Terrebonne advancements continue into 2013
November 13, 2012
Locals make the grade: Administrators tout public education as making progress
November 13, 2012
St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin said he had the year he’s been looking for throughout his two terms.
As a result, St. Mary is as well protected as it’s ever been from the ever-present dangers of storm surge and coastal erosion and flooding.
In the past 12 months, Naquin said a litany of projects within his parish have either been completed or driven past political red tape so that construction can begin in the near future.
The result was a productive 2012 and a 2013 that could boom within the parish’s walls.
“I think what’s happening right now is everything’s coming together,” Naquin said Monday morning. “I think this is the year that I’ve been looking for and I think we’re in position to have a wonderful 2013. We have all of these projects that we’ve been working on for many, many, many years and they are all getting to their climaxes this year so that our people can benefit. Everything is coming together and this is going to be one of our busiest years for our parish in a long time.”
St. Mary Parish Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange went over a list of projects that have come across the parish’s desk in the past 12 months – a list that is extensive.
Most of the projects St. Mary has focused on involve flood protection of some sort.
One large project that the parish moved past the planning stages and into permitting was the Point Chevreuil shoreline protection project, which will boost the southernmost tip of East Cote Blanche Bay within the parish.
That project will cost $1.9 million, according to LaGrange.
“That’s going to be a big help to that area,” LaGrange said.
Another project that will be completed on the eastern side of the parish is the Deer Island Pass Realignment project.
That project will cost close to $3 million and will include dredging and using navigation channel at the mouth of Deer Island Bayou and the Atchafalaya River.
“We’re doing that to protect marshland at the Atchafalaya Basin,” LaGrange said.
Those projects will be funded with Coastal Impact Assistance Funds and should be started in the next few months.
“Those projects have been in the permitting and design stages,” LaGrange said. “We expect them to be going into construction in the next three-to-six months.”
In addition to the Coastal Impact Assistance Fund projects, St. Mary will add some polish to some of its infrastructure.
LaGrange said a handful of buildings in the parish will receive wind retrofit – to ensure that the buildings can better withstand wind in the event of a storm event.
The buildings that will receive this boost in protection are the parish’s school board central office complex in Centerville, as well as the Franklin and Morgan City fire stations and a parish-owned office space next to the courthouse.
Pump stations throughout St. Mary Parish will also get a little polish soon.
LaGrange said safe rooms would be installed at the drainage pump stations in Amelia and Morgan City – a $250,000 project.
“This is so people can be on site at the pump stations in the event of a wind event like a hurricane,” LaGrange said.
The parish also has money allocated to renovate the pump station in Amelia, as well as to elevate pump stations throughout the parish.
“That will be a big help,” LaGrange said. “Most definitely.”
While flood protection is on everyone’s minds, Morgan City traffic may also begin to flow more smoothly within the next year.
LaGrange said a new road would be constructed in the city from 2nd Street to Federal Avenue along the seawall.
“That’s in an effort to divert industrial and commercial traffic away from residential areas,” LaGrange said. “We have a lot of that business traffic that has to get to the water front and we just want to sort-of re-route them.”
That project has been designed in the past year and its right of ways are being obtained.
With the increase in protection, officials tout that the parish’s local economy is doing as well as it has in recent years.
LaGrange said tax numbers are up and people are looking toward the parish for new business, as well as expansion of current business.
“Our sales taxes, as far as the local economy, remain strong and steady,” LaGrange said. “Businesses are still expanding and are moving into the area. We’re awfully excited about that. We hope to continue to see that and we hope to continue to move forward.”
Naquin agreed and said he is proud to state that the parish is safer than it’s ever been when it comes to the annual danger that is hurricane season in Louisiana.
“Without question, we’re safer,” Naquin said. “We’ve had a busy year in 2012 and we continue to just look for ways to keep moving forward. We believe 2013 can be a heck of a year.”
A Morgan City business fights off water during the Mississippi River flooding event of 2011. St. Mary Parish has taken on a number of projects in the past year to prevent flooding events from happening in the future.
