Officials: Dredging will generate business

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to use $11 million in funds to dredge the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel, and Port of Morgan City officials say that means more import-export business for the area.
High water is causing sediment to build up more rapidly in the channel.
At Monday’s Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District commission meeting, Anh Nguyen of the Corps of Engineers said corps officials plan to award a contract in mid-September to dredge the channel. The bar channel is congressionally mandated to be 20 feet deep and 400 feet wide. Corps officials plan to dredge to the 20-foot depth but only a 300-foot width under the proposed contract in order to be able to dredge the entire channel, Nguyen said.
The bar channel is about 22 miles long and begins about 20 miles south of the Port of Morgan City dock.
The corps has $4 million to dredge the channel before Oct. 1, which marks the end of its fiscal year, and another $7 million for the next fiscal year, said Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade.
Due to the high water right now, Wade said “we’re getting slammed in the bar (channel).” Water flowing from upriver is causing lots of silt to build up in the channel, Wade said.
Wade expects a ship, which will carry rice for Planters Rice Mill of Abbeville, to come to the Port of Morgan City by the end of July in order to export rice to Haiti. Import-export ships began arriving at the port in August 2014.
“We’re fixing to have a lot more activity, so we’ve got to get that channel maintained so we can bring the economic development into the area,” Wade said.
In April, Wade said each time an import-export ship visits the Port of Morgan City , the ship provides a roughly $300,000 economic impact to the community through direct and indirect jobs, fuel and tugboats used and many other factors.
During the meeting, U.S. Coast Guard Capt. David McClellan, commanding officer of Marine Safety Unit Morgan City, said the Coast Guard has high water vessel towing restrictions in place due the river levels being at about 6 feet as of Monday evening. The river is projected to reach a 6.5-foot crest on July 20.
Also at the meeting, the port commission adopted its 2015-16 fiscal year budget.
The port budgeted for a $1.6 million deficiency of expenditures compared to revenues for the fiscal year beginning July 1 due to the matching funds required to pay the port’s Government Emergency and Operations Center, Port Commissioner Deborah Garber said. The deficiency isn’t due to operating expenses, Garber said.
However, the port will cover that deficiency through its fund balance, which is projected to be $24.8 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, Garber said. That fund balance includes the port’s assets and doesn’t reflect the amount of cash the port has on hand, Garber said.
Port officials put up $3.9 million in matching funds for the operations center in addition to the $7.1 million the state provided. The building, located adjacent to the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium, will serve as a command center during emergencies such as hurricanes and will also house governmental tenants on a daily basis.
McClellan said Monday that Coast Guard officials are reviewing the port’s proposal for the Coast Guard to be a tenant in its new Government Emergency and Operations Center. Substantial completion on the center is scheduled for the last week of September.
If approved, the Coast Guard would occupy the first floor of the center, Wade said. Though Coast Guard headquarters hasn’t yet approved the proposal, “right now, it appears that the Coast Guard will be going in there,” Wade said.
Plans are in the works within the next year to reduce the Coast Guard’s Morgan City Marine Safety Unit staff from 110 to 76 personnel, which will is coincidentally consistent with the Port of Morgan City’s proposal for the amount of space available in the new operations center, McClellan said.
On Monday, Operations Center Project Manager Walt Adams said construction on the building is estimated to be 58 percent complete.
In other business, the commission:
—Accepted a bid of $65,622 to install cluster piles at the port for large vessels to tie up to.
—Renewed The Daily Review as the port’s official journal.
—Approved the port to provide $90,000 for the city of Morgan City wharf and dock expansion project, which the port had already budgeted for.
—Accepted a proposal in the amount of $9,865 for radios as part of the port’s Tactical Command and Control System.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.