Parish Council may ask for federal line of credit to get several projects started

Parish Council officials are asking to borrow $320,000 in federal monies to kick start four large-scale projects near Slidell, including levee protection upgrades and construction of a new riverboat training school.

Scheduled for a vote during the council’s Thursday night meeting, four resolutions appeal for the federal line of credit through the Capital Outlay program of 2008 because they have no other means of producing the money.

The parish government has “exhausted all other local options for funding,” including “taxation, special assessments, loans, bond issues and other sources,” the resolutions say.

The parish said it cannot produce the 25 percent match needed to fund a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers levee protection report. It’s asking to borrow $25,000 to complete the project.

Once finished, the document “will set the state for contractual documents needed to install levee protection in the Slidell area and open the door for federal funding under the SELA program,” the resolution said.

SELA, also known as the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Program, was first established in 1996 by Congress to allocate $1.3 billion to Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany flood protection needs. Local governments, however, had to match 25 percent of the federal monies allocated per project. At times, that’s not an option.

Parish officials are also seeking $150,000 to help build the Maritime Training Institute Complex to train Louisiana river and harbor pilots.

The training center will be housed near a 10-acre detention pond donated by Gravity Drainage District No. 5.

St. Tammany government has secured grant funding for preconstruction costs and will use the funding to complete the project.

Also near Slidell, parish officials are asking to borrow $100,000 to kick start a master plan for Camp Salmen, a once thriving 1960s-era Boy Scout camp now abandoned and overrun with foliage.

CSRS Inc., a Baton Rouge-based consulting firm, recently revealed a $20 million plan to upgrade the camp, including four nature trails with boardwalks, a bicycle path, a museum showcasing the history of the Bayou Liberty area, a boat dock, amphitheater and other features.

Although not completely funded, the plan, if and when implemented, aims to bring tourists back to the 106-acre plot that boasts nearly a mile of Bayou Liberty frontage and a live oak grove featuring some the region’s oldest tree specimens.

Also near Slidell, parish officials want to secure a $45,000 line of credit to help build sewer and water extensions as well as a road through the UNO Technology Park.

The park, a mix of college campuses offices, research labs and office spaces, will be located between Stennis Space Center and Michoud assembly plant along the Interstate 10 corridor. Construction is already under way as parish officials hash out logistics to build water and drainage systems as well as a road through the park.