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Contact: Robin Winchell (202) 225-4031
WASHINGTON,
DC- U.S.
Rep. Charlie Melancon today announced that Plaquemines Parish will receive
$3,978,603.54 in federal disaster aid grants from the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The grants will
reimburse the Parish for debris removal and rebuilding costs at the Davant Community
Center for damaged caused by Hurricane Katrina.
"Until it was
all but destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, the Davant Community Center
had provided recreation facilities for the citizens of Plaquemines Parish for
over 40 years," Rep. Melancon said. "This rebuilding grant will
help revitalize the community and make sure that once again, families have a
place to meet and socialize with their neighbors."
The following
federal grants were announced today:
- $1,521,995.49
to rebuild and repair the severely damaged Davant Community
Center (Plaquemines Parish). On Aug. 29,
2005, high winds, storm surge and flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina
damaged the Davant
Community Center
that has been a part of the community since it was built in the 1960s. The
complex consisted of several recreation facilities: the main building, the
pool area with a pool house, a concession stand, an outdoor basketball
court, as well as a baseball field. All facilities will be rebuilt, except
for the pool and pool house, which will be repaired.
- $2,456,608.05
for debris removal and cleanup following Hurricane Katrina (Plaquemines
Parish). The storm's strong winds and the rushing water from the levee
breaks tore down trees and extensively damaged property in Plaquemines
Parish. The debris was then deposited along the parish waterway system,
presenting serious health and safety hazards. This grant will reimburse
the parish for removing the debris, which was completed prior to June 30,
2006. A previous version of this grant was based on
estimated costs and did not provide adequate reimbursement to the
parish. The revised version announced today is based on the actual
cost to the Parish for the project and also includes extra funding for the
removal of an additional 25,144 cubic yards of submerged debris not
identified during initial inspections.
"Federal grants such as these have helped us with the
initial storm cleanup and moved us closer to rebuilding our vibrant
communities," said Rep. Melancon. "However, there is still much to be done to
ensure that our parishes, hometowns, and families fully recover from Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. The funding and provisions included in the Iraq/Katrina
Supplemental bill - which was passed last month -- will bring us a long
way in helping the many communities in south Louisiana still struggling to
rebuild and I will keep advocating for them in Washington to make sure all of
their needs are met."
Rep. Melancon has worked in Congress to further reduce the
financial burden on local governments in south Louisiana still struggling to recover from
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Most recently, he worked with the
Louisiana delegation and Congressional leadership to waive the 10 percent local
match requirement for disaster recovery projects and allow federal Community
Disaster Loans to be forgiven for localities that can not afford to repay them.
Under the federal Robert T. Stafford Act, public assistance
projects like those announced today required a 10 percent cost share from local
governments upfront before the remaining 90 percent in federal grant money can
be used. Many of the estimated 23,000 disaster recovery projects in Louisiana had been put
on hold because local governments did not have the resources to provide the
match. The local match requirement has been waived 32 times since 1985
when per capita rebuilding costs have been deemed excessive, but had not yet
been waived for Katrina and Rita.
Rep. Melancon worked with House leadership to include the
waiver of the 10% match in the Iraq/Katrina Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations bill, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the
President at the end of May. This bill provides a total of $6.419 billion
in hurricane recovery and relief funding for Louisiana
and other Gulf Coast states.
In addition, Rep.
Melancon successfully lobbied House leadership to include language in the
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill making Katrina- and Rita-affected
communities eligible for forgiveness of their Community Disaster Loans. An
estimated $1 billion in CDLs were provided by the federal government to
hurricane-affected local governments immediately following Katrina and Rita to
help them continue daily operations, such as payroll for law enforcement and
emergency responders. Many local governments do not have the ability to
repay this massive debt, as their tax bases were devastated by the
storms. Rep. Melancon argued that, in the past, CDLs have been forgiven
following many other major disasters, including Hurricane Andrew and the
September 11th terrorist attacks. With the passage of the
Supplemental, Katrina and Rita CDLs became eligible for forgiveness, taking a
huge financial burden off of local governments in south Louisiana.
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