When Hurricane Ike pounded the Gulf Coast in September of 2008, it caused a great deal of destruction to U.S. Fish and Wildlife properties. Among the hardest hit in the area were Moody, McFaddin, Anahuac, and Texas Point Refuges which comprise the Texas Chenier Plains Complex. The damages to Service facilities in this popular area inspired plans for the Recovery Act funded Texas Chenier Plains Visitor’­s Center and Administration Building. This 15,000 square foot edifice to be built on 30 acres in Chambers County, Texas, is one of the largest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Act projects in the country.

The $4.125 million dollar contract to build the center/administration building was awarded to TL Wallace Construction Inc. and will make copious use of green energy and recycled materials. It will be built to LEED-Silver building standards. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the green building program of the U.S. Green Building Council. Buildings are rated at various levels, starting with Certified, then Silver, then Gold and then Platinum, with the higher levels signifying better energy and environmental designs. We anticipate one of the green features will be solar panels and actually they are proposed to be placed on an overhang on the parking area, and one of the innovative features that we have specked out is that the solar panels are actually going to feed outlets at the time that there are rechargeable hybrids, or rechargeable cars, the solar panels will actually feed opportunities to recharge those besides feeding back into the building to support the lighting and electrical needs there. Service officials expect the project to be complete late this year.

Click link to view video | http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/192

The Mississippi Alternative Housing Program is a pilot program implemented by FEMA and administered by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The mission of the program is to develop, produce and test a safer and more comfortable temporary housing unit for use in future disasters. Additionally the mission is to assist homeowners with their transition from travel trailers and mobile homes to long-term housing they may also opt to purchase. The program is time-sensitive; specific goals to occur. TL Wallace Construction, Inc. competitively won the initial MEMA haul/install and repair/maintenance contracts and was instrumental in its success.

With the program nearing completion, MEMA issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for competitive sealed proposals for deactivation and transportation of cottage units, and TL Wallace Construction again was the winner.

The scope not only includes the deactivation of the temporary units in a safe and secure manner, but also included reactivation procedures to be followed in the permanent installation of such units as a State solution to long-term housing needs by disaster victims along the Gulf Coast, with various specific levels of rehabilitation of the temporary housing units such as:

Reactivation of the temporary housing units into permanent residency.

Transportation of the housing units to their permanent location and the affixation of the housing units to their permanent foundations.

Elevation of up to 5 feet, 7 inches of some units from their temporary installation to a permanent installation, depending upon flood map requirements.

As the first and only MEMA haul and install contractor, TL Wallace Construction, Inc. provides the benchmark for service in this industry for the State of Mississippi. This is our home! Our company was founded in Mississippi almost 40 years ago, and our employees live in the affected areas and have attended church and school here for generations. Disasters are never easy, and even though established procedures are in place, the impact on the effected individual can be devastating and have long term effects. Transitioning living quarters in the middle of disaster recovery is no less traumatic, and can be one of the most critical. These are our neighbors and their feelings and belongings will always be treated with respect. We will never forget the “human” element of this program and remain flexible in our approach to each and every situation.