Funding for West Bank levee, lift station improvements highlight list
Two days after the St. Charles Parish Council approved the hiring of Eglé and Associates by a slim 5-4 vote, the lobbying firm began its representation of the parish in Washington, D.C.
The lobbying firm will earn $100,000 per year and can earn up to $12,000 in expenses. The firm, which is headed by former Lafourche Parish President Richard Eglé, will seek out funding on its own, but will also take advice from Parish President V.J. St. Pierre and other parish officials.
“Because of his position close to all the action in Washington, D.C., Mr. Eglé has a better ability to seek out opportunities for funding that perhaps Mr. St. Pierre and the council would be unaware of,” Renee Allemand-Simpson, the parish’s spokeswoman, said.
St. Pierre anticipates that the lobbyist will find funding opportunities on his own and go after them as part of the agreement to represent the parish’s interests.
“Mr. Eglé will read entire pieces of legislation to see if any wording qualifies our parish for funding in any area of need,” St. Pierre said.
Eglé has also agreed to present regular reports on his activities to the Parish Council at meetings.
“So the public will be kept informed of his actions as well,” Allemand-Simpson said.
One thing that the firm has already begun working on is the fiscal year 2010 Federal Appropriation requests for four projects selected by the council. These include the West Bank Hurricane Protection levee, relocation of Barton Avenue to a new state route from Willowdale Boulevard to LA 18, improvements to sewer lift stations and the construction of a public dock facility on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
The firm has also begun working on projects submitted for inclusion in the Economic Stimulus Package and will try to get the parish reimbursed for post-Katrina storm proofing expenses from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
St. Pierre first introduced the idea of hiring of a lobbyist in August, with Eglé being his first choice. Though Eglé did help Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard secure funding for safe houses, he was never officially employed by the parish and has never lobbied for a government entity before.
In October, St. Pierre decided to wait until after the presidential election to hire a lobbyist because he believed that the winner could determine the best firm to lobby for St. Charles Parish.
Eglé was then hired on Jan. 21.
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