Slidell krewes that parade in Slidell and city officials have been meeting for the past several months to come to some sort of agreement about parade routes and fees to help the city pay for cleanup and police protection.

At a Friday meeting in Slidell City Hall, both parties agreed that all parade krewes would march using the same route. Starting in the 2011 Carnival season, parades will begin at Fritchie Park, roll down Spartan Drive to Pontchartrain Drive to Front Street, then left on Gause Boulevard and will disband on Lindberg Drive near Interstate 10. Before the changes were made, some parades would march from Fritchie Park to Gause, while others would march from Gause to Fritchie Park. Now all krewes will parade in the same direction, from south Slidell north to Gause. The Krewe of Moon Pie and Mona Lisa and Krewe de Paws are exempt from the new route, because they only march in Olde Towne.

Another change that will take place in 2011 will be the permitting process. Currently, krewes have to apply for a parade permit 60 days before the date of the parade. The city will now allow krewes to get the permits six months ahead of the parade date.

Slidell parade krewes like Perseus will now all follow the same route and may have to pay a fee for cleanup and police costs. (File Photo)

“This will give krewes time to plan and get things ready,” said Director of Public Works Mike Noto.

He said that krewes might be charged for the cost of the cleanup after a parade.

This issue of charging krewes fees was brought up earlier in the year, when Noto and the Slidell Police Department said they could not afford to pay for cleanup and security services anymore due to a shrinking economy and declining tax revenue for the city. Back in June, Noto said Public Works shelled out $100,000 for cleanup services in the 2010 Carnival season.

Noto said the city will now pass on the cleanup costs to the city to the krewes. He said he doesn’t know how much each parade will be charged.

“It won’t be a big cost. We know we won’t make any money out of it,” Noto said.

He said that city officials, including the police department would be negotiating other fees that will go to paying for police protection during the parades.

“We will try and trim our costs this year,” Noto said.

The next meeting between the city and the krewes will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 2 on the first floor of Slidell City Hall.