Lafourche to hire lawyer for Company Canal claim

The Lafourche Parish Council voted to hire an attorney – at a cost of $100,000 – to research who actually owns the portion of the old Company Canal running through the Golden Ranch Plantation in Gheens, against the opinion of their legal advisor.

Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant – in a recent opinion – has advised against the council’s desire to pursue claiming the canal and the land alongside it for public use.

Its history is well documented in a Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal decision that found the canal to be privately owned. The Louisiana Supreme Court upheld that decision.

Houma businessman Benny Cenac purchased the canal and adjoining property in 2000.

Many residents claim Cenac only owns the land and not the canal; however, a 2003 Louisiana Supreme Court ruling states that Cenac indeed owns the canal as well.

Private ownership of the canal rankles residents of Gheens and the surrounding areas who once used it to access Lake Salvador by boat.

In an opinion issued in early 2011, Morvant wrote that the issue over ownership of the canal has been determined by the courts and is neither a parish nor state issue.

“The parish cannot legally fund these efforts and you all would be remiss in your duties as parish council members if you forego drainage projects that could potentially benefit thousands of parish residents in order to appease those private individuals seeking access to the Company Canal,” Morvant’s opinion states.

The resolution calls for up to $100,000 to pay for the legal research. But there are questions as to where the money would come from.

Money dedicated to drainage or road repairs cannot be spent on legal expenses, officials acknowledge, so the council chose to tap the parish’s general fund.

Some parish leaders have maintained – strongly – that the council’s quest could have negative consequences.

“The home rule charter is very clear that whoever authorizes an illegal expenditure is personally liable for that expenditure,” said parish administrator Archie Chaisson.

District 6 Councilman Lindel Toups, who proposed the resolution, said the canal was never included in the sale of the land to members of the Gheens family, who later sold the property to Cenac. Toups said the sale was illegally done in the 1800s well before Cenac ever bought it.

Toups said slaves dug the canal and the parish maintained it for more than 100 years, so there is a history of public usage.

“I just think the parish ought to stick together and put it to rest once and for all,” Toups said. “If [Cenac] shows us the title, and he bought it, then we’ll back off.”