Brenda Pitre
December 11, 2009Irma Illum
December 22, 2009
The Greater Lafourche Port Commission approved a budget for calendar year 2010 at their monthly meeting in Galliano last Wednesday. The commission has projected a budget for the coming year of some $77.7 million, which is a combination of self-generated, local, state and federal monies.
The commission expects to increase lease revenue in 2010 to over $19 million, from $17.7 million generated in 2009. According to Director of Finance James Rome, the additional revenue is expected to be derived from an additional 3,000 feet of bulkhead that will be available for lease as part of the ongoing northern expansion project at Port Fourchon.
The largest portion of the proposed 2010 budget is some $45.5 million to be used for capital projects and construction. Among the line items in the capital construction budget for the coming year are $24.5 million to construct 2,925 feet of additional bulkhead to be used for future lease space and $2.8 million to erect a communications tower at the port.
In addition, some $1.5 million will be used to construct a multi-agency response building near the operations center at the port.
According to Rome, the building will house the various agencies that have a standing presence at the port including fire, emergency response and the like after inter-agency agreements are signed between the various entities that will occupy the building.
“This project is still in the planning stages and more information on it will be released as the project evolves,” said Rome.
The facility is expected to be built near the current port operations center on La. Highway 3090.
An additional item in the 2010 budget is some $1.4 million to be used for construction of a storm harbor marina. This marina will be located just inside the Leon Theriot locks on the west bank of Bayou Lafourche and will be available for use free of charge to mariners who wish to seek shelter inside the levee system in times of inclement weather.
Once constructed, the marina is expected to act as a free docking space to mariners in non-storm times as well, much as the Nerby Collins dock now provides at Port Fourchon. The port has also budgeted some $360,000 in 2010 for improvements and repairs to the Nerby Collins dock at the port. Additional details on this will also be released as construction begins on the project.
At the port’s committee meetings on Monday night, the board of commissioners refused to consider a request to extend outgoing Executive Director Ted Falgout’s term of employment for an additional period into the month of January. Falgout, who is retiring on Dec. 31, was seeking to extend his employment to the end of the port’s pay period into the first week of January. This extension would have given him active employee status for the entire month of January and approximately an additional $15 monthly on his retirement benefits that are likely to be above $7,500 monthly.
The board took no action on the matter.
