advice

FRANKLINTON — A month after informing the Louisiana Legislature that it has determined that the development of a reservoir in Washington Parish is feasible and desirable, the Washington Parish Reservoir Commission has hired a consultant to keep the project moving forward.

Using funds obtained from the state through the efforts of the local legislative delegation, the reservoir commission will pay Mike Thompson $75,000 a year to help lead the commission through the complicated process that they hope will lead to the development of a reservoir in the parish.

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As the commission was voting unanimously to retain the services of Thompson on a year-to-year basis, Chairman Huey Pierce said that while Thompson's asking price may seem steep, he is worth it because he was the leading in developing the Poverty Point Reservoir in north Louisiana and he is intimately familiar with all of the state and federal regulations which will come into play as the reservoir project progresses.

State Rep. Ben Nevers, who has said he is keenly interested in the reservoir project, and who has worked to get funding for it in the Legislature, agreed with Pierce: "Mike Thompson is the best man available for the job. He has the expertise to do what we need in Washington Parish."

Thompson has parlayed his deep familiarity with reservoir development into a consulting business, and he is currently working with two other reservoir development projects in other areas of the state. Washington Parish is his third project. When a commission member asked if that could present some time conflict or conflict of interest problems, Thompson, who was present for the meeting at the Washington Parish Courthouse, said it would not. He said he feels that the Legislature, while committed to some reservoir development in the state for economic development purposes, may not be willing to move forward beyond the three projects that are currently on the boards. He added that working the three projects together as part of a statewide economic development strategy could actually strengthen the standing of the projects with which he is working.

"Everybody talks about these things, but very few complete them," he said. He said the Washington Parish group has made a great deal of progress in the nine months since it was commissioned.

Thompson thanked the commission for its faith in him, and he said he would immediately go to work on behalf of the commission. He said his work will include efforts to secure additional funding to move forward in the process of identifying a reservoir site, planning it, securing the proper state and federal permits, and eventually building it. He also joked that since he is on a year-to-year contract, he has to help secure the additional funding so he can keep his contract.

Pierce noted that Thompson has actually already gone to work on behalf of the local reservoir project, by helping draft some papers which had to be submitted to the state by Nov. 1 seeking additional development funding.

The commission has received $100,000 in funding so far, in two increments of $50,000. Nevers and Thompson said that while local funding will be needed for some matching funds, the majority of funds to develop and build the reservoir will likely come from the state - and the total project could cost as much as $40 million.

Nevers told the commission that he, and now Thompson, will continue to work to find funding for the project, and that "the more money spent that is on this by the state, the more likely it is to go forward because of the state's increasing investment."