Push for housing targets CDBG funds

Some of the $67 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds that Terrebonne Parish will be receiving for recovery efforts from hurricanes Gustav and Ike should be spent on constructing affordable housing, said several speakers at a public hearing held in Houma by the Louisiana Recovery Authority last week.

Other projects needing funding that were recommended by speakers included levee protection, floodgates on waterways in the parish, building a new courthouse, repairs to Grand Caillou Elementary School and constructing a new fire station in Dularge.

Terrebonne, which endured significantly more damage from the two hurricanes than other parishes, is expected to receive an additional $55 million in CDBG money after the initial $67 million allocation. The parish suffered 22 percent of the total housing damage caused by Gustav and Ike, said LRA representative Lynn Bankston at the meeting.

Congress allocated $6.1 billion to the Gulf Coast for recovery from hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Louisiana was allocated $438 million from that amount as a first installment in November.

Administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, CDBG funds are intended for housing improvements primarily, but are also spent on economic development in low- to moderate-income areas.

The federal government is requiring Terrebonne Parish to spend 10 percent of the CDBG funds on affordable rental housing, according to Bankston. The parish is eligible to spend $46.5 million in total from the CDBG funds on affordable housing.

The parish is also being given an additional $10 million to build affordable rental housing, she said. Terrebonne can bid to receive more funds from that pool of money.

Housing-related projects eligible for funding by the CDBG program include elevating and buying out homes, developing homeless prevention programs that help pay utility bills, and building small rental properties and workforce housing.

“I know you’re having a housing shortage in Houma,” Bankston said.

Mike Ferdinand, CEO of the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority, said 55 percent of people employed in Terrebonne do not live in the parish. That is caused partly by the housing shortage, he said.

Mike Voisin, president of the TEDA board, said, “Our great need is housing. There aren’t enough homes and rental places.”

“The whole parish has a problem with affordable housing,” said Bonita Baudoin with Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing.

ayne Thibodeaux, executive director of the Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority, said flooding on Senator Circle in Houma points up the need for more affordable housing.

State Sen. Reggie Dupre of Houma said he felt building levees was the most important use of the CDBG money.

He supports spending $70 million of the CDBG money on improving levees in the parish. That figure has been previously cited by Parish President Michel Claudet as the amount of CDBG funding he expects to be spent on levees in the parish.

The CDBG funds cannot be spent on the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane levee protection system, but they can be expended on constructing and improving Morganza’s backup levees, much of which are made up of parish drainage levees.

Dupre also expects the CDBG money to be used to fill gaps in the Dulac levees under construction as Morganza backups. The gaps are being left to accommodate pipelines.

Dupre cited the need for a floodgate on the Bush Canal and two in Dularge. The flooding threat from the Bush Canal is especially dire, he said.

Both he and Terrebonne Parish Councilman Clayton Voisin want the CDBG funds to be spent on building floodgates on the Houma Navigation Canal.

“We will flood from the HNC unless we take action today… It’s no longer maybe, it’s when,” said Voisin, who wants barge floodgates built on the canal.

Terrebonne Parish Councilman Billy Hebert read a letter signed by all state judges in Terrebonne and Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois calling for the construction of a new criminal justice building. The current facility is outdated and in need of frequent repairs, the letter stated.

Another BISCO representative, Patricia Whitney, said the CDBG funds should be used to compensate low-income people who evacuate for storms.

Ferdinand also said 235 businesses in the parish did not receive U.S. Small Business Administration loans following hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

“CDBG dollars can keep these companies viable,” he said.

Parishes have used their CDBG money to improve water and sewer systems and other infrastructure, as well as for ports, said Parish Recovery Planner Jennifer Gerbasi.