Public comment sought on parish's plans for RESTORE Act funds

Staff Report
You can help St. Mary Parish government receive more than $800,000 in federal funds, and you can say what you think about the parish’s plans for the money.
The parish administration proposes improvements at two boat launches, one on either end of the parish, and the creation of a new lab that will look for ways to create new St. Mary jobs and stop population loss.
But first, the local government must persuade the U.S. Treasury Department that its plans are in agreement with the rules for the trust fund from which the money would come. Public comments are part of that process.
You can find a link to a downloadable version of the proposals below.
You can send comments to:
Nicole.Cutforth@aptim.com.
The funding was established in 2012, when Congress passed the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act, or RESTORE Act.
Its purpose is to create a trust fund using money generated by penalties imposed on energy companies involved in the 2010 BP oil spill.
Thirty-five percent of the money in the trust fund is set aside for Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, 20 Louisiana parishes and 20 Florida counties, according to the Treasury website.
“Amounts in the Trust Fund will be available for programs, projects, and activities that restore and protect the environment and economy of the Gulf Coast region,” the department’s website says.
The two boat launch projects proposed for St. Mary target enhanced tourism. The resiliency lab in Morgan City would be geared toward economic development.
The proposed projects are:
—Fontenot Boat Launch improvements. The launch is located on the Lower Atchafalaya near its intersection with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
Phase I includes a 40-by-80-foot steel frame pavilion, RV parking and a 10-by-20-foot steel frame fish-cleaning station.
The pavilion is planned as “an open-air facility with concrete foundation that will be used for fishing tournaments and a central gathering point for sign-in, weigh-in, post-fishing gatherings, award distribution entertainment, etc.,” according to the project proposal.
Phase II includes a hard-surfaced access road cross the Atchafalaya Basin levee. Phase III would be a timber fishing pier for anglers who don’t have boats.
—Quintana Boat Launch improvements. The launch is north of Cypremort Point and west of La. 319. The project would rebuild the timber docks and improve part of the concrete boat launch and the aggregate-surface entry-exit area.
“The timber docks, boat ramp apron and access area are being inundated on a regular basis due to the above average water levels, subsidence and weather conditions,” the project proposal said.
—Morgan City Coastal Resilience Laboratory. The parish government would be partners with the Water Institute of the Gulf in “piloting projects for implementing, commercialization, and demonstration, and low levels of environmental risk relative to surrounding communities,” the project proposal says.
“The coastal, riverine, and basin locale presents the setting for authentic entrepreneurial innovation and application of the work of academic and partner institutions.”
The resilience lab was proposed in the 2018 Urban Land Institute study of development opportunities for Morgan City and Berwick. The study was commissioned by the St. Mary Excel citizens group.
St. Mary Excel submitted a comment endorsing the resilience lab.
“To increase economic resilience, Morgan City should continue to consider economic development approaches, such as support for field-tested technological innovation and entrepreneurialism,” St. Mary Excel said. “Given the celebrated history of ground-breaking innovation and first-of-a-kind fabrication successes, Morgan City possesses the unique opportunity to develop and pilot projects in the emerging resilience technology space in the form of a coastal resilience laboratory.”