BATON ROUGE - Robert Burns, who heads Concerned Citizens for Drainage Improvement, isn't buying what the Army Corps of Engineers is selling: a 2025 completion date for the Comite Diversion Canal.

"We're just moving along at a snail's pace," he said.

He's not expecting positive news from the Comite Diversion Task Force meeting Thursday.

"We want to hear some firm completion dates, some firm action steps. What I expect and what will probably be the reality is more false promises."

Part of the stall in progress had do to with the Corps re-evaluating the project's budget earlier this year, estimating they would need an additional half-billion dollars to complete it.

"The log jam in the project and many others in the region have experience, folks began to accept as status quo. We came in and said this is unacceptable," Congressman Garret Graves said.

In the beginning of June, work began again and funding was secured. At the site on Highway 964 on Wednesday, crews were busy with heavy equipment digging out drainage channels.

Thursday, the Corps will discuss their progress with the Comite Diversion Task Force, which Burns plans to attend—if for nothing—to put a face to the reason why the project is being done in the first place.

"They don't have the fire in the belly that we want them to have. If we get a major rain event, we may be faced with the nightmare again of our homes flooding and rebuilding."

The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at the Capitol.