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VIDALIA, La. — On Independence Day, July 4, at 81 years old, George Sewell died while still in service of Concordia Parish as the Constable, a position he has held for the last 20 years.

On Monday evening, the Concordia Parish Police Jury approved a resolution to appoint Sewell’s wife of 33 years, Wanda Sewell, to fill the seat until a special election is held on October 14.

According to his obituary, George Sewell was born November 11, 1941, in Plantersville, Alabama, and worked as a Ferriday police officer in the late ‘60s through the early ‘70s before going to work for Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries as a Game Agent in 1972. In addition to serving as Constable of Concordia Parish, he was P.O.S.T. Council Firearms Instructor, attended FBI Firearms School in Texas, and is described as an expert marksman.

In other matters during Monday’s meeting, the police jury also approved a salary increase for the Trinity Medical Board of Commissioners to $300 per meeting.

Board member Joseph Parker also moved to rescind a motion he made during the June 26 board meeting, which was to allow Police Jury President Collin Edwards to sign off on a contract with Bryant Hammett & Associates for the $6.2 million Brushy Bayou drainage project funded by a FEMA grant.

The goal of the project is to alleviate flooding in approximately 40 percent of the northern drainage area of the parish by diverting stormwater into the Tensas River through Brushy Bayou, away from Cocodrie Bayou.

It is estimated that construction will wrap up around June 2024.

Parker said after Monday’s meeting that the police jury wanted to check with its attorneys and make sure that its approval of the contract is legal before signing it.

The Police Jury selected engineers in May from four different firms that submitted proposals for the drainage project. Each proposal had been evaluated and scored based on each firm’s ability to demonstrate quality and timeliness, experience with similar projects, experience working with the police jury and personnel qualifications, officials said.

Bryant Hammett & Associates LLC received the highest score of 74 and a weighted score of 18.5. The three other proposals scored as follows: Jordan Kaiser & Sessions received a raw score of 54 and a weighted score of 13.5; H. Davis Cole & Associates LLC received a raw score of 55 and a weighted score of 13.75; and Neel-Schaffer Inc received a raw score of 65 and a weighted score of 16.25.