Action taken by the Walker City Council Sept. 9 will clear the way for improved water treatment at the well that serves the area south of the city in the vicinity of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital.
The council voted unanimously to authorize Mayor Jimmy Watson to sign a revolving loan application of approximately $4.2 million for improvements to Well Number 5.
The improvements will include a process that removes manganese from the water. Manganese, which occurs naturally in some water, is not a health threat but it does discolor the water resulting in what is commonly called “brown water.”
Well improvements will result in the city not having to expend funds on chemicals, especially chlorine, that the city now uses to treat the manganese, Watson said. In presenting the measure to the council, Chief of Operations Jamie Etheridge said the loan will be forgiven and that the city will not have to pay it back.
The loan will come through the Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund offered by the Louisiana Department of Health Office of Public Health.
Much of the meeting was dedicated to recognizing Junior Marine ROTC cadets from Walker High School who won two national contests in 2023. Marine Lt. Col. Jason Tubbs (retired), who heads the program and his fellow Marine, 1st Sgt. Billietae Johnson, introduced the members of the winning teams who were each given certificates of appreciating from the city and memorial coins struck in connection with the opening of Walker’s new City Hall.
Tubbs said Marine JROTC units establish a Raiders team that is the equivalent of the U.S. Army Rangers. Walker’s group of Raiders won a national competition held in Pennsylvania. He said of the Raiders, “With all due respect to our school’s athletic teams, I believe that the training our Raiders go through is the most physically demanding effort put forth by any high school student. We were unbelievably excited when it was announced that Walker High School’s team had won the national competition.”
The competition was divided into three phases: all male, all female and mixed. Tubbs said that the Walker High teams excelled in all three phases. “This was demanding competition. For example, our cadets had to run two and a half miles and that was just part of the test. We prevailed!,” Tubbs said.
The school’s JROTC Drill Team also won first place in competition late last year in Florida. In introducing the winning cadets in drill, Johnson said of the competition, “Military drill is not only physically demanding but it is a mental challenge. The drill teams have to memorize dozens and dozens of different commands and they must practice over and over again to master all the moves. Our team came through with a first-place performance.”
The drill team was competing against teams representing all of the military branches. Johnson said that thousands attended the competition which drew the best drill teams from throughout the nation.
Raiders Team members honored were Juan Ledezma, Chris Alexcel, Braiden Marvel, Zaylin Skinner, Owen Waldrop, Sra Wilkinson, Brooke McGee and Piper Wascom. Also recognized but not present were August Perez, Payden Landry and Steven McCallum.
Drill Team members honored were Deandra Delarca-Dilbert, Piper Wascom, Brooke McGee, Mariah Pool, Caroline Mesearve, Churchille Jusayan, Owen Nawakowski, Alisha O’Daniel, Tod Perez, Alyssa Vincent and Ashton Young.