Biloxi wants bigger share of Tidelands money for big projects
BILOXI -- Casinos and other Biloxi business paid 84 percent of the total Tidelands Fund last fiscal year, yet the city received only a small chunk back to finance waterfront improvements.
Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann told him Biloxi didn't ask for enough.
The new mayor quickly responded by applying for $14.75 million in Tidelands funds, which are paid for by leases of bottomlands, and $112 million from the RESTORE Act funding coming to the state.
"We have more applications in this year than there is money available," city attorney Gerald Blessey said. "We don't ever again want anyone to say we're not asking for enough." Last year, $6.9 million, or 84 percent, of the payments into the Tidelands Fund, came from Biloxi. The city got back $680,000 for projects -- less than 7 percent of the awards.
"While we don't expect 100 percent to come to Biloxi, we do think it's a bit out of balance here," Blessey said.
The eight grant applications submitted this year are to fund more sweeping projects designed to generate tourism and make wise use of the money to generate jobs, Blessey said.
The state Department of Marine Resources rates the projects and the state legislature makes the final recommendations on how the money should be allocated when the legislators reconvene in January.
Two of Biloxi's projects scored in the top 10:
n $2 million to construct a waterfront boardwalk south of Biloxi Bay Bridge, where the state fishing pier and the shoreline boardwalks are in disrepair since Hurricane Katrina, remove sediment from the Point Cadet Marina and dredge the waterfront where debris from Katrina is still in the water.
n $500,000 to connect the existing walkway at Biloxi Waterfront Park to the Point Cadet fishing bridge and provide signs about native plants and migratory birds.
Biloxi projects in the top 20:
n $750,000 to relocate the Tricentennial mural from on Ohr Street in downtown to Tricentennial Park, an oak tree-filled lot east of Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art. The city would install landscaping, lighting and walkways and build a music shell for concerts, add parking and provide a pedestrian crosswalk to the Schooner Pier, boat launch and beach.
n $2.5 million to expand Point Cadet Marina 500 feet to the west and provide new slips for 75-foot and longer recreational vessels and sport fishing yachts. A boardwalk with open air pavilions and a docking area for the proposed Deer Island ferry also are part of the plan.
n $3 million for a West Biloxi Festival Boardwalk to connect restaurants and other tourism businesses on the beach from Camellia to Rodenberg. It also would provide a boat ramp at Camellia, open air pavilions at Veterans Avenue and Camelia Street, benches and public parking.
n $2 million to create Back Bay market place and commercial and recreational marinas from I-110 to Oak Street, with an open kitchen to educate the public about local seafood, plus retail shops, restaurants, a sailing school and space for Mississippi Department of Marine Resources' safety classes.
n $2 million to add 60 slips to the west in the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor, making it more visible to visitors, plus add restrooms and facilities to display and clean fish and space for seafood sales.
The expansion of the Small Craft Harbor is part of the city's broader plan to link the waterfront areas from Point Cadet to the Town Green. This and other projects will require additional funding and Biloxi is requesting a share of RESTORE Act money BP will be paying to the state, including $15 million to help bring high-speed Internet throughout South Mississippi.
Coast cities are asking the state legislature to use the BP money in South Mississippi, where the damage from the Gulf oil spill occurred.
"Invest in the Coast," Blessey said. "We'll send Jackson more money."
This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Biloxi wants bigger share of Tidelands money for big projects ."