Parish business, industry grew and expanded in ‘14

Business and industry has continued to grow and expand in the past year in St. Mary Parish, according to Economic Development Director Frank Fink.
Metal Shark Aluminum Boats of Jeanerette opened in July its new 25-acre facility on the Charenton Navigation and Drainage Canal just south of U.S. 90 near Franklin.
The $10 million investment takes up more than 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and has created about 50 jobs with as many as 100 employees expected to be hired within the next few years, according to the company’s website.
The shipyard is capable of supporting aluminum and steel shipbuilding operations for vessels up to and exceeding 250 feet in length. Smaller vessels will continue to be built at the company’s existing facility in Jeanerette.
Also on the Charenton canal, LAD Services of Stephensville has taken over the former Superior Fabricators site just south of the La. 182 bridge east of Baldwin.
The West St. Mary Port Commission purchased the site from Superior and negotiated a 20-year lease with LAD. Some 25-40 employees will be hired initially and the company hopes to eventually provide 100 jobs to build 300-foot double hulled oil barges.
Elsewhere, Fink said, D&D Welding of Patterson moved its location to the U.S. 90 frontage road in Centerville to expand and is now in operation at the larger facility.
Most of the large industries in the Morgan City area such as Oceaneering, Intermoor, Cameron, Seacraft, Swift Ships and Allison Marine are in the midst of expansion projects, Fink said.
Possible future industrial endeavors that may come to the parish include a chemical company called Kytosan USA that is considering a facility at the Port of West St. Mary, Fink said. The company produces the protein chitosan from shrimp and crab shells that is used in pharmaceuticals and agriculture. Fink said the company may have a pilot facility opened sometime in 2015.
Another company, OneSubsea, has sited a location for a new facility in Berwick, however, Fink said that project is on hold.
Retail in the parish has also been growing, Fink said. New Walgreen’s and Hibbitt Sports stores have opened in Franklin and there’s a new Walmart Neighborhood Market going up in Morgan City.
In an update on parish projects, St. Mary President Paul Naquin said a bid has been awarded on the new pump station that is part of the Philip Luke Flood Protection Structure on the Franklin Canal. The protection structure valued at $5.74 million was completed in November 2013 and was a joint effort by the St. Mary Levee District, the city, parish, state and federal governments.
The pump station project awarded to Sealevel Construction of Thibodaux will facilitate drainage on the protected side of the flood protection structure.
Other parish projects completed or in the works are being funded by a $19.5 million community development block grant related to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and $6.8 million in bonds from the 1-cent sales tax dedicated to capital improvements to public buildings.
The CDBG projects include:
—Reconstruction of Jolivette and Lebeau streets in Baldwin. Valued at $411,400, construction was completed in midyear.
—Drainage improvements that include culvert upgrades and the addition of a new pump station on south Willow Street in Franklin, $1.2 million; final permit in hand with bids to be let in January and construction to begin in March.
—Replacement and flood proofing of the Atchafalaya River wharf in Berwick, a $414,600 project that was completed in March.
—Flood protection projects that include floodgate and levee improvements on Yellow Bayou and Hanson Canal, $6.2 million, with construction under way; Yokely levee improvements, $4.5 million, in permitting phase and right-of-way acquisition; and parishwide sewer lift station electrical retrofits and upgrades, $511,000, with construction completed.
—Patterson sewer upgrades, $366,500, completed.
—Just over $2.4 million toward levee improvement projects in Morgan City, awaiting permits, should go out for bids in March.
Capital improvement projects include:
—Blevins building in Franklin: exterior waterproofing and window repainting ($127,218, completed) and modification and improvements to provide parish offices ($873,750, contract awarded to Acadiane Renovations with work under way).
