Clearing the way; Contractor progressing on levee project

Just two weeks into construction, work is progressing quickly on the Lake End Park to Justa Street portion of the Morgan City Levee Improvements Project.
St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte gave an update on the Morgan City Levee Improvements Project for Project Engineer Kevin O’Gorman of T. Baker Smith at Thursday’s levee district meeting.
Parish Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2 is in charge of the project. The entire Morgan City levee project is estimated to cost $18 million.
Officials broke ground Jan. 31 on the $8.1 million Lake End Park to Justa Street portion of the levee project. Sections of levee are being raised from 1 foot to as much as 5 feet. The contractor, Phylway Construction, has 400 days, not counting rain days, from Feb. 1 to complete the Lake End Park to Justa Street leg.
Phylway has been working efficiently to clear trees from the borrow site on the Hellenic property near Lake Palourde, Matte said. Drainage district funds and Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority grant money are paying for the project.
The purpose of the project is to certify Morgan City’s levees for 100-year, or 1 percent, storm surge protection, which refers to a storm that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year. Certifying the levees will allow Morgan City to adopt its flood maps used for determining flood insurance rates.
Morgan City has been appealing its Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps since 2008 due to its levees being labeled insufficient for 100-year protection.
Raising all the levees should allow for the lowering of flood insurance in the city, Drainage District Chairman Lee Dragna said recently.
Material excavated from the Hellenic property will be used to raise the levees, and the site will eventually serve as a drainage canal and flow into a new pump station by Lake End Park. That pump station will replace two pump stations near Teche Regional Medical Center.
A bond proposition will be on the March 25 election ballot for the district to issue bonds not exceeding $6.25 million to pay for constructing the new pump station. Officials say the proposition wouldn’t raise any taxes on property owners.
The finish date to raise levees in Siracusaville, the first leg of the levee project that began in May 2016, is expected to finish by April 25 due to rain delays. St. Mary Parish Government is overseeing that part of the project.
A community block development grant paid for most of the $2.9 million project, while drainage district funds will cover the remaining balance.
Another section of the project entails raising La. 70 by Lake End Park and tying that part of the highway in the mainline levee. That stretch could go to bid for construction as early as March, and begin construction by the summer, Matte said.
Levee district officials are still exploring possibilities to come up with a solution to provide flood protection for Lakeside Subdivision. Officials want to see if modeling would provide evidence to allow them to reduce the elevation requirements for storm surge protection, Matte said.
Once the whole levee project is done, the levee district will take over maintenance of the levees.
In other business, the commission
—Accepted substantial completion of improvements to Avoca Road stemming from the 2016 winter flood fight.
—Approved an application for assistance from the Statewide Flood Control Grant on the Bayou Teche floodgate project.