VIDALIA — The Concordia Parish Police Jury approved payment on an engineering design that would help alleviate some flooding woes in the northwestern area of the parish.

The plan is to put a gated box drainage culvert where the Bushy Bayou used to discharge into the Tensas River, said Parish Engineer Doug Wimberly.

“It would reestablish that drainage pathway that was there before we built the levee,” he said. “Basically, when we get a heavy rain inside the parish, and the Tensas River is low, which is 95 percent of the time, the Tensas would take water out of the parish.”

Wimberly said a 60-percent complete plan has to be turned in by the end of June and a final plan is due by the end of September.

The police jury unanimously approved paying engineering firm Jordan Kaiser & Sessions of Natchez $40,600.

Two residents of Concordia Park also shared concern with sandblasting noise and potential environmental hazards coming from Southern Designs and Gifts, an interior design business located at 4894 U.S. 84.

Resident Jack Williams said the noise could go as late as 2 a.m., and he has to get up at 6 a.m. to get to work. While the noise is a concern, Williams said the business also doesn’t use any cover and the sand gets everywhere.

“The sand ends up blowing in my AC unit and gets all over the vehicles and in the house,” he said. “I look in the ditch in my backyard and it is slap orange now.

“They aren’t being considerate of the neighborhood. I’ve called the police, but they can’t do nothing, they say.”

Juror Willie Dunbar proposed sending a letter to the Department of Environmental Quality, the Health Department and the Environmental Protection Agency to come test the ditches to see if the sandblasting is causing any problems.

“We have a lot of kids playing in those ditches,” Dunbar said.

4Occupational licenses were approved for Slade’s Stump Service, a new stump grinding business on 119 Simonton Lane, Vidalia; and Morace Crawfish, a new retail boiled crawfish sales business at 22218 Louisiana 129, Acme.

4Eddie Nugent and Richard Crews were reappointed to the Concordia Parish Sewerage District No. 1 board 7-1 with Dunbar voting nay and Joseph Parker Sr. absent.

Dunbar said he voted nay because he was concerned the board members were trying to push out Rodney Matthews, who had been on the board since 2004.

“(Matthews) is the best one on that board,” he said. “He is the one who knows what is going on and how to address it.”