By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – A long-standing dispute between the city of Slidell and St. Tammany Parish has led to a halt in regular cleaning for the cities two main drainage arteries—the W-14 and W-15 canals that run from the north to the south of the city.
And leading to the probability that the canals will not be cleaned anytime soon, a Slidell resident is suing the city and parish for damages to his home on Michigan Avenue that he said were caused by work four years ago that were related to building new parking space at Slidell Memorial Hospital.
The city and parish have been embroiled in a dispute for over 20 years about who is actually responsible for cleaning out the canals, the two main drainage arteries that every ditch, gulley or small waterway flow into throughout the majority of Slidell.
The parish originally owned the land and used the need to clean the canals to pass a drainage district tax in the 1950s, but Slidell began cleaning them in the 80s and 90s when the parish was short on cash.
The canals were cleaned on a regular basis all the way through the mayoral terms of Sam Caruso, done in good faith to make sure the important drainage canals were functioning at their best for heavy rains or hurricanes.
Caruso insisted the canals continue to be cleaned during his tenure and that continued through the eight years when Ben Morris became mayor. However, when Freddy Drennan took over as the new mayor in 2010 his concern for the liability to Slidell took precedence and he ordered public works to halt the cleaning, other than on a complaint basis.
Those “complaints” eventually allowed more-and-more work to be done under the orders of Public Works Director Mike Noto until he left the job in February, 2015. Since then, the regular cleaning of the entire canals has come to a halt.
The city performed a major improvement job on the W-14 canal around 2012 in the middle of the city near Gause Boulevard and Slidell Memorial Hospital, which is the basis of a lawsuit filed in May, 2016 by Jason Shaffette, who resides at 1064 Michigan Ave.
The lawsuit, filed by Notary Public M. Ali Shahlaei, alleges major damage to Shaffette’s house from erosion that began occurring behind his residence in the canal. Shahlaei said Shaffette initially noticed that when it rained the water level was higher than it previously had been, then as recently as four months ago the homeowner noticed a “three to four foot piece of land drop into the canal.”
That was followed by a shift in the structure of the house, walls cracking, doors not opening properly anymore, a 24 inch foot gap in his fence and more problems related to the erosion and land shift, Shahlaei said.
Shahlaei said the city and parish officials, who both continue to deny the responsibility for the problems belongs to them, both said they are actually happy for the lawsuit that may finally settle who is responsible for the canals.
In the meantime, Shahlaei said a neighbor of Shaffette is beginning to have problems in his home as well since it backs up to the canal.
“We contacted parish and city officials and both said it is not their responsibility,” Shahlaei said. “And they are glad to see the lawsuit that may finally settle who is responsible.
“But in the meantime, the real problem here is that this could affect houses all the way down the canal. What might look like a $200,000 problem for my client’s house could turn into a $20 million problem if something isn’t done,” he said.
Slidell Chief of Staff Tim Mathison, speaking on behalf of the city, as well as Parish President Pat Brister, both acknowledged they are concerned about figuring out who is responsible since the canals are no longer being cleaned out, but both declined to comment due to the pending litigation.
Shahlaei said Shaffette contacted city officials several years ago when he began to see W-14 water levels higher after the work near the parking area near SMH. He has correspondence that includes many e-mails where city officials acknowledge they did the work and they know there is now a new problem.
“The real argument for us is that the city knew the erosion was happening but didn’t do anything about it,” Shahlaei said. “We need an answer about this and some relief before my client’s $200,000 house falls in the canal.”
Meanwhile, with a new hurricane season just starting on June 1, Slidell city residents have to keep their fingers crossed there is no huge storm or torrential downpours that lead to the W-14 or W-15 overflowing their banks since they hasn’t been cleaned out in nearly a year-and-a-half.