Parish Council hears how pump stations fit into flood control picture

The Parish Council on Wednesday got an update on the Morgan City pump station upgrade, heard how it fits into efforts to control flood insurance premiums and began appointing members to the drainage district that operates the pumps.
Also Wednesday at the Parish Courthouse, President Sam Jones and Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews renewed their heated argument over an appropriation for the Baldwin Police Department. And the council passed a resolution honoring a pioneering restaurateur who died recently.
Councilman Mark Duhon had asked St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte to talk about certification of the local levee system.
Matte said the need to improve the Morgan City-area levees became evident after a post-Katrina evaluation in 2008. The levees other than the federal system needed to be higher to avoid increases in flood insurance premiums that could prevent land inside the levees from being feasible for development.
More recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has added the controversial Risk Rating 2.0 to the mix. The new system would set premiums based on the flood risk for individual properties rather than spreading the average risk across an entire ZIP Code.
Experts say most property owners will see the same or lower premiums. But those who get hit with higher payments get hit hard.
“As a layman, I thought you just had to throw a little dirt on top of the levee and we’d be done,” Matte said.
But the process is more complicated. It also involves factors such as proximity to water, the distance to drainage canals, wetland considerations and the effectiveness of flood control measures such as the pump stations.
The last piece of the levee improvements to is a new section between Justa Street and the Walnut Street canal. Matte said the Levee District has plans for that section but hasn’t identified a funding source. Once that section is complete, Matte said, officials can apply for certification.
Meanwhile, the pump station upgrade continues in response to the flooding that occurred during Hurricane Francine, overwhelming the system and damaging more than 300 Morgan City homes.
At Pump Station 4, which serves the Marquis Manor-Cypress Gardens area, a $712,000 contract has been awarded for new pumps. Two pumps there have also been overhauled, offering some protection while the other pumps are installed.
At Pump Station No. 9 near Lake Palourde, plans are to add four pumps for a total of eight. Then attention will turn to No. 6 near the Central Fire Station and No. 8 in the Siracusa area.
The work is being financed by $12 million-$14 million provided by the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
Jones said his own inspection of the pump stations found that “it was a mess. It was a mess for years.”
He said some questions should be asked: “Why did it do so poorly? … Where did the money go?”
But “we’re in far better shape today, just two or three months after we started, than when the hurricane came.”
The council last month removed the five members of the Consolidated Gravity District 2A board. The district operates the pump station system with the help of the Morgan City government.
On Wednesday, the council voted to appoint four members to the board: Don Hicks, who resigned from the board shortly before his colleagues were removed; Paul Rappmundt; Nelda Duro; and Matt Patureau.
The council received eight applications, but the enabling ordinance requires two board members from unincorporated areas, and only one of the applicants approved Wednesday met that requirement. The search will be on for a fifth member who lives outside corporate limits.
Round 2
Jones and Mathews again traded harsh words over a $25,000 allocation for Baldwin police.
Mathews sought and obtained council approval for the appropriation at the June 11 council meeting. The money is to come from a 3/10th cent sales tax dedicated to projects in wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10.
At the time, Jones cautioned that he wouldn’t spend the money if he determines the parish doesn’t have it. He cited Section V of the parish charter.
Section V says no payment or obligation may be made unless it’s in the approved budget and “unless the president or the president’s designee first certifies that there is a sufficient unencumbered balance … and that sufficient funds are there-from are or will be available. …”
Jones has been wrestling with a budget squeeze since he took office last year, and also criticized the council’s spending and borrowing.
Mathews, who chairs the council’s budget committee, has disagreed with Jones’ view of parish finances.
On Wednesday, Mathews asked legal counsel Eric Duplantis for clarification on whether the charter gives Jones the power Jones says it does. Duplantis said he will have to research the question.
Mathews accused Jones of blocking the council’s action and the will of the people who voted for the sales tax.
“If you hadn’t broken the bank before, we’d have it,” Jones said.
“We didn’t break the bank,” Mathews said.
Later, Jones told Mathews, “you helped bankrupt this place.”
“There you go making allegations again,” Mathews said.
Respect
The council passed a resolution of respect for Carmen Izaguirre, founder of the Tampico's family of restaurants.
She died June 12, just days short of her 107th birthday.
A native of Tampico in Mexico, Izaguirre settled first in Utah, then came to Morgan City. In addition to her accomplishments as a restaurant owner, she also was a professional-level dancer and sometime film actress.