Slidell Mayor Ben Morris on Wednesday announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency has offered an estimated price for the rebuilding of the Slidell Auditorium on Second Street. The auditorium sustained heavy water damage from Katrina, and the funding for its repair or rebuilding has been a bone of contention between Slidell and FEMA.

The main ballroom of the auditorium has been repaired and is being used for functions. But the wings of the building, which housed several city government offices, sustained a lot of damage and are uninhabitable.

At first FEMA agreed to pay to renovate the building with the stipulation the city build a 6-foot floodwall around the auditorium. Morris said the cost of the wall would be prohibitive for the city. This week, FEMA said the auditorium was eligible for repair funding and estimated the repairs plus the floodwall would be $2.845 million. Morris said he would bring in engineers to see what figures the city would counter with.

“We need some documentation to get them to reassess their price,” Morris said. He added he did not agree with FEMA’s requirement for the floodwall, but he said he would continue with negotiations. If Slidell and FEMA come to an agreement, work could start in 15 months.

“We will keep you posted on that,” Morris said.

Morris also told the monthly East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce luncheon crowd the building that was supposed to be constructed on the DISA site in downtown Slidell will now be built on a lot on East Gause Boulevard. Last month, the City Council approved a lease agreement with contractors Meyer McMath LLC, and the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation to build a 20,000-square-foot office building on the DISA site for $3.6 million. The STEDF would pay for the construction, and Meyer McMath would rent the building out to the geospatial map company 3001 Inc. The city would collect $100,000 a year in rent. Plus the city would end up owning the building after a 40-year lease, according to the plan.

The mayor explained the contractors decided it would be less expensive to build on their own land and not have to pay rent to the city.

Though the city will miss out on some much-needed revenue, Morris saw a silver lining in the decision.

“The company is still moving here, bringing jobs,” Morris said.

STEDF executive director Brenda Reine-Bertus said 3001 Inc. will bring in 50 new jobs to the city with an estimated payroll of $3.5 million.