Morgan City Council must deal with change in flood rating system

The Morgan City Council may soon have a decision to make about participation in a federal program that offers city residents a break on their flood insurance.
The council heard about changes in the Community Rating System at Tuesday’s regular meeting, held at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium to allow for social distancing.
Also Tuesday, the council introduced one ordinance setting property tax rates and approved another that changes firearm discharge rules to accommodate a new business that will assemble firearms.
Morgan City has participated in the federal Community Rating System since 1991, said Anthony Governale, the city’s planning and zoning manager. Cities are rated from 1 to 10 on how well they meet flood-control standards.
Morgan City has an 8 rating, which entitles homeowners to a 10% discount on premiums under the National Flood Insurance program.
But the standards are getting stricter. To keep the 8 rating, the city would have to require that new residential construction and substantial improvements worth at least 50% of an existing home’s value have to be a foot above the base flood elevation determined by flood control authorities. The local requirement would have to take effect by Jan. 1.
Congress has been involved in a years-long effort to put the National Flood Insurance Program on a sound financial footing. The program guarantees flood insurance to make it available in flood-prone areas where private homeowners coverage would be prohibitively expensive or impossible to get.
Lee Dragna, who resigned earlier this month from the chairmanship of the Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 2 board, stepped to the microphone Tuesday to say the federal government is hoping to reduce the subsidy it pays to support flood insurance.
That makes it important to complete the Morgan City pump station upgrades and the levee system improvements now underway, Dragna said. The last big piece of the levee improvements is the section between Lake Palourde and Lakeside Subdivision, where a levee will have to be constructed.
The St. Mary Parish Levee District is trying to build a consensus around a levee plan for Lakeside.
The council took no action Tuesday on the Community Rating System issue.
Also Tuesday:
—The council heard the first reading of the ordinance setting the general property tax rate at 16.07 mills.
A mill is 1/10th-cent of tax applied to each dollar of assessed valuation. By law, the assessed valuation of residential property is set at 10% of its market value as determined by the parish assessor.
The word from the Assessor’s Office is that the total assessed valuation in Morgan City is about $127.9 million, down from $137 million four years ago.
The ordinance is due for a public hearing and a final passage vote at the council’s July meeting.
City voters will be asked to renew a 2-mill tax for operating the Municipal Auditorium later this year.
—The council passed an ordinance to change the firearm discharge rules that will allow Trojan Firearms to test weapons that it will assemble at its facility at 7900 La. 182 East.
The new ordinance allows the company to test-fire weapons 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and restricts the caliber of the ammunition being tested, among other rules. It also forbids the storage of large quantities of ammunition at the site.
The provisions are limited to companies with a city permit to assemble firearms.