—Courthouse: Extensive exterior work, $891,225, work under way; redesign of entry canopy, $215,525, pending; window replacement, $563,394, pending; and boiler re-placement, $145,625, completed. Other pending work includes elevator and elevator lobby upgrades, $681,525: parish office general improvements on the fifth floor, $116,500; general improvements on the third, fourth and sixth floors, $844,625; and replacement and upgrades of HVAC air boxes above ceilings on the third, fourth and sixth floors, $699,000. Naquin said the exterior work will include redesign of the parking lot with enhanced landscaping. The long-term goal is to renovate the second floor of the Blevins building to create office space for non-parish agencies currently on the third floor of the courthouse.
That would allow the District Attorney’s office to move from the fifth floor to the third and parish offices on the third floor to move to the fifth, he said.
—Animal Control: facility replacement, $495,125, under design.
—Old Tiger Den building in Franklin renovations for office space, $116,500, under design.
A new larger emergency generator has been installed at the Law Enforcement Center in Centerville.
Other projects include those being funded by the Coastal Impact Assistance Program. CIAP provides federal funds to Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas producing states to mitigate the impacts of the industry.
The projects totaling almost $7 million include the Point Chevreuil shoreline protection project in under contract, at $1.9 million, that covers 4,250 feet of coast line around the point at the southernmost tip of East Cote Blanche Bay; and the Deer Island Pass realignment, $2.7 million with bids due in March. The latter project includes dredging a new navigation channel at the mouth of Deer Island Bayou to protect marsh land and reduce siltation at Atchafalaya Bay.
Completed CIAP projects include the Burns Point shoreline project, $1.01 million for protection of the 8½-acre recreational vehicle park and campground at Bayou Sale Bay; the $1.6 million Thorguson-Berwick South Road project to widen and overlay the road used as a main thoroughfare by the oil and gas industry.
CIAP monies are also partially funding the construction of a $1.68 million new industrial road in Morgan City between Second Street and Federal Avenue inside the seawall in an effort to divert industrial and commercial traffic away for residential neighborhoods. Funding for the project includes $335,000 in state and $525,000 in parish CIAP funds, and $820,000 in state capital outlay funds. Naquin said the project was just recently completed.
In other areas, the parish has been allocated hazard mitigation grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a result of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008. The grants require a 25 percent match by the local recipient.
Those projects include:
—$1 million for wind retrofit projects of public buildings to protect from future damage. The grant will fund projects at the school board Central Office Complex in Centerville, Franklin and Morgan City fire departments, the Blevins building in Franklin and the Office of Emergency Preparedness’ hangar and warehouse at Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport. Work on these projects is under way.
—$250,000 for construction of “safe rooms” for staff at drainage pump stations in Amelia and Morgan City, design under review and awaiting FEMA clearance.
—$2.5 million for upgrade of pump stations in the Berwick, Amelia and Morgan City areas, design under review and awaiting FEMA clearance.
—$1.5 million for elevation of the North Bend, Gordy, Ellerslie and Todd pump stations all located off La. 317 south of Centerville; application approved by FEMA and in design phase.
Work on the courthouse flood-proofing project in Franklin is under way. The $640,000 project includes flood proofing the main mechanical room located in the basement. Flood-proofing will include building a 3- to 4-foot high floodwall on the rear of the courthouse extending from the tunnel entries.
Boat landing improvement projects completed include construction of a floating dock at Joe C. Russo Memorial Boat Launch on the basin levee off of La. 70 north of Morgan City and wharf improvements at the R.J. Marcel Memorial Boat Landing in Amelia. The projects are part of the Coastal Communities Fishery Recovery Program, which provided $400,000 for the projects.
Sewer installation projects at Websterville and St. Peter Street are in the midst of rights-of-way acquisitions. The Adeline project is moving forward with the recent passage of Water and Sewer District 4 bond issue. Construction of the Bakertown sewer extension project that began in January is now complete. The parish is providing 85 percent of the funding for the projects with the respective sewer districts pitching in 15 percent, Naquin said.
In closing, Naquin said, “It’s been a great year for us, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2015,” Naquin said. “I wish a safe and prosperous new year to everyone in St. Mary Parish.”