Wave breaker proposed for Lake Palourde

Engineers are going to study the possibility of putting some kind of wave-break structure in Lake Palourde in an effort to lower the levee heights needed for the flood protection of Lakeside Subdivision in Morgan City.
The alternative engineers are examining is to put in a structure to break waves on Lake Palourde and eliminate waves as a factor in the determination of flood protection, St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said. “So it drops that elevation down that you have to protect,” Matte said.
The St. Mary Levee District commission held its monthly meeting Thursday in Franklin.
The levee district is examining that option for its study to provide protection for Lakeside Subdivision and attempting to get cost estimates and run models to make sure the plan will work, Matte said.
The high elevations required to meet 100-year flood protection are due to having to protect against still water plus the wave on top of the levee, Matte said.
The commission approved about $38,000 for T. Baker Smith to perform work to look at putting in a break water structure.
The Morgan City levee improvements project is ready to go to the permitting phase, Matte said.
Kevin O’Gorman of engineering firm T. Baker Smith said Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority officials have discussed how they may use funding to tie in the levees from Lake End Park to the Atchafalaya River levee.
The permitting process will take a couple months, and then final design will begin, Matte said. T. Baker Smith is looking at possibly pulling the levee back from the lakeshore on the Hellenic property in order to be able to develop that lakefront property without a levee in front of it, Matte said.
Therefore, that property will not be tied into the levee system and will not be protected property, he said.
The district will get a cost estimate for moving the existing levee along Lake Palourde in front of the Hellenic property back 750 feet from the waterfront, Matte said. The move could allow Hellenic management to develop a subdivision on the property without levee protection possibly attaining high enough elevation to not need a levee, he said.
The commission authorized the district to enter into an agreement with T. Baker Smith for $43,000 of work to get that cost estimate subject to Hellenic’s willingness to fund the effort. The contract includes geotechnical surveying and modification design plans.
The Franklin Canal Pump Station, which would work in conjunction with the Franklin Canal floodgates, is short funding even with $400,000 in funds the levee district gave to the City of Franklin for the project, Matte said. The station needs at least two pumps, but three pumps would be able to adequately handle the volume of water coming in, Matte said.
The commission authorized loaning up to $350,000 to the City of Franklin in order to complete the Franklin Pump Station project.
During a hurricane or high water the Franklin Canal floodgates will be closed, thus requiring three pumps to be able to get the water out so as not to cause water to back up on the closed side of the gates, Matte said.
If the City of Franklin is willing to put up $350,000 for the project, the levee district commission agreed to loan the city that money to be paid back over a three- to five-year period, Matte said.
Boy Scoutmaster Harold Schoeffler asked the commission for its support for a 55-mile wilderness bike trail on top of the levees that would stretch from the Henderson Boat Landing to the control gate on the west side of Wax Lake Outlet, he said. The Boy Scouts have already gotten support from the Atchafalaya Basin Levee District, he said.
Schoeffler did not ask for any financial support for the trail, just permission.
Commission President Bill Hidalgo said the commission plans to review the proposal and decide whether to offer its support at its next meeting.
In other business, the commission:
—Approved adopting the 2014 millage rate of 5 mills on the dollar.
—Authorized Bourgeois Thorguson to retain a real estate appraiser for the Bayou Chene project at a price not to exceed $15,000.
—Authorized Hidalgo to sign agreements with Berwick, Morgan City and St. Mary Parish to become the non-federal sponsor for levees under the contingency that the St. Mary Levee District is recognized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as that sponsor.
—Approved an amendment to CB&I’s contract for the Bayou Chene project in the amount of $16,655 relating to the permitting process.