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Administration updates council on $117M in CDBG-DR projects, some studies due before August submission
Summary
Parish administration told the council that Terrebonne’s CDBG-Disaster Recovery portfolio includes 14 approved projects and 11 awaiting state review; several projects require studies before application and some funding was reallocated after a BRIC opportunity closed. Deadlines and compliance steps were emphasized.
Parish administration briefed the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government council on April 16 about the status of CDBG-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) projects tied to Hurricane Ida recovery and other resilience work.
An administration presenter summarized the parish’s active portfolio: 14 projects have been approved and 11 remain pending state approval. Administration said some pending projects will require studies first — for example, the support-for-seafood and community-center projects — and the state (OCD) asked the parish to change the project order so studies precede implementation applications.
Officials told the council that one federal funding opportunity the parish had planned to use as a match (a BRIC grant) was canceled, and the parish reallocated that local match to other projects including the Find Our Roots museum, a housing and human-services resilience center, and expanded dredging for Activate the Bayou. The administration emphasized HUD and OCD procurement, environmental-compliance and maintenance-of-benefit rules: each project must pass environmental review and procurement steps before appraisals and construction and must be maintained for five years after completion or the parish risks having to repay reimbursement funding.
The presenter listed several large projects included in the budget-amendment items discussed during the meeting: a Fletcher Aviation workforce development line ($5,000,000), Geraldine Pump Station (federal FEMA-related line of $9,760,659 and a separate CDBG-DR allocation of $3,500,000), a water-line expansion ($2,600,000), and drainage/debris removal following Hurricane Francine ($1,351,333). Administration said extensions have been secured to complete studies and submit applications; certain studies must be finished to meet an extension deadline in late August 2025, and the overall expenditure period for major CDBG-DR funds extends to November 2027.
Council members asked about operating and maintenance costs for new facilities, community engagement for the seafood-industry study, possible overlap with prior studies, and whether past plans could inform new studies. Administration said the public-facing portal for project tracking would be launched soon so residents and stakeholders can inspect project timelines and compliance milestones.
Ending: Administration said staff and the parish’s consultant are processing review questions from OCD daily and have started kickoffs on a few projects; they plan to publish project-level status on the public portal as compliance milestones are cleared. No council vote specifically changed CDBG-DR allocations at this meeting beyond the ordinance items that were presented in the public-hearing batch earlier in the agenda.
