Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 9

134 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 South America on business. Slidell is also installing a fiber ring around the entire city. Working alongside Camelia City Fiber, access points will be located throughout the community so students can safely use the internet availability. “We have some homes without Wi-Fi access, so we’re going to make sure it’s available,” says Mayor Cromer. “Kids can then access the internet, even if they can’t at home.” The fiber ring will also help strengthen the city’s technological infrastructure and hopefully draw more tech start-up companies to the area. “These start-ups and small software shops do business with NASA’s facilities in New Orleans and Mississippi, but relocating to those areas is expensive,” says Mayor Cromer. “We’re hoping some of these companies will move to Slidell and get going at a more affordable rate. They’ll still be only 15 minutes from customers in the east and 30 minutes from customers in the south. We also have an older building called the Slidell Business Campus that was given to us from the federal government. We’re turning it into an incubator with a makerspace for these software shops to gain a foothold and get started. We’re working with Cox Communications and when the facility is up and running it’ll be a game changer.” Other important improvements involve the community’s infrastructure. With Slidell’s geographic location, stormwater management is a constant concern. Currently, the city is working with local contractors to develop a new stormwater management plan. “We’ve also got a $10 million upgrade to our wastewater treatment facility,” states Welborn. “We’re building a new head wall that’ll increase capacity for water treatment and we’ll have new wastewater lift stations.” Mayor Cromer adds, “Water is just a way of life here. Being located on Lake Pontchartrain, with Pearl River and some bayous in the city, many people live on Mayor Cromer recognizes students from Northshore High School who volunteered for the Mayor’s Community Breakfast