Morgan City Council makes plans for COVID aid

Morgan City’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funding was supposed to arrive in May, then in June. As it turned out, the check was in the mail. Literally.
The check for $1.9 million, the first of two installments from the program designed to help COVID-plagued small cities, is now safely in the bank. And the City Council and mayor have a plan for how to spend it.
The council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for spending grants for storefronts and home weatherization, a new study space with Wi-Fi at the Morgan City Library, a raise for city workers and a new firetruck.
Also Tuesday, the council continued the work of having derelict houses demolished, and approved plans for one entertainment event while seeking a delay in a second.
COVID aid
Mayor Lee Dragna and Finance Director Deborah Garber both said the $1.9 million check, which passed through the state government on the way from Washington, arrived in a stamped envelope. But, now that it’s here, the resolution passed Tuesday includes:
—$30,000 for the library study space, including tables, chairs, charging ports, concrete and a wrought-iron gate.
—$200,000 for 25 grants requiring a 25% match from businesses that want to make their storefronts more attractive.
—$250,000 for weatherization and preservation grants to pay for pressure washing and painting homes occupied by low-income people.
—$205,000 for a 70-cents-per-hour raise representing hazard pay for people employed by the city government January 2020-March 2021.
—$350,000 for a Freightliner firetruck.
Details for how to apply for the grants are being developed.
The federal rules governing the use of the money refer again and again to low-income people and minorities, Dragna told the council. The plan for spending the aid directs money toward the people hurt most by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
The spending earmarked for specific purposes amounts to $1,035,000. The remaining roughly $900,000 can be used as matching funds for more federal programs now in the works, Dragna said.
Houses
The council approved the demolition of one abandoned home at its July meeting. On Tuesday, two more blighted homes were in their sights.
The council approved the demolition at 417 Garber St. after hearing that the family that owns the home has no objection.
The council decided to wait a month to demolish the second abandoned home, at 507½ Lawrence St., to allow the owner, a senior citizen, time to recover property from inside the house.
Events
The council agreed to permit East Gate BBQ’s Octoberfest noon-8 p.m. Oct. 9 to celebrate the restaurant’s 10 years in Morgan City. The event will be on the restaurant’s parking lot and will feature a beer truck and other vendors, owner Harlan Kappel said.
But the council tabled another request for an event, this one for a block party at Buckets Blowout Lounge at 117 Railroad Ave.
The event was scheduled for Labor Day weekend. Councilman James Stephens questioned the propriety of having the Rock the Block event after the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival board announced last week that it is canceling this year’s edition of the Labor Day weekend event because of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases.
Lou Tamporello sits on both the council and on the festival’s board of directors. He said the current variant of COVID-19 is more dangerous than the one that forced the cancellation of the 2020 festival, and this year, local hospitals are full.
“With that involved … I would have to say no,” Tamporello said.
The council tabled the request and urged Buckets Lounge representative Jessy Eues to come back in September with plans for an October event that the bar already has in the works.