to say that a levee de-accreditation would mean no one in the parish would qualify for flood insurance.

FEMA program specialist Jaye Hendrick said that the hold doesn’t affect insurance whatsoever.

“Insurance exists today the way it has the past few years. Nothing has changed,” Hendrick said. “The new maps have to be approved before anything happens, insurance wise.”

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers senior project manager Kent Parrish stepped in to clarify concerns regarding which levees were non-accredited.

Parrish said that the only levee that is non-accredited is the Red River backwater levee and reassured the jury and public that it did not apply to the main levee system that battles the Mississippi River.

“We’ll try and take care of some of those issues, but money is extremely tight right now,” Parrish said. “They’ll send money to work on the big river and big levees, but the interior stuff, they’re anti that stuff. They want to focus on the big stuff.”

The 93.2 miles of earthen levees along the Red River backwater levee system faces structural, geotechnical, mechanical and electrical issues.

“We’re committed to try and come up with enough money to fix what we know about now, prior to FEMA getting back down here, but it’s all about funding,” Parrish said. “When you’re talking to your congressmen you need to tell them, “Hey the Corps wants to fix this, but they need some money.’”

In other news from the police jury meeting:

4 The jury awarded a contract for an Airport Road project to Camo Construction for $444,845.52.

Ferrington said the project involves reconstructing a portion of the road and correcting foundation issues.

Engineer Hayden Kaiser said he was going to suggest Camo Construction wait until May to begin the project, citing weather and school traffic reasons.