Morgan City flood control work to begin soon

Parish President Sam Jones had some good news for Morgan City residents at the March 12 Parish Council meeting: contracts have been signed for pump station upgrades designed to prevent the home flooding that occurred during Hurricane Francine.
Two more possible developments are far more tentative: exploring whether Bayou Vista is sinking and whether residents of lower St. Martin would like to be part of St. Mary instead.
More than 300 Morgan City homes took on water during the Sept. 11 hurricane. Jones had sought help from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which came through with $12 million-$14 million for the work currently being planned.
The St. Mary Parish Levee District’s role would be to advertise for bids, pay the bills and seek reimbursement, district Executive Director Tim Matte said Monday.
The work will upgrade some of the pump stations designed to move water out of Morgan City during heavy rain.
The work may include new pumps, the engines that run them, or both, Matte said.
The pump stations set for upgrades are No. 4 in the Marquis Manor neighborhood; No. 6 near the Central Fire Stations; No. 8 in the Siracusa area; and No. 9, the pump station moved to near Lake Palourde from a location near Ochsner St. Mary.
There’s a prize at the bottom of the box. The station near Lake Palourde was built with enough room for eight pumps but has only four. Matte said the work now beginning will put eight pumps in the station.
Other work associated with the upgrades will improve the flow of water near some of the pump stations.
At the Parish Council meeting, Jones thanked CPRA Chairman Gordy Dove for his help in acquiring money for the pump station work.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Jones said.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, Jones said he wants to seek federal money to see if land in Bayou Vista is really subsiding, as people in the unincorporated community have told him.
There are reports that portions of the community have dropped as much as 2 feet in 40 years.
Jones linked any subsidence to the congressionally mandated diversion of 30% of the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya system.
“That’s a federal problem because the water is being sent here by the federal government,” Jones said in an interview.
The lower St. Mary question has come up before, most recently in conversations between Jones and St. Martin officials.
Jones cautioned that the conversations are very tentative.
The problem is apparent when looking at a map of the area. Reportedly due to a surveyor’s error, a thin portion of Iberia juts east, dividing from the portion of St. Martin that includes Stephensville and Belle River from upper St. Martin, which contains St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge.
And the division is not just a color on a map. Law enforcement and other first responders are required to take extra time to get from upper to lower St. Martin.
St. Mary already has some ties to lower St. Martin. Children go to St. Mary Parish schools after leaving Stephensville Elementary.
Jones said he’ll need some meetings with some of the 1,200-1,500 people who live in lower St. Martin.
“At the end of the day, the people get to choose,” he said.