Funds sought in revitalization study for MC-Berwick area

An initiative to revitalize the Morgan City and Berwick area received parish funding Wednesday.
The St. Mary Parish Council approved a $20,000 allocation to St. Mary Excel, a committee of the St. Mary Parish Community Foundation, for a technical assistance visit by the Urban Land Institute.
Alice Pecoraro, committee member, said the concentration has been on Morgan City and Berwick, as well as the entire parish.
“We focused on discussing how we could improve our community,” she said. “Many times we talked in circles, trying to figure out what we might need to do to diversify the economy, to bring jobs back, to make our community a place for our young people to want to come back to.”
A local family in the target area is developing land near Lake Palourde, and Pecoraro said the group met with Steve Oubre, developer of River Ranch in the Lafayette area. Oubre showed plans for the project, but said, “This plan is not going to work unless you do something with your city…it doesn’t look good, there’s not enough going on there, you have to do something.”
The committee delved into The Urban Land Institute. Morgan City-Berwick were chosen because “when we spoke to The Urban Land Institute they told us that we had to focus, we couldn’t take the parish as a whole, we had to pick a small area, because that’s what they do. So we thought the model we would use would be something that could be replicated throughout the parish.”
Dr. Monica Mancuso, committee member, said a quality of life survey was conducted in the target area. “From that survey, a majority of the 340 business people felt that we were not doing enough in our area to attract business and entrepreneurial opportunities, to provide job opportunities that support young people staying in the area and attract jobs that pay well and offer benefits.”
The committee examined initiatives in other communities for inspiration, and found that those area engaged entities like the institute, which is a non-profit organization with many professional members and services, who are volunteers.
“These are senior-level professionals that come into your community in site assessment visits,” Mancuso said.
Committee member Laura Dozar said the institute would make a six-day visit assessment of the community. The institute would meet with 75-100 local people to be interviewed. That would be followed by an examination of the results period and make recommendations.
The total cost is $135,000 for the study. The parish’s $20,000 contribution would come from the general fund.
Councilman Craig Mathews stressed a diverse cross section of the community in the assessment methodology.
“There has to be an adequate and very diverse representation in the entire process from start to finish,” he said. “If that does not happen, it will be virtually impossible to capture a comprehensive view of our unique parish.”
Pecoraro said that diversity would be a factor in the assessment.
“I think what our community lacks the most is momentum,” she said. “If these people come here and give us momentum…then the leadership is not going to be able to forget about us because we’ll have the involvement of the community.”
Contributions will be requested from Morgan City, Berwick, the Port of Morgan City, the Cajun Coast Tourist Commission and the family developing the land, as well as private donors.
In other business:
—A ribbon cutting will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at the West St. Mary Civic Center dedicating the completed overpass and exchange on US 90.
—Ordinances were introduced renewing the library system ad valorem tax and the ad valorem tax for the criminal justice system; setting the speed limit on Foxglove Drive in Patterson to 15 mph; and authorizing lease of the Jessie B. Hayes Memorial Boat Landing between the Parish and the City of Patterson.
—Final approval was given to the bond issuance of $10 million for road repairs.
—A resolution of respect was approved in memory of John J. Lajaunie Jr.
—An election will be held Nov. 6 to elect a coroner after the resignation of the former official.
—$3,250 was allocated to Water and Sewer Commission 4 for hydrant testing.
—The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce requested a $3,000 allocation for its annual Bayou BBQ Bash, but the request was not acted upon.
—John R. Higdon, Larry J. LeBlanc and Ulysses Knight Jr. were reappointed to the Fire Protect Dist. 2 board; Johnny Sutton was reappointed to the Fire Protect Dist. 11 board.