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December 27, 2006The South Lafourche Levee District approved a resolution Monday to seek funding from the state Recovery Authority (LRA) to aid in building a lock south of Golden Meadow.
At its monthly meeting in Galliano last Monday, board members agreed to seek the funds to assist with construction of the lock slated to be built just north of the Leon Theriot floodgates two miles south of Golden Meadow. Although all of the components for the project have been constructed, installation of the much-needed lock has been delayed due to funding shortages.
According to Windell Curole, general manager of the levee district, the LRA has a portion of money set aside for infrastructure projects such as the lock. “As we always do, we’re going to look everywhere that we possibly can to get the funding needed to complete this critical piece of infrastructure,” he said.
Although the levee district has some $7 million committed to the project, contractor costs have skyrocketed since the hurricanes of 2005 and the cost to install the lock is now estimated to be between $17 and $20 million. “There’s more work in south Louisiana than there are licensed and qualified firms to do it so with that demand comes an increase in cost,” Curole said.
The resolution passed Monday calls on the LRA to “provide funds to support the installation of the lock structure to allow for the flow of goods to Port Fourchon, which supports the economic activity in the Gulf of Mexico.”
The measure also clarifies the importance of the lock by noting that “the floodgates must now close to protect homes and businesses from flooding during and after hurricanes and tidal events and this closing of the floodgate stops marine traffic, disrupts commercial fishing flow and can cause production problems in the Gulf oil fields. A gate structure to form a lock will allow marine traffic during tidal events and will not interrupt the support services of Port Fourchon.”
Board members and former state representative Richard “Dick” Guidry urged that copies of the resolution be sent to the state and federal delegations of the region urging their support for the LRA request.
The district had originally planned to have the lock in place prior to the start of the 2007 hurricane season; however, the resulting installation delays make that prospective timetable very unlikely.
