MC mayor submits $56.6M budget; shrimpers want wharf rules enforced

Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna has submitted to the City Council a 2024 budget that makes room for more than $12 million from two grants that will improve water and natural gas service.

Some local shrimpers, meanwhile, are asking for help in protecting their budgets by enforcing rules at the city wharf.

The proposed city budget anticipates $55.9 million in revenue, an increase of nearly $3 million over this year. That’s mainly because of grants that will allow natural gas distribution system improvements and an upgrade of the water plant, Dragna said in his budget message at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The federal natural gas system grant is expected to total $6.9 million when all the money comes in. The state Water Sector Program grant, a total of $5 million, will go toward the water plant improvements, allowing the city to treat water with fewer chemicals.

Expenditures will also rise to $55.6 million, up $5.9 million, much of it for capital improvements in anticipation of reimbursement through the two grants.

The city workforce is at 171 full-time employees and 20 part-time. Employees who have passed their first anniversary on the job will receive a 2% raise.

Faced with a steep increase in liability insurance premiums, “the City has elected to self-insure all properties and will budget $400,000 to fund this,” Dragna wrote.

“I present this budget to the City Council and the public for your review,” the mayor wrote. “I welcome your comments and suggestions in an effort to meet the needs of this community in a manner that reflects our collective priorities and meet our obligations in the most efficient and effective manner possible.”

The budget was introduced in an ordinance Tuesday. The ordinance would normally come up for a public hearing and passage vote at the next council meeting Oct. 24.

Shrimp at the dock
Two shrimpers, David Dolci and Kermit Duck, came to the meeting to talk about the rules governing who can dock and sell shrimp at the Morgan City wharf.
Duck said the rules governing use of the wharf by shrimp boats require a $500 per year fee for a license limited to shrimpers from St. Mary Parish or within 15 miles of the wharf.

The discussion centered on a boat from out of the area that was allowed to dock and sell shrimp at prices that undercut the locals.

Dolci came armed with a list of infractions that included performing repairs outside the designated area, blocking the parking area when other shrimpers were selling shrimp, tying a boat in such a way as to block other boats from mooring, and “ugly text messages and voice mails to other shrimpers.”

Dragna said the city needs a couple of days to look into the complaints.

The competition at the wharf may reflect tough times in the industry.

Shrimpers say high fuel prices and competition from imported shrimp are threatening the survival of the industry in Louisiana