Lake Charles secures $58.6 million in disaster-recovery funding for local projects

Mayor Marshall Simeon announced that the City of Lake Charles has received a letter from the Louisiana Office of Community Development approving $58.6 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding for critical city projects. "The city of Lake Charles has officially received the letter from the state of Louisiana Office of Community Development approving $58.6 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding for critical projects," he said.

The mayor said the grant will support several priorities the administration has emphasized since taking office last July, including moving an indoor sports complex "across the finish line." He also said the funding will support a new home for Starks Nest: "We recently signed an agreement with Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated to construct a new facility on Belden Street," Simeon said, adding the investment will expand access to services for single mothers and children.

Simeon further noted the City Council has authorized an agreement with the State of Louisiana to build a 10-foot pedestrian path along Prien Lake Road from the Holly Hill traffic circle to Lake Street to provide a safer connection over Contraband Bayou for pedestrians and cyclists. The transcript does not specify how the $58.6 million will be apportioned among these projects or provide a project-by-project funding breakdown.

City officials did not announce a public timetable or detailed implementation plan for allocating the funds in this statement. The mayor characterized completion of these projects as a top administration priority and said the city will continue work on the identified projects as funding and agreements allow.