Mandeville's fishing pier has been closed almost 3 years. Is a reopening in sight?

Mandeville finally has federal funding to repair a popular fishing pier in Lake Pontchartrain that had to be closed after it was heavily damaged in Hurricane Ida almost three years ago.

Mandeville Mayor Clay Madden announced on social media that FEMA had approved funding for repairs to the pier at Sunset Point. The city wants to rebuild it stronger, using materials that will allow it to withstand heavier storm surges, in the hopes of not having to replace it again after the next hurricane.

The lighted pier juts around 400 feet into the lake. It is just east of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

“What we want to do is rebuild it with more resilient products,” Madden said. “The flip side to that is that it’s going to take a little longer.”

The new pier will feature two big improvements, according Madden: It will be higher than the old one, and the decking material will feature a metal grid, rather than wooden planks. It has been unusable, along with another parish-operated fishing pier in Slidell, since Ida struck in late summer 2021.

Madden said the cost is expected to be about $2.2 million, though the tally might change as the designs for the new pier are finalized.

“I know people have had to wait — we’re coming up on three years this August since Ida,” he added. “Once we get this thing built, the goal is to not have to do this again.” He stressed that the federal program also requires stringent environmental and design evaluations, which take time.

“I think it will be well worth the wait if it’s rebuilt to be more structurally sound,” said Mandeville resident Eric McVicker, 33. “To me it really is about attracting people to see the beauty of what the lakefront has to offer.”

Ida, with its six-foot storm surge, took down piers and boardwalks throughout the state, including the marsh boardwalk in nearby Fontainebleau State Park, which is also still out of commission. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said he hoped it would be repaired by September.

Friday morning, Abita Springs resident Milton Vargas, 9, was fishing with his father, Sylvano Vargas, 48, on the channel that runs north of the Sunset Point parking lot. But he said he’d rather be fishing off the pier.

“You catch more fish out there,” Milton said. “And here, there are more gators. We almost caught one.”

Kent Rickey, 78, was in his truck, having just fed a family of raccoons dog food, which he said he likes to do every few days. He hoped the pier would be operational again soon.

“It’s the only place to fish around here,” he said. Before it was damaged, he said he’d come out to fish a couple of times a week. “I’m retired now. It gives me something to do.”

Rickey also hoped they’d finally fix up the St. Tammany Parish government-run fishing pier in Slidell, which has also been unusable since Ida.

“We are eagerly awaiting FEMA’s final approval of the process and funding,” said parish government spokesperson Michael Vinsanau, adding that the parish is meeting weekly with the agency and that Mandeville’s funding approval “gives us hope that our approval will arrive soon.”

Even though the city now has funding secured, Madden doesn’t yet have a sense for when residents can expect the Sunset Point pier to be repaired. “We anticipate a rigorous permitting process due to the pier's location and environmental protection requirements for local wildlife,” Madden said.

But residents can rest assured that Mandeville got a deal on the project. FEMA will foot 90% of the costs of the repairs, Madden said.