Flood maps giving contractors fits in Lafourche

The adoption of the base flood elevation maps in May by the Lafourche Parish Council has several state Highway 653 construction projects in limbo.

In the midst of building a new temple, the Rev. Randy Bourgeois of First Baptist Church in Raceland is left uncertain about the building’s future.

Bourgeois recently joined developers in addressing concerns about the maps to the Lafourche Parish Council.

“The parish voted down the plan twice in 2006 before they accepted it this past May,” he said, acknowledging state and federal officials pressed the council into adopting the maps.

However, the clock is ticking for Bourgeois and his congregation.

The church purchased 10 acres at U.S. Highway 90 and La. 653 in Raceland with plans to expand. In August, the First Baptist Church building will be sold.

Bourgeois said it wasn’t until he requested permits to build temporary buildings on the new property that he found out the flood zone was changed. Surveyors recently visited the proposed church site and marked where the first slab of the church should be elevated.

“The guy had to stand on the tailgate of my pick-up truck just to put the stack in the pole where the proposed elevation would be,” Bourgeois said. “Looking from the back of the truck out to the road the elevation would be at 2.5 feet above U.S. 90 – a hurricane evacuation route.”

Speaking before the parish council in early June, Bourgeois quizzed the council on its intent to adopt the new base-flood elevation maps.

Parish President Charlotte Randolph said, “At the point and time when the new flood maps came out the parish had to make a decision if we wanted flood insurance, so we had to accept the maps.”

The council has since agreed the decision has hampered growth.

“The parish just didn’t have a choice whether or not to adopt the new maps,” Council Chairman Tommy Lasseigne said. “If we wanted flood insurance, we had to adopt the maps. That’s what we did.”

Bourgeois’ last hope could lie in a meeting scheduled for later this month with the Louisiana Recovery Authority at which permanent flood elevation maps will be discussed, Lasseigne said.

Bourgeois isn’t the only Lafourche Parish resident to voice concerns over the maps.

Raceland contractor Dirk Matherne, another La. 653 developer, has also seen his project halted since the adoption of the maps.

Building has been on hold for nearly a year, he said.

“When the maps first came out, I put everything on hold because I knew I would have some problems,” he said.

Matherne had already received the green light to proceed with construction before the advisory flood maps became an issue. By the time the maps were brought to the council for a vote, the Raceland contactor had several portions of his subdivision under construction.

Once the maps were adopted, the flood zones in the parish changed. Matherne had a strong sense that the zones might change, so he opted to give back the money for the purchased lots and put the project on hold.

“I can’t continue my subdivision until they make permanent the flood zone maps,” he said.

In the meantime, Bourgeois and Matherne have spent money trying to meet the regulations while other big name companies in the area are not following the rules, Councilman Daniel Lorraine charged at a recent council meeting.

The council agreed to disagree on whether construction companies were complying with new regulations. Parish officials said notices have been mailed in recent months to companies ignoring the new elevation guidelines.

One company Lorraine named specifically is Tidewater Docks, Inc. Owner Donald Vizier recently told the council he is in the process of building a new structure in Leeville that does follow the flood elevation regulations.

“I am waiting on permits,” Vizier said. “I asked the parish president to give me a little more time and she said she would try to help me out, but the [final] decision was up to the council.”

According to the parish’s permitting office, Tidewater Docks, Inc., has a permit application on file that has yet to be processed.

The Rev. Randy Bourgeois indicates the spot a Louisiana Recovery Authority surveyor marked as the elevation of the new First Baptist Church in Raceland. After the Lafourche Parish Council adopted flood maps, the elevation drastically changed, bringing the construction project to a halt. * Staff photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN