Coast group picked 14 projects for oil spill money. But Jackson just passed a new list.
Members of the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund Advisory Board spent months reviewing possible projects to finance with $85.5 million in RESTORE Act money, and their final recommendation was 14 projects they said would have the biggest economic impact across South Mississippi.
But the House and Senate on Tuesday approved a different list that cuts or deletes many of the large projects the advisory committee recommended and is heavy on projects in George and Jackson counties.
One new project gives $1.55 million to a private company in Picayune, Power Dynamics Innovations LLC.
The list for how to spend the money was included in SB 2977, an appropriations bill for the Mississippi Development Authority.
It also requires that MDA track and report how the money is spent on each project financed through the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund.
The advisory board’s recommendation that $32.5 million be spent on USM’s Ocean Enterprise project at the State Port of Gulfport is on the Legislative list. But the amount was cut to $7 million, and the money was spread around to many more projects, cities and counties.
The recommendation for $18 million to build a Mississippi Gulf Coast YMCA in Gulfport was deleted as was money for the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport and funds to help Coastal Mississippi tourism bureau.
Among the recommended projects that did make it onto the new list are the restoration of Saenger Theater in downtown Biloxi, and money to build a parking garage and a creative complex at Walter Anderson Museum of Art, both in downtown Ocean Springs.
Ashley Edwards, executive direction of the Gulf Coast Business Council and chairman of the advisory board, said he was just seeing the conference report Tuesday morning and didn’t yet have information on all the projects.
“I’m disappointed,” said Becky Montgomery Jenner, who also served on the advisory committee.
“We spent a lot of time, effort and energy going thorough those applications,” she said, “to have our effort ignored.”
The Restoration Committee, whose members were appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House, considered 119 applications for the money. They narrowed it down first to 29 and then the final 14.
Edwards had told the Sun Herald during the review that Legislators could select some or all of the projects recommended or they could choose any projects originally on the list.
Some of the projects that ultimately made the Legislative list weren’t among those that applied and went through the process.
Serving on the conference committee from the House were Richard Bennett, who represents Long Beach; Manly Barton, who represents George and Jackson counties, and John Reed, who represents Jackson County and is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
The Senate committee members were W. Briggs Hopson III, who represents Issaquena, Warren and Yazoo counties and is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; John Polk, who represents Lamar and Pearl River counties, and Jeff Tate, who represents Clarke and Lauderdale counties.
To compare, here is the legislators’ new list along with the Coast committee’s list. The dollar amounts are not the total costs of the projects, but how much RESTORE Act funds each would receive.
New Legislative committee list
▪ $7 million for USM Ocean Enterprise Phase 1
▪ $6.6 million for Port of Pascagoula North Rail Connector
▪ $4 million to assist Pascagoula Redevelopment Authority with City Center
▪ $3.5 million for Gautier Town Center Development
▪ $3.5 million for Mississippi Cyber Center at Mississippi State University
▪ $3.2 million toward Stone County High School Career and Technical Education Center
▪ $3 million for Harrison County Law Enforcement Training Academy
▪ $3 million for Institute for Marine Mammal Studies classrooms and dorms
▪ $2.5 million for multi-user aero strip at Stennis Airport
▪ $2.2 million for for George Regional Health System multi-specialty medical office complex
▪ $2 million to assist Ocean Springs and OHOS Development LLC with a public/private development
▪ $2 million for downtown revitalization at Saenger Theatre in Biloxi
▪ $2 million for Long Beach redevelopment and revitalization
▪ $2 million to assist Long Beach with Quarles House
▪ $1.6 million for George County rail connection project for Enviva project
▪ $1.55 million for Power Dynamics Innovations LLC equipment and facility upgrades
▪ $1.5 million for Diamondhead commercial district transformation project
▪ $1.5 million for Bay St. Louis Old Town Depot revitalization
▪ $1.4 million to assist Jackson County with site development and related support of a defense supplier
▪ $1.1 million for cafeteria expansion and renovation at George Regional Health System
▪ $1 million for Mississippi Export Railroad for the Enviva project
▪ $1 million for Bay St. Louis Old Town Police Department
▪ $1 million for Pascagoula Redevelopment Innovation Center
▪ $750,000 for Walter Anderson Museum Creative Complex Phase I and begin Phase II
▪ $750,000 for Pass Christian redevelopment and revitalization
▪ $100,000 for Gulfport School District STEM Exploration lab
Previous Coast advisory committee list
▪ $32.5 million for University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Enterprise building at state port
▪ $18 million for Mississippi Gulf Coast YMCA with swimming pool in Gulfport off I-10
▪ $8.8 million for OHOS Development LLC, parking garage near downtown for city of Ocean Springs use
▪ $1.2 million for Pearl River Community College, aviation aerospace workforce academy
▪ $6.5 million for Stone County School District, career and technical education center
▪ $3.9 million for Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Authority, site expansion and preparation.
▪ $6.1 million for Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission, multi-use “aero strip”
▪ $2 million for city of Biloxi, Saenger Theatre restoration
▪ $2.8 million for Michael Reso, frontage road north of Interstate 10 at Diamondhead for commercial development.
▪ $1.4 million for Walter Anderson Museum of Art, creative complex in downtown Ocean Springs.
▪ $1.2 million for Coastal Mississippi tourism bureau, marketing for conventions and events.
▪ $1 million for improve pathways south of U.S. 90, add crosswalks and lighting between Cowan Road and Edgewater Mall.
▪ $100,000 for Gulfport School District, finish a STEM Exploratorium
▪ $45,600 for Harrison County Library System, Venture Lab computer cubicles
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 6:27 PM.
