New Orleans officials have cut ties with the lead planning and design team for the Lincoln Beach redevelopment project in an effort to curtail excess spending and get the beach opened sooner.

Kenner-based Digital Engineering & Imaging Inc., will take over as the sole contractor for the first phase of the project following community outcry over opening delays and failed negotiations between the city and national design firm Sasaki and Associates Inc.

“Our negotiations with Sasaki were unsuccessful for a multitude of reasons, primarily the cost,” New Orleans Urban Water Administrator Meagan Williams told a New Orleans City Council committee Tuesday. Williams began overseeing the redevelopment in July after former city project manager Cheryn Robles stepped down.

Sasaki came aboard in 202

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