VIDALIA — Even with the projected river crest expected within a calendar week, Miss-Lou residents should be prepared to get used to the sight of Hesco baskets on the Vidalia Riverfront.

The baskets — which are filled with sand and serve to block water in a manner similar to sandbags, though on a larger scale — were first placed on the Riverfront when the projected crest was 60 feet, two feet above the level at which the area is covered in water.

But with the downward revision of the projection to 57 feet on Jan. 17, most of the Hesco baskets have been reallocated to other areas where they can be used.

Some of the baskets, which have been placed around water well pumps on the riverfront, will remain in place, however, Mayor Hyram Copeland said Tuesday at the Vidalia Board of Aldermen’s monthly meeting.

“Our concern is for the spring, and hopefully we don’t have the problems we had in 201l, but my concern is getting the river out of here for the spring thaw,” he said.

“We are going to continue to keep (the Hesco baskets) around our water well system to make sure they are protected. We will probably leave those there until spring to see if that situation will occur, and we will be prepared ahead of the game in case it starts to rise. It will be unsightly for a few months, but once we get through the spring flood, we will take them down.”

The board meeting was a day before Gov. John Bel Edwards is scheduled to stop in Vidalia to be briefed on the area’s flood fight, and Copeland said he was glad the state leader was making the trip.

“I want to commend him already, coming in two days after he takes office,” Copeland said.

The mayor likewise had praise for the other agencies involved in the flood fight.

“I want to commend each and every one all the agencies, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, state and federal agencies, those that have worked extra hard to put us at the point where we are today,” he said. “I have never seen a group with the organization we have seen this year, and I want to thank the good Lord for keeping us safe.”

In other news at the board meeting:

-Copeland addressed a question he said had previously been posed by a candidate about the placement of political signs in the city’s rights-of-way.

“We allow that, with the exception that we ask that you please don’t put them blocking the sight of traffic coming down the street, and when the election is over, we ask that everyone please take their signs down,” he said.

-The board adopted a resolution authorizing the city to apply for the local government assistant program grant for 2016.

City Grants Coordinator Teresa Dennis said the city would be applying for equipment that will assist in its blighted properties initiative. While the city typically applies for a $35,000 grant, the grant budget has been cut this year and that amount probably won’t be awarded, she said.

-Alderman Ricky Knapp gave an update on Vidalia’s recycling program. The city is currently collecting approximately one ton of recyclables a week, he said.

“We would really like to see that go up, get more participation, and eventually I would like to see 100-percent participation,” he said.

Knapp said he has been invited to join the Miss-Lou Recycling Task Force, and will soon attend its meetings.

-The board adopted a resolution authorizing the lease of a garbage truck.