St. Mary to open lake houses on FEMA site

Three lake houses will open by summer on the shores of Lake End Parkway, a former trailer park site in Morgan City once run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Morgan City Mayor Tim Matte said plans for the long-awaited project are courtesy of a $500,000 grant the city received from the Department of Natural Resources and the Atchafalaya Basin Commission.

“By this summer, we should be taking tourism up a notch at Lake End Park,” Matte said. “The area is fertile ground, and often it has been one of the city’s best sources for immediate cash flow.”

Lake End Park features bank or pier fishing, a boat launch and a marina with 47 slips, as well as more than130 recreational vehicle sites, 20 tent sites and four pavilions, one of which is screened.

Miles of interconnected waterways offer an abundance of fishing opportunities, Matte said. Boaters can fish for bass in Bayou Boeuf, Flat Lake, Lake Verret, Six Mile Lake, Lower Atchafalaya River, Bayou Long, Duck Lake and other waterways.

Architect Carl Blum said 18 two-story lake houses will be built along the shore of Lake Palourde at Lake End Parkway. The houses will include two bedrooms and baths, a combined living-dining area and a kitchen. All 18 of the units offer open views of the lake and walkways will connect to a dock over the water with a covered pavilion for each unit, he said.

Additionally, a covered deck will wrap around two sides of the living space.

Blum said a screened porch, built to FEMA’s flood elevation requirements, will provide guests additional outdoor living space. Just below the living area, guests will have covered parking for two vehicles.

The initial 3-unit build will include a handicapped-accessible unit, which will include a handicap lift and accessible kitchen and bathroom, the designer said.

Matte and the city council expect to award the construction contract this month “after a few tweaks and modifications with the State Fire Marshall’s office, and the designs,” Blum said.

Dwayne Barbier, the city director of Lake End Park, suggested rent be no more than $125 a night per unit. “This is based on comparable rentals in other areas of the state,” he explained. “However, we have had no firm discussions as of late. Price will also be a factor in weighing the housekeeping of each unit.”

Blum said the lake houses will be anchored next to the site’s campgrounds, which served as a FEMA trailer park for storm evacuees after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Matte said FEMA contacted him about 48 hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, asking whether or not the city had any available land to house evacuees in a trailer park. He suggested the under-developed 30 acres at the north end of Lake End Park.

The mayor calculates that FEMA spent roughly $8.7 million to run water, sewage and electricity to 198 trailers, which housed roughly 50 people. In addition, FEMA leased the property from the city at a rate of $2,000 a month, until the early part of 2007.

“Once you add in the rent, as well as all the other costs n trailers, installation, grounds maintenance and security n FEMA’s tab should have been somewhere in the ballpark of nearly $15.4 million,” Matte said.

“What was a huge tragedy for so many has really been a blessing for Morgan City,” he said.

The Lake End Park area generates $300 to $390,000 a month for the City of Morgan City.

That’s not always been the case, however. Late last spring, particularly over the Memorial Day weekend, misreports of beach damage from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster kept visitors away.

Matte and Cajun Coast Tourism Director Carrie Stansbury blamed inaccurate reporting by regional and out-of-town media for costing the city tourist dollars.

Only half the normally full camper sites were rented. “It was such a blow to our area restaurants, drug stores and gasoline stations,” the mayor said. “Lake End Park is our biggest tourist attraction.”

Mayor: 18 units to draw more tourists.