The city of Slidell took another step toward moving electric transmission lines at Slidell Municipal Airport with a vote Tuesday to authorize the purchase of 5.3 acres owned by Weyerhaeuser Co.
But before work can begin on what will be a two-year project, the city needs to acquire one last 3-acre parcel, Mayor Bill Borchert said. The project required buying just over 50 acres from four different property owners, at $6,500 an acre.
Slidell officials began pushing to move the lines after the 2016 crash of a plane that was returning from an aerial spraying for the St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement District. The twin-engine plane hit the top of the 80-foot towers that carry the lines and crashed into woods near the runway, killing pilots Wayne Fisher and Donald Pechon…