By Bonnie Culverhouse

A sewer lift station off Shreveport Road is in need of replacement, and City of Minden is acquiring some state funding to help.

The lift station services Robertson Trailer Park and all the industrial area on Erwin Thompson Drive.

“Not only is it for the residents at Robertson, but it’s for the biggest industry in the whole parish,” Mayor Nick Cox said, referring to Fibrebond Corporation, “and all the other businesses around it.”

At last week’s council meeting, in two separate agenda moves, Cox was authorized to execute agreements among the city, the Louisiana Department of the Treasury and the State of Louisiana. Both items were for Act 461 of the 2025 Regular Legislative Session – one to appropriate $50,000 in supplemental funds, which was allocated by state Sen. Adam Bass and Rep. Wayne McMahen. The other item is for $200,000.

The City of Minden is seeking approximately $1,149,000 in federal, state, and local funding to replace it.

The Robertson Lift Station was originally constructed in the 1960s as a duplex submersible wet pit/dry pit then was modified in the 1980s with duplex self-priming pumps mounted above the wet pit. Unfortunately, this modification has caused numerous issues over the years and is also no longer capable of handling peak flows.

The proposed project – estimated to take approximately 18 months – is on donated property. It will meet the average and peak design flow rates of the service area. During the construction of the new facility, the existing lift station will remain in service to minimize the need for bypass pumping, and will be demolished once the proposed lift station is complete.