Recovery task force established

January 1, 2022

by Janet Marcel

Bishop Shelton J. Fabre recently assembled a recovery task force to help him and other diocesan leaders make the best decisions about how to move forward with the rebuilding process in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux’s churches and schools following the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida in August 2021.

According to William (Bill) Barbera, chief operating and financial officer for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, and chair of the recovery task force, at least 75-80 percent of the buildings belonging to the diocese sustained some type of damage, with the exception being in the Morgan City area.

Holy Family Church in Grand Caillou

Barbera says the task force is needed to evaluate the myriad of information that is going to be coming out of that process – reports from insurance adjusters, structural engineers, building contractors, reports regarding asbestos abatement and lead testing, and so forth – so that diocesan leadership is able to make the most informed and best decisions possible. Since there are going to be some very detailed and involved decisions that need to be made, Bishop Fabre wanted to assemble a group of people with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to help diocesan leadership walk through the decision making process and ultimately make recommendations to him.

Barbera explains that the diocese has an insurance policy that will pay out a certain amount, which he says clearly will not cover the total cost of the damages. The rest of the money needed for the necessary repairs will have to come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and those claims typically take a lot longer to process. Furthermore, all of the insurance claims must be filed first before they can move over to FEMA.

“Because of this, we recognize that we are going to have to make decisions on allocation of financial resources as they become available. All of the needed funds are not going to be accessible at the start of any project, and because of that we will also need to make decisions about prioritizing the work. Obviously, the priorities will be the churches— to allow people to worship, the schools—to continue educating our children, and fixing roof structures will be at the top of that list. There will also be other decisions such as how do we rebuild? Will we repair? Will we have to demolish and rebuild entirely? Will the rebuilds look different … because of new building codes and such?”

Diocesan leaders are in the process of completing the insurance adjusters’ reports and estimates of damage, says Barbera. Once that is complete, the next step is scoping the work that needs to be done. Alongside that process is selecting the architectural and engineering firms to work as project managers on the rebuild.

Nine firms have been selected to work with the diocese. Preliminary Holy Rosary School in Larose
assignments of those firms have been made to each parish and school
location, and those selections have to be confirmed with the pastors
and principal/presidents. Once they are in agreement with the recommendation, then meetings with the architects to scope out the work will begin.

Barbera is confident that the diocese will be made fully whole through both of those processes – the insurance company and FEMA – with very little out-of-pocket expenses that are not reimbursed. However, he says he thinks it will be well in excess of a year, probably two to three years before all of the work is completed. “I’m sure we will run into a lack of contractor availability and a shortage of materials needed, which will prolong the work.”

Members of the task force are Bill Barbera, chair; David Duplantis, co-chair; Jimmie Danos, diocesan director of Building and Construction; Very Rev. Simon Peter Engurait, V.G.; Very Rev. Mark Toups, V.G.; Very Rev. Vicente DeLa Cruz, V.F., dean of the Upper Lafourche Deanery; Very Rev. Andre Melancon, V.F., dean of the Terrebonne Deanery; Very Rev. John Nambusseril, V.F., dean of the South Lafourche Deanery; Charlotte Bollinger, chair of the executive board, Catholic Foundation of South Louisiana; Steve Crispino, chair of the diocesan Consultative School Board; Angelique Barker, diocesan finance council; Dr. Glen Manceaux, diocesan pastoral council; Jerry Ledet, banking sector; and Greg Hamer, business relations.
St. Eloi Church in Theriot