Emergency center to be self-sustainable, Category 5 hurricane resistant

The Port of Morgan City’s new $9.3 million government operations and emergency center will be able to sustain itself for about a week without external power and withstand a Category 5 hurricane, Architect Carl Blum said Monday.
Geotechnical surveying was done a couple weeks ago at the port’s new government operations and emergency center site, Blum said. The center can serve as an emergency command center during a hurricane housing multiple government agencies.
The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Commission met Monday at the Port of Morgan City.
On Monday, the board authorized Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade to sign off on the purchase of about $391,000 worth of land and closing costs and to spend up to $25,000 to drive test piles at the government operations and emergency center site.
Blum has been working with the port consultant on a design plan and cost control plan for the project, he said.
“We’ll have generators on site. We’ll be able to bring in potable water and a sustainable sewer treatment system if needed to be able to operate in an emergency for a long period of time,” Blum said.
The 33,000 square-feet center will be a “showpiece of the community” because it showcases what people can accomplish when they put effort into a project, Blum said. Wade said the center will be a first-class facility.
Port officials hope to have the center complete by the 2015 hurricane season, Wade said.
The center will be located adjacent to the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium on La. 182. The center will have about 200 feet of frontage on the highway with parking in front and additional parking on the auditorium grounds. Major entrances will be located at both the front and back of the building, Blum said.
The center will have a concrete frame, which gives the building great structural integrity, Blum said. The initial geotechnical analysis detected a sand layer about 60 feet below the surface, he said.
Port Special Projects Coordinator Michael Knobloch said the port’s 32-foot long Metal Shark port security vessel is scheduled to be delivered Friday and will be stored on site. Les Rulf of L.R. Services will operate the vessel, Knobloch said.
Port officials have also purchased surveying equipment to go with the vessel, Knobloch said. The boat is 100 percent funded by FEMA and will be used in emergencies, Wade said.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. David McClellan said the Coast Guard still has high water limitations north and south on the Atchafalaya River for horsepower and length of vessels.
The commission approved purchasing equipment as part of the 2010 port security grant. Among the items purchased was a RheoTune, which is a piece of surveying equipment used to read through the “fluff” or pudding-like sediment mixture in the Atchafalaya Bar Channel, Wade said. The commission approved purchasing the RheoTune and supporting equipment cost for $126,045; a thermal imaging devices for $13,790; and night vision goggles for $5,200 — all subject to FEMA approval.
The commission approved renewing its insurance with Paul’s Agency for $45,395.
The commission also authorized the purchase of a Ford F350 truck.
The board expanded the agenda and authorized Wade to sign a no objection letter from Joe Miller of Miller Engineers to put in a bulkhead along the Intracoastal Waterway, Port Attorney Gerard Bourgeois said.