Jindal delivers storm grants

Gov. Bobby Jindal came to St. Bernard Parish Wednesday and he brought a big check with him.

Jindal, in Chalmette to address the St. Bernard Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon at the St. Bernard Civic Auditorium, presented an oversize check for more than $21 million to St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, payment of three grants to help finance the parish's ongoing hurricane recovery efforts.

The largest of the grants, worth $20.4 million, was from a pot of Community Development Block Grant money to reimburse the parish for the demolition of almost 1,000 homes destroyed when the levees failed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, officials said.

The federal recovery money will flow through the Louisiana Land Trust, which is financed by the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Office of Community Development.

The other grants were for $250,548 and $273,263 for work related to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008.

Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said he had committed to Taffaro many months ago that the agency would reimburse the parish for demolishing the houses.

He said at the time the parish had been told by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the tab for the demolitions would not be covered by the feds.

Explaining the demolition costs - upward of $20,000 per house using the 1,000-house estimate - Rainwater said it was based on an older, emergency contract the parish had with Unified Recovery Group.

But he said he told Taffaro to move forward on it to maintain the pace of the parish's recovery.

"We didn't want St. Bernard to lose momentum,'' by stopping its demolition program due to funding issues, Rainwater said.

Taffaro said the parish appreciated the efforts of the state to reimburse the demolition costs.

Of Jindal, Taffaro said, "He's been an unbelievable supporter of St. Bernard Parish's recovery."

Later, in his address to the chamber, Jindal discussed the state's efforts to create a better environment for business and job growth.

Jindal's visit was part of his "Louisiana Working Tour,'' a series of visits to each of Louisiana's 64 parishes to promote his job growth program.

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Bob Warren can be reached at bwarren@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3363.