Terrebonne boat launch an eyesore; parish committee seeking upgrades

Recreational fishing in Terrebonne Parish is big business, yet the condition of the public South Houma Boat Launch has many parish officials flustered.

A member of the parish’s Boat Launch Advisory Committee told the Terrebonne Parish Council’s Community Development and Planning Committee at its Sept. 24 meeting that the boat launch, located near the Southern Oaks Golf Club, has been being used as a dumping ground.

He displayed recently-taken photographs of the facility showing the trash.

Conditions at Terrebonne’s four other public boat launches are not much better.

The pictures came as no surprise to Terrebonne Parish Councilman Harold Lapeyre, who has said he wants the improvement of the parish’s public boat launches to be one of his legacies before leaving office at the end of this term.

“That launch (South Houma) should be the preeminent launch in the parish,” he said at the committee meeting, indicating that it is used by the Sheriff’s Office in times of emergency.

“We have some of the best fishing in the country,” he said. “It’s despicable we have some of the worst launches.”

The South Houma facility has a severe need for space to park cars and boats, Lapeyre said.

Clearing an abandoned fire station next to the site, used by the parish for storage, offers the only way to increase parking space at the property, said parish staff engineer Joan Schexnayder.

“The fire station is the first step to making it a first-class launch, to make it more user friendly,” Lapeyre said. He complained that two trailers have been using up space in the parking lot.

“The fire station has been bad for years,” he said. “I’ve called repeatedly about the trash.”

Terrebonne has $140,000 in federal Wallop-Breaux Act funds to make improvements to the South Houma Boat Launch and the Texas Gulf Boat Launch in Bourg, Schexnayder said.

The 1984 Act expanded the Sport Fish Restoration Act passed by Congress in 1950. In 2005, the Act was reauthorized, dedicating all federal motorboat fuel taxes to boating facilities and programs.

The Wallop-Breaux funds will be used to expand the walkways and wharfs on both sides of the South Houma facility, Schexnayder said.

She said the funds will be used at the Texas Gulf Boat Launch to increase parking space and expand walkways.

Parish Public Works Director Al Levron told the committee the Wallop-Breaux money will only pay for part of the price tag for boat launch upgrades.

The cost for the improvements to the South Houma Boat Launch will be $240,000. The Texas Gulf upgrade’s original cost was $27,000, but that figure has risen to $53,723, he said.

“There may be some money in my district available to improve the capacity of the South Houma Boat Launch,” Lapeyre said.

The parish is shutting down the Texas Gulf’s middle boat launch for safety reasons, Schexnayder said. The facility has two other working launches.

Boat Launch Advisory Committee Chairman Rudy Bourgeois asserted recreational boaters in Louisiana spend $842 million a year, with an economic impact in Terrebonne Parish of $73.5 million.

Terrebonne Parish Councilman Peter Rhodes said the parish has 14,000 registered boats.

“It’s a big issue,” as boat launches “are needed in the parish,” he said.

“We’ve been approved for federal and state (Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries) money,” Lapeyre said. “It’s been a standing request. The request is valid. No one would disagree it needs to be beefed up. We are under built on a good, quality boat launch. Before I leave the council, I want a commitment.”