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January 18, 2011Thursday, Jan. 20
January 20, 2011Lafourche Parish Councilman Lindel Toups said he was willing to negotiate with Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr. and renege an ordinance he proposed at last Tuesday’s parish council meeting regarding ownership of the Company Canal in Gheens if Cenac moves a security gate he constructed south of a La. Highway 654 bridge over the canal to the north side of the bridge.
The 6th District councilman’s proposed ordinance would rescind Ordinance No. 4810, enacted in August, that made private Post Office Road and Bayou Chateau Road in Gheens.
The de-dedication of the roads passed 5-3-1 at the Aug. 24 council meeting. Councilmen Daniel Lorraine, Rodney Doucet and Joe Fertitta opposed the ordinance, and Jerry Jones abstained.
The ordinance preceded a servitude agreement with Cenac, which passed 7-1-1 and gave the parish the authority to install a pump station in the canal. Doucet opposed, and Jones abstained
To date, the permits necessary to install the pump station have yet to be obtained, but Toups said that should happen soon and has little effect on the matter at hand.
State Rep. Jerry “Truck” Gisclair, D-District 54, said the state did not follow protocol and alert the local government when it abandoned La. 654 – which runs across Cenac’s Golden Ranch Plantation property.
The de-dedication of the highway, which took place in November, should have reverted control of the road to the parish, Gisclair said.
“The state did not follow procedures,” Gisclair said. “In de-dedication, the right-of-way should revert to the parish, then the original owner…Again, the state didn’t follow its own protocol. I think the state was wrong, and I’m hoping the DA will represent the parish and take on the state.”
The concerns over the bridge blockade at the council meeting were twofold: it prevents the Gheens Volunteer Fire Department from reaching a water source and tourists from seeing and feeding the alligators.
Spence Cressionie, the Gheens fire chief, said the department drops a hose into the canal over the side of the bridge to offset the low pressure going to the communities’ hydrants. Unless the department is able to use the canal as a source, it would struggle to properly fight a fire in an area where two private homes and a church stand before the gate on La. 654, Cressionie said.
“Gheens does not have enough water flowing to the hydrants,” Cressionie said. “We have no means of protecting the church…The only other option is a water tower in Gheens.”
Toups said he will challenge Cenac’s unwillingness to allow the public, including out-of-state tourists, to reach the bridge.
“It’s just the idea that he’s a big landowner and we’re giving in too much to the big landowners,” Toups said. “I mean, what would it hurt to have that bridge where people could go to look at the alligators and feed the alligators? People come from all over to see that.”
If the council were to rescind Ordinance No. 4810, the servitude agreement to install a pump station would be in limbo. If Cenac were to renege, the parish may move to expropriate the canal, a move Toups requested the administration to investigate.
“I know I’m talking big by trying to [expropriate] the entire Company Canal, but deep down I think that’s why we have so much coastal erosion right here,” said Toups, who maintained that drainage was his top concern. “We’re closing off canals and the saltwater that is coming down is killing everything. Whereas if the canals were open, I think water would flow through it real good and stop that saltwater from coming up.”
The Company Canal connects Bayou Lafourche and Bayou Des Allemands.
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that the canal was not “impliedly dedicated” to the public despite the evidence presented that the public had used the property for “a long period of time” in Mevla Cressionie v. Arlen B. Cenac Jr.
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeal after Cressionie and the Public Access Water Rights Association fought for the right to use the property for recreational purposes.
PAWRA is a local association geared towards maintaining the public’s fishing and water rights in Gheens.
The plaintiffs did not challenge Cenac as the owner of the canal and adjacent boat launch, according to the court document.
“The trial court’s judgment declaring Cenac the owner of the boat launch and canal has not been objected to and is not before us,” the Supreme Court said under a section of the ruling titled “Discussion.”
