VIDALIA &8212; Three local projects won&8217;t be getting state funding as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Concordia Parish Airport, the Concordia Animal Welfare Shelter and the Vidalia Gateway and Welcome Center all experienced significant cuts, but only the airport will put project plans completely on hold.

The airport lost a $50,000 grant designated for a self-service fuel station.

For CAWS, an anticipated $20,000 grant to help complete a new kennel won&8217;t be coming, CAWS Director Lisa Smith said.

&8220;We had worked and worked to get it under $20,000 to build the kennel,&8221; Smith said. &8220;We could have finished it for that.&8221;

The shelter will try to find alternative funding sources for the kennel, which will be used to house animals and quarantine them until they are ready to be adopted, Smith said.

&8220;We&8217;re going to the local governments to ask for a little help because we&8217;re doing work across the parish, into Catahoula and Natchez,&8221; Smith said.

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said he has been told that $100,000 in funding for the Vidalia Gateway and Welcome Center will be cut. But the cut will not slow construction on the $4 million project, Copeland said.

&8220;We&8217;ll have to make do with the monies we&8217;ve received,&8221; Copeland said. &8220;I understand with the budget restraints they&8217;re working with. It could have been worse than what we got, and I thank Rep. Bryant Hammett for working for us.&8221;

Some of the work on the center will have to scaled back but no specifics have been decided, Copeland said.

The Gateway Center has already been through three rounds of bidding and several years of securing funding for the project. The first bids, let last spring, came in higher than expected, forcing cuts in numerous aspects of the center.

Construction on the project began in early November and is slated to be completed in late 2006.

Copeland declined to speculate on future state funding for local projects.

&8220;We don&8217;t know what we&8217;ll get,&8221; Copeland said. &8220;You hate to say you might not get anything and you just don&8217;t know what will take place next year. At the start of this year there was no way anyone expected a city the size of New Orleans to be hit like it was.&8221;

State funding cuts aren&8217;t isolated to Concordia Parish, but affect everywhere north of Interstate 10.

Concordia Parish Police Jury Secretary Russell Wagoner said state officials have told him that any projects not already started aren&8217;t going to happen soon.

&8220;They&8217;ve told us if the contracts aren&8217;t signed, it&8217;s on hold indefinitely,&8221; Wagoner said.

Instead the money is being diverted to rebuilding work on areas damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Governmental entities north of I-10 are also instructed not to enter into any new contract that would obligate state funds.

The Louisiana Legislature will wrap up a special session today called to deal with a nearly $1 billion budget deficit.