Sheriff’s Office cuts ribbon on FEMA-funded new sub-station on Paris Road in Chalmette and another on West Judge Perez Drive near the parish line in Arabi; A third opened on St. Claude

Two long-awaited new sub-stations have officially opened on Paris Road in Chalmette and on West Judge Perez Drive near the parish line in Arabi, funded by FEMA, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

They join a sub-station which opened on St. Claude Avenue at the parish line in December 2014 to form a means to help close off streets into and out of the parish if necessary, the sheriff said.

Sheriff Pohlmann, speaking Dec. 9 at a ribbon-cutting held at the new station at 4700 Paris Road, said the Sheriff’s Office has achieved getting three new stations without spending any money, thanks to creatively using a pool of funds provided by FEMA and a donation of the land on Paris Road by the Meraux Foundation.

And closing an old station being leased for years on Paris Road will provide money to pay for utilities, insurance and ongoing maintenance on the new buildings, the sheriff said.

The combined cost of the two buildings was $2.215 million, including a minimal cost overrun of about 1.6 percent.

Those in attendance for the ribbon-cutting included Sheriff’s Office employees, representatives of FEMA and the contracting, engineering and architecture firms which did the job.

“This is something we have been trying to accomplish for quite a while,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “We had a limited amount of money and needed to make sure we spent every dollar wisely. We weren’t sure we could accomplish this (using only FEMA money) and in fact we couldn’t have without the land donated by the Meraux Foundation.’’

Floyd and Rita Gue of the Meraux Foundation were both present for the ribbon-cutting on the Paris Road building

Sheriff Pohlmann also credited the success of the project to Maj. Pete Tufaro, project manager for the department, who pushed the idea of getting three new sub-stations with a pool of FEMA money. “This started as a vision by Pete,’’ the sheriff said. Head of Administration Col. John Vickers was also heavily involved.

The opening of the new stations also means “we have completed our infrastructure re-build (made necessary) by Hurricane Katrina,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The three new sub-stations becomes part of the Sheriff’s Office crime suppression strategy and should give residents “peace of mind’’ that the parish can be effectively shut down in case of an emergency, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

The new stations in Arabi replace the two sub-stations which stood there prior to being damaged in Hurricane Katrina, the sheriff said.

Both the Paris Road station, which houses the Field Operation Bureau or the patrol division as most know it, and the one at 7001 West Judge Perez Drive at Aycock Street which houses the Special Investigations Division, are about 5,000 square feet.

They join an 8,193 square-foot sub-station which opened in December 2014 at 6501 St. Claude Ave. next to the Jackson Barracks National Guard base. It houses the offices of the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, Juvenile Investigations Bureau, Crime Scene investigations including facilities to process evidence, the sex offender registry and investigation of domestic violence cases.

When the sub-stations in Arabi were first opened in the 1990s, Sheriff Pohlmann said, they were a psychological deterrent to criminals from outside St. Bernard who could see police were there and would know if they committed a crime they would have to leave the parish past those stations.

“The whole concept was to protect our borders,” Sheriff Pohlmann said. “I know it worked then as a crime prevention measure,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “It still has that potential and could be essential for us.’’

Sheriff Pohlmann especially thanked FEMA, the Governor’s Office for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, or GOHSEP, and officials of CDM Smith Inc., which handled the project while working with FEMA and the Sheriff’s Office. Drayfus Guient of CDM Smith and grant consultant Douglas Landry were present.

John Connolly, FEMA Louisiana Recovery Office Public Assistance Emergency Management Specialist, has said the Sheriff’s Office created its vision of how to use the FEMA money available to get the most value for the department, in this case getting all three new sub-stations.

Dwight Butler of FEMA was present for the ribbon-cutting with Connolly as well as Glenda Bocking of GOHSEP. Joe Crowley was there from the Perez APC architectural firm, as was Jeff Hymel of Dynamic Constructors LLC.