Pauline Kirbo Thames
February 10, 2009
Julia H. Richard
February 12, 2009
The St. Mary Parish Council will publicly hear from the man behind Avoca Inc. tonight as it continues to grapple with the fate of the 41-year-old cable ferry system that shuttles to and from Avoca Island, costing taxpayers nearly $708,000 since 2005 in operating costs.
Robert C. Baird Jr., president of Avoca Inc., is expected to ask the parish’s Ferry Advisory Committee – comprised of council members – to continue operating the ferry.
The committee meets at 5 p.m. in the council chambers at the parish courthouse in Franklin.
Last fall, Councilman Kevin Voisin launched an inquiry into the ongoing expense of operating the service, which he contends so few riders. Vessel reports over a three-month period in late 2008 show the ferry made 2,612 trips, carrying 3,536 vehicles – or 4,285 passengers. Based on those figures, one out of every three trips between October and December 2008 carried more than one vehicle.
St. Mary Parish taxpayers have paid roughly $705,836 since 2005 for the vehicle ferry that totes passengers less than 580 feet from Morgan City’s coast to Avoca Island, a 16,000-acre private island. According to Voisin, the parish pays approximately $46 per passenger to keep the free cable ferry in operation.
Since October 2008, the island is home to only one resident, caretaker Jim Bodin.
Voisin is joined by Parish President Paul Naquin and Morgan City Mayor Tim Matte in suggesting alternative avenues be sought to access the island – including constructing a low-level bridge over nearby locks.
The council, lead by Voisin, has also expressed concern about the parish’s liability in the event of a ferry accident.
The councilman said the parish council commissioned Franklin’s St. Mary Iron Works to build the vessel in 1968. The ferry uses underwater cables to move vehicles and passengers nearly 580 feet away from Morgan City’s shoreline to Avoca Island.
Avoca Inc. owns the island. Baird, who is listed as president of the group, is an executive vice president of Whitney Bank in New Orleans. Documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate Avoca Inc. has owned the private island since 1931. Those same documents show the group maintains over $1 million in assets from the island.
In November, Baird penned a letter to the St. Mary Council suggesting Avoca Inc. would be interested in “opening discussions” about the ferry’s future. Tonight’s meeting will be his first face-to-face communication with the board.
Councilman Steve Bierhorst, who chairs the Ferry Advisory Committee, said Baird, U.S. Coast Guard representative Charles Cobb and John Grezaffi are on tonight’s agenda.
Bierhorst said he also intends to issue his findings as to how much tax revenue the parish receives from commercial interests who maintain operations on the island.
Avoca Island has been of particular interest to St. Mary Parish’s council because of crowding issues the parish has faced for years. With little land available to develop, the parish has been virtually at a standstill economically for some time.
In April 1998, the parish government commissioned a feasibility study into developing an industrial park on the island.
Henry “Bo” LaGrange, the parish’s chief administrative officer, said the findings suggested that if the area were to be developed at that time, by 2015 over 800 acres would be dedicated to industrial and commercial use.
“With an aggressive marketing program,” the study continued, “Avoca Island could satisfy a potential 1,300-acres of land use demand, but the most optimistic land use demand that might be satisfied by Avoca Island over the long term is 1,750 acres.”
LaGrange and other parish officials contend that developing the island could help stimulate the local economy.
The feasibility study also addresses the issue of building a bridge to the island to replace the aging ferry shuttle.
According to the findings, the Coast Guard expressed concern about building a low-level bridge across Bayou Boeuf. However, it said, “reservations diminish or disappear if a new low-level bridge was located at the Bayou Boeuf Locks.”
Cost projections for developing 800 acres ¬- excluding building an access bridge – are approximately $23 million, according to the 1998 study. Adding bridge costs, the report suggests the cost could reach as high as $30 million, or $37,500 per acre, not including land value and financing costs.
Infrastructure costs on a 1,300-acre development on Avoca Island, excluding a highway access bridge but including a railroad bridge, were estimated to be $66 million. Adding a bridge to the deal, the study reports, raises the total probable infrastructure cost to $82 million, or $63,000 per acre, again not including land value or financing costs.
Franklin’s Robert Bryant, one of two full-time ferry operators, has been employed by St. Mary Parish to keep the Avoca Island ferry running for the last eight years. * Photo by HOWARD J. CASTAY JR.
