The doors to Bogalusa City Hall remained open Friday, although the $300,000 requested from the federal government did not arrive. Temple-Inland saved the day with a donation in the same amount.
Mayor Mack McGehee said Monday that he would be forced to lock the doors and send city employees home at lunchtime Friday if the federal funding, requested almost a month ago, did not arrive. Without the funding, the city could not afford to pay either overtime prompted by Hurricane Katrina or contractors helping with the recovery, he said.
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The company also donated $100,000 to the Town of Franklinton, $200,000 to Washington Parish and made numerous additional in-kind and other contributions to the community. The relief contributions were actually made in early September.
Bogalusa is home to Temple Inland's largest paper mill and one of the largest box plants in the company's system.
TI Chairman and CEO Kenneth Jastrow III said the "tragedy of Hurricane Katrina is unbelievable and has impacted...every American."
"The people of Bogalusa have responded courageously," he said. "Already, progress is being made. Throughout Temple Inland, we are working to provide whatever help we can to make the forward journey as easy as possible."
McGehee praised the company for its support, and said that the donation would enable the city to continue operations for a week or so. Director of Administration Jerry Bailey said that he hopes some back-up money will arrive soon.
"We should receive quarterly franchize payments from the utility companies," he said. "And the sales taxes..., but they are from the month of September, so they dropped. I hope, within the week, we'll get the money we asked for from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)."
Temple Inland relief efforts also include direct employee assistance in the amount of $500 cash per Bogalusa employee, a total of $350,000 and the continuation of pay to Bogalusa employees throughout the shutdown period.
The Temple Inland Foundation will match, three to one up to $1,000, all employee contributions to eligible relief organizations.
In-kind donations to the community include the following: one truckload of water, two truckloads of tarpaulins, two truckloads of timber and two truckloads of diesel gasoline to keep city, parish and contractor crews and emergency vehicles running during the first week after the storm.
TI employees assisted in providing power to the community and getting the water system back up. The company provided outside service to test the city water supply, provided a generator for parish government offices, loaned full-time employees to work with the Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) and cleared debris from roadways.
The day after the hurricane hit, it procured propane needed to keep the generator running in a local nursing home. And it provided a crane and manpower to remove trees from homes.
Temple Inland donated a satellite telephone to the city of Bogalusa, trucks to transport goods from the Salvation Army in Baton Rouge to Bogalusa and heavy equipment to the National Guard.
TI employees coordinated supply and logistics at the main parish distribution site and assisted emergency management at the parish OEP.
The company also set up a warehouse as a receiving and distribution center for such items as food, clothing, ice and water in the eastern half of the parish. And the mill provided equipment and manpower to operate the center for the first 10 days.
While the local company and others worked quickly to address post Katrina needs, as of press time, the U.S. Congress was considering a bill that would provide emergency assistance to enable local governments affected by Hurricane Katrina to pay employees over the next two months.
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