Plaquemines council advances EOC/911 renovations and approves grant-writing funds for $20M federal opportunities

The Plaquemines Parish Council on May 28 approved amendments to the five-year capital plan to advance renovations of the parish Emergency Operations Center and 911 call center and authorized funds to hire a grant-writing contractor to pursue federal resiliency grants.

Administration told the council it has nearly $6 million available for the project — including $1.9 million from a capital outlay allocation and proceeds from the sale of the Popage building — and urged the council to move quickly so the project can be advertised for bids before hurricane season. Councilman Schultz pressed questions about whether the funding should be drawn from a project-specific account; Councilman Nome offered then withdrew an amendment to alter the stated funding source after administration explained the need to preserve project balance for bidding.

Separately, staff described two Department of Defense-linked grant opportunities (installation readiness and resilience) that could provide up to $20 million for infrastructure and pre-construction work tied to military mission support and transportation/logistics networks. Administration asked the council to appropriate about $70,000 to retain ELOS (grant-writing contractor) to prepare two complex applications on a tight timetable; the council approved the funding and related appropriations.

Outcome: Council approved the EOC/911 capital plan amendment and the grant-writing appropriation. Administration said it would return with bid-ready documents and report back on final grant submission outcomes and any required local match obligations before accepting awards.

Next steps: administration to move project toward bid, finalize ELOS contract scope, and report potential match requirements and detailed grant application deliverables back to council.