While Thursday’s meeting of the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission (NHDDC) was a light one, organization representatives gave plenty of updates on projects.

Edd Lee said workers started pouring concrete Thursday for the Chateau St. Denis parking lot behind the Events Center.

The riverbank sewer line relocation project started Monday and the goal is to complete the work before the Meat Pie Festival in September.

The walking trail, parking lot, bus unloading area and handicap ramps, part of the City Park renovation project, are almost complete.

The City will start bidding to redo the section of Lafayette Street from the traffic circle to its intersection with Second Street. The plan is to lower the level of the road by 9 inches at its intersection with Second Street to make pedestrians more visible to traffic.

Work on the Park on East Fifth Street in East Natchitoches should be finished in 3 weeks.

Parish President Rick Nowlin said he’s working with the U.S. Mary Corps of Engineers and the Cane River Waterway Commission to address the need for bank stabilization of 700 feet on endangered banks on Cane River across from the St. Augustine Catholic Church.

Sharon Gahagan said the aeration and fertilization of the trees along Front Street is complete and she will meet with workers in a few weeks to develop an erosion plan for the trees on the hill overlooking the downtown riverbank. However, she said after a lot of work and some trimming, new growth can be seen on the trees, which means they’re healthy.

Cynthia Sutton said the momentum at the Grand Ecore Visitors Center continues as they’ve expanded their hours to accommodate the increased visitation in the evening hours. The billboards along the interstate will be replaced soon with Christmas Festival advertisements.

Cathy Seymour said members of the Natchitoches Historic Foundation met with FEMA to address fixing flood damage to the Roque House on the riverbank.