By Bonnie Culverhouse
A little thing like a tornado can’t slow city progress, and Minden Mayor Terry Gardner has a list of projects already funded and some for which he is seeking the funds.
“When you go through something like a tornado, it makes you realize what you need,” Gardner said. “Like if you lose electricity to your water wells, then you don’t have any water.”
Streets are high on the priority list, and total in the budget for road overlay this year is $750,000, Gardner said.
“Longleaf and Woodard have been engineered,” he continued. “It will be on the agenda, and the money is in the budget. Our street department has gone out there and corrected the drainage problem. The road is going to have to be rebuilt from scratch because the foundation is so bad.”
If the project receives council approval, it will go out for bid.
Country Club Circle – another “bad” road – is in the upcoming budget, Gardner said, “along with Sheppard Street and Pine Street.”
The city is hoping for American Relief funding from the Biden Administration to help with bridges and roadways.
“If we have our engineering done, we will be ready,” he said. “The money’s going to go quickly, and if we’re ready, it improves our chances of getting it.”
In addition, Gardner said the city is putting in requests for three LBDG Grants.
“If you spend the money to get your projects engineered, it gives you additional points,” he said.
While the funding isn’t guaranteed, State Rep. Wayne McMahen contacted the city and asked the mayor for a list of projects for wastewater and water distribution, as well as rehabilitation.
“This is not American Relief, but a different funding that the state is going to get,” Gardner explained. “I gave him $2M worth of projects.”
Some of those projects include the following:
- 250KW generator for the Clerk Street Water Plant – $82,203
- Water well replacement – $1M
- Back-up power generator for the Victory Park Water pump station – $69,150
- Downtown water tower refurbishment – $309,000
- Water main replacement from Water Plant to under railroad tracks at Depot Hill – $400,000
- Water distribution improvements at Cheney, Myers, W. Union/Green and South streets totaling $350,000
- Water distribution miscellaneous repairs/replacements – $200,000
- Fire hydrant inspection and flow testing – $150,000
- Inflow and infiltration study of the Wastewater System – $300,000
- Return sludge screw pump replacements – $222,000
- Degritter pump replacement at Wastewater Treatment Plant – $60,000
- Replace Robertson Wastewater Lift Station – $450,000
