Levee board marks completion of Bayou Teche project, hears about more work

The St. Mary Parish Levee District celebrated the completion of a major project Thursday and heard about progress on other flood control work currently underway.

The district's board also got a look at a proposed budget for 2022 and reflected on the projects made possible by a property tax like the taxes rejected by voters around the state Nov. 13.

A ribbon-cutting earlier Thursday marked the completion of the Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure near Baldwin.

The $11 million project includes a flood gate that can be moved into place in the middle of a permanent structure. The gate is designed to block storm surge from moving through the Charenton Canal and flooding portions of the Franklin, Garden City and Centerville areas.

The work was funded through a Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development flood-control program with a match from the Levee District.

The ribbon-cutting symbolized the official completion of the Bayou Teche project. But the structure has already seen action twice.

In 2020, when the swinging gate wasn't yet installed, the district placed sheet pilings to plug the gap in the permanent structure during a historically active hurricane season.

This year, the structure was operational, and the gate was deployed for protection against Hurricane Ida.

Later Thursday, the district's board met at the Parish Courthouse in Franklin and heard about progress on other projects:

--Bayou Chene Flood Control Structure: This $80 million project, funded largely through state and federal sources, also consists of a barge that can be moved into a permanent structure to block back-flooding on Bayou Chene. The barge, being constructed by Bollinger in Amelia, has been launched and is now being outfitted. Work on the receiving structure continues.

--Yokely Levee extension: The design and geotechnical work for the project are complete, and a viable route for the levee and floodwall has been identified. The district is acquiring rights-of-way for the work.

Also Thursday, Executive Director Tim Matte proposed a 2022 budget that anticipates about about $2.8 million in general operating revenue next year, up about $21,000 from this year. Operating expenses are also expected to be about $2.8 million.

Wage expenses are expected to go up to $144,000 from this year's $125,000 because of a small cost-of-living raise and additional duties related to the new flood control structures.

The capital budget anticipates revenue of $17.1 million, mostly from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and other state sources. Expenditures, mostly on the flood control structures and the Yokely Levee extension, will total about $14 million.

Of the $2.8 million in general operating revenue that Matte's budget foresees next year, $2.5 million will come from property taxes.

Matte noted Thursday that a proposed constitutional amendment that failed Nov. 13 would have allowed levee districts formed since 2006 to impose their own property taxes. The amendment required passage statewide and in the parishes where levee districts hoped to impose property taxes.

The amendment applied to levee districts created after the flood disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The St. Mary district came into being in that time, but the amendment's failure doesn't affect the district because St. Mary voters approved a 5-mill property tax May 1, 2010, by a 2-to-1 margin.

The tax passed just before the 2011 flood, when the district sank a barge in Bayou Chene to prevent back-flooding, the sort of flooding that the permanent structure now under construction was designed to prevent. The same method was employed for two later floods, at the cost of millions, before funding for the permanent structure was approved.

Levee District board Chairman Bill Hidalgo said Thursday that the passage of the 5-mill tax made possible flood control projects worth $100 million.

The Bayou Chene and Bayou Teche projects account for the bulk of the $100 million. The revenue raised by the tax falls far short of that total, but it did provide money for grant matches and administrative work that made the projects possible.