Final approval for the road and cafeteria renovation projects has been obtained, both projects are on schedule, according to Michael Davis, assistant vice president for administration even though hurricanes Katrina and Rita im pacted the area.”We were scheduled to go before the Board of Regents at the Sept. 21 meeting for final approval, but Hurricane Katrina wiped that meeting,” Davis said. “We have been working with staff at the Board of Regents and staff at the Board of Supervisors to get approval from the Board of Regents to proceed.”

The cancellation of the Sept. 21 meeting aroused concern among officials because the meeting would have had to be rescheduled in October. Another month would have been lost, and in that case, the projects would not have been completed by the start of the fall 2006 semester as planned.

“It was very critical,” Davis said. “That set up a red flag for us right away. We knew that would seriously impact our timetable. Everybody started working at that particular point.”

A meeting was held in Baton Rouge for officials to specifically discuss the two projects. The University gained approval to progress.

“We’re clear to proceed,” Davis said. According to Davis, quite a few people helped the University gain the final sanction required to move on to the next phase.

“Normally the whole Board of Regents votes at one time on this, but because they were not meeting, a lot of people helped us in getting the final approval we needed,” Davis said. “We cannot go before the bond commission without the Board of Regents approval.”

Officials will go before the bond commission on Oct. 20 to acquire the authorization to begin selling the bonds. The bonds will be sold in early November, Davis said.

Design works for the repaving of roads and construction of parking lots have continued. Although both projects are predicted to be complete by the beginning of the next fall semester, Davis said that there could be a slight delay with the road project, but most of the work will be finished by next August.

“I still think (the roads) will be finished very, very close to that period,” Davis said. “A vast majority of it will be finished on time.”

The renovation of the cafeteria should definitely be complete by the start of the next fall semester, according to Davis.

“The cafeteria architect has continued his design work,” Davis said. “We’ve finished half of the state asbestos abatement program on one side of the cafeteria, and we are now abating the other side.”

The state asbestos abatement program was the first thing that had to be done in the cafeteria, and construction is expected to begin in late January.

“We’re on schedule, and these projects will be commencing within a few months,” Davis said.