City moving forward with plans to adopt flood maps

Morgan City officials are one step closer to adopting the city’s revised flood insurance maps, but the adoption will be mostly a formality in order to meet a federal deadline and won’t affect residents’ flood insurance rates.
The City Council introduced an ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting to accept a Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance study and revised flood maps.
City officials have to send notice of approval of the maps to FEMA by April 19 in order to remain in the National Flood Insurance Program, Morgan City Planning and Zoning Director Anthony Governale said. The ordinance will go through a public hearing during the council’s Feb. 21 meeting.
Residents and business owners won’t see any changes to their flood insurance rates because of the revised maps, Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said.
All municipalities in the parish are also required to have their flood maps adopted by the FEMA deadline.
Secluded from the new maps in Morgan City will be the undeveloped Hellenic property, Brownell Homes and Lake End Park, Governale said.
The city is still currently using 1996 FEMA flood maps to determine insurance rates. In 2008, FEMA released preliminary flood maps, and Morgan City appealed those maps because of the drastic increases in base flood elevations for flood insurance purposes, Governale said.
“They did not take into account some of the levees that we had because they (the levees) were not approved or accredited,” Governale said.
Other municipalities in St. Mary Parish weren’t able to adopt their 2008 maps due to Morgan City’s appeal. However, FEMA has since come out with its seclusion principle that allows communities to adopt their maps in areas that benefit from the new maps while secluding other areas that don’t yet meet the 100-year storm surge standard.
After doing a study, FEMA released the revised maps that will go into effect April 19. Once the Morgan City Levee Improvements Project is finished, city officials will be able to apply for a map correction to reflect the new levee heights, Governale said.
St. Mary Parish Consolidated Gravity District 2 is in charge of the $18 million project to raise levees in the Morgan City area. Levees will be raised anywhere from a few inches to 4 feet in some places.
The goal of the project is to keep flood insurance rates from skyrocketing. Upon the project’s completion, Morgan City’s levees will meet 100-year, or 1 percent, storm surge protection, which is a storm that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year. Parish government is managing the Siracusaville portion of the project that is outside the city limits.
The drainage district plans to officially break ground on the Lake End Park to Justa Street section Jan. 31 at the Cajun Coast welcome center in Morgan City. Work began in May 2016 on the Siracusaville levees.
Other parts of the Morgan City levee project include raising about a quarter-mile of La. 70 to tie the stretch of highway into the levee system and moving a pump station to near Lake End Park.
Officials are still working to come up with a plan to provide flood protection for Lakeside Subdivision.
Also during Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved Morgan City Main Street to hold the inaugural Basin Brew Fest March 18, from 1:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. under the U.S. 90 bridge. Organizers are working with distributors to get only “Louisiana craft brews,” for the event, Main Street Director Beth Portero said.
Officials will sell tickets to get alcohol samples at the event, she said. There will also be a separate beer booth from 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. during a live band performance.
The third annual Irish/Italian Heritage Parade will be held in conjunction with the fest. The parade will start at 1 p.m. at the corner of Second and Belanger streets and will end at Front and Everett streets.
In other business, the council
—Approved St. John Lodge 11 to hold an Easter egg hunt open to the public from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. April 8 at Broussard Park on Barrow Street.
—Approved a bid tabulation for the Myrtle Street gravity sewer line upgrade at a cost of $146,617.50 from PM Construction & Rehab.
—Changed the February meeting date to Feb. 21 due to the regular meeting date conflicting with Mardi Gras.
—Approved cooperative endeavor agreements to receive state capital outlay funds to construct cabins at Lake End Parkway, do improvements to the city’s water plant and do drainage improvements on La. 70.
—Approved engaging Kolder, Champagne, Slaven and Co. to perform the city’s annual audit at a cost not to exceed $65,500.
—Accepted the appointment of Adam Mayon and reappointment of Tim Matthews to the Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Commission.
—Declared surplus property and authorized an act of donation of old air packs to LSU Fire and Emergency Training Institute.
—Introduced an ordinance for the city to open a line of credit not to exceed $2 million to simplify the city’s borrowing process.