M.C. changes include police, electricity

The city’s year was marked by changes in the police department’s administration and the start of construction on a new power plant that will serve six communities.
After former Police Chief Travis Crouch’s death in January, Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi named Michael Banks police chief in February. Banks later announced his plans to retire from the department at the end of the year.
Grizzaffi is now going through the procedures to name a new police chief. The application period for police chief will end Jan. 6, 2015, followed by the Civil Service chief’s test Feb. 26, 2015, Grizzaffi said. Then Grizzaffi will be able to start the selection process, he said.
The mayor will also appoint a new fire chief in 2015 as Fire Chief Morris Price is officially retiring May 17, 2015, though Grizzaffi will have a chief in place prior to that, he said. Grizzaffi will call for a fire chief’s test at the same time as he calls for the police chief’s test, he said. Substitute Fire Chief Mark Stephens has led the department since Price began taking vacation days Nov. 14.
During the year, the Police Department added body cameras to its repertoire, which officers will wear while they are on-duty. The video that is captured will be downloaded to a computer after each officer’s shift.
In April, Louisiana Energy and Power Authority officials broke ground on a new 64-megawatt power plant of which Morgan City has a 10-megawatt share.
The Joseph Cefalu Sr. Municipal Steam Plant is set to close in June 2015, Grizzaffi said. Louisiana Energy and Power Authority officials expect the new LEPA plant to be online Oct. 15, 2015, he said. From June until October, the city will get its power solely from Cleco, the mayor said.
The natural gas-fueled power plant will serve other LEPA member municipalities Houma, Jonesville, Plaquemine, Rayne and Vidalia.
In 2014, the city’s new 112-megawatt transformer went online at its Capacitor Bank Substation on Youngs Road along with electrical utility safeguards. Upgrades to the utility system have made it somewhat more efficient, the mayor said. Officials are looking how to fund more upgrades, he said.
“Our goal now is to provide the city with reliable electricity, and in order to do so, we need to address some infrastructure that is very old,” Grizzaffi said. “It’s the same approach we’ve made with the water, sewer and gas (department).”
Grizzaffi said a subdivision is in the works for the Hellenic property. “The Hellenic group is eager to get something done,” he said. “I have located an architect firm and a developer.”
A development district was created, but Grizzaffi has not yet set up a board, he said.
The city hosted several events throughout the year including the “Rock the 5th” July Fourth celebration, the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival, the Bayou BBQ Bash, the downtown Jingle Mingle and a movie showing in the park. “We’re trying to create more things for the citizens to do, and we’ll continue that in 2015,” Grizzaffi said. In the first quarter of 2015, the city will host a performance by comedian John Morgan at the auditorium, the mayor said.
The city is now getting better mosquito control service since the city took over mosquito control, Grizzaffi said.
City officials have strengthened relationships with the St. Mary Levee District, St. Mary Parish Consolidated Sub-gravity Drainage District No. 2 and Port of Morgan City over the past year, he said.
“Budget-wise we’re doing pretty good,” Grizzaffi said. “We’re turning some fund balances that were made up of ‘I owe yous’ into real cash. It doesn’t make the books look any different, but when you look at the books you’re looking at a good cash balance.”
Since he became mayor, one of Grizzaffi’s goals was to operate the city at a lower budget, he said. “But since I’ve been here, I’ve realized it’s a very difficult task because of the fact that you have reoccurring expenses that only go up — insurance, retirement, cost of living 2 percent increase,” Grizzaffi said.
In 2014, the city did a lot of subsurface work including work on water, sewer and gas lines in advance of stronger state regulations that are coming, Grizzaffi said. “We’ll continue to spend another million and a half next year on infrastructure upgrades to our water, sewer and gas.”
City workers located almost all of the infiltrations to the city’s storm water drains and are making repairs, he said. The water, sewer and gas department was the city’s most active department in 2014. The city began a lot of road repair projects late in the year once city officials knew about how much the three-tenths sales tax for roads had brought in during the year, he said. “That is a dedicated tax so we make sure on dedicated monies that it’s spent in that manner,” Grizzaffi said.
Several advances in the recreation department was seen throughout the year, the mayor said. Those advances include a skateboard facility, the completion of Cypress Park, a baseball complex and the city’s petting zoo, he said. The petting zoo is set to open in the first quarter of 2015, he said.
The Fallen Warriors Memorial was also finished and unveiled for Veterans Day on the grounds of the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. The memorial honors those soldiers from the Tri-City area who died during combat. Organizers raised the funds to construct the project in about a year. People also purchased bricks for the memorial with the name of relatives or friends who served in the military.
Grizzaffi said city officials negotiated an agreement with the Port of Morgan City swapping some city property to build the port’s Government Emergency Operations Center in exchange for about $450,000 to cement the rest of the parking lot at the auditorium.
The parking lot improvements are part of the city’s master plan that the city had not been able to afford, Grizzaffi said. “Now, we’re getting that funded by the port,” the mayor said.
During the year, the city began plans for a project to improve the city’s wharf using grant money, Grizzaffi said. The wharf project will go to bid in the beginning of 2015, he said. Three more cabins at Lake End Parkway are also scheduled to be built in 2015, Grizzaffi said.