Tangipahoa Council Votes For A Metropolitan Planning Organization

AMITE, La. (AP) — The Tangipahoa Parish Council has voted to join the cities Hammond and Ponchatoula for a Metropolitan Planning Organization and hire the Regional Planning Commission to seek between $3.5 and $5 million annually in federal grants for capital improvement programs.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/Z9rO68 ) the MPO was formed in the wake of 2010 Census, which showed that the area of Tangipahoa Parish from Independence to its southern boundary at Manchac, a region that includes Hammond and Ponchatoula, has sufficient population to qualify as a metropolitan area.

Walter R. Brooks, executive director of the Regional Planning Commission, said Monday his group will assist Tangipahoa Parish in seeking grants for such things as transportation, roads, economic development and environmental studies.