Lafourche OKs beachfront, SLEC appropriations

Lafourche Parish Council questioned its economic development interests at a recent meeting when council distributed funds to the South Lafourche Beachfront Commission and South Louisiana Economic Council.

The South Lafourche Beachfront Commission was formed in the early part of 2007. The group is responsible for gaining access to the public Fourchon beach.

For years, residents would use the nine-mile beachfront as a recreation place for boating, fishing and swimming in Ward 10. That is, until Thibodaux-based landowner Caillouet Land Company bought up seven of the nine miles and denied access to the public, according to development commission co-chair Ricky Cheramie.

“Having the beach closed to the public is not benefiting the parish financially. If the beach was open the parish could build up the land and possibly get some revenue going for that area,” said Councilman Daniel Lorraine, who authored the motion. “People from all over used to use that beach to family-fun activities.”

Since the closure, the parish has been trying to get access to the land. The parish has a right-of-way to the beach, but it doesn’t have permission to use the seven-mile stretch that Caillouet Land owns, according to Lorraine

“Right now, we are negotiating with the landowner to open the beach back up to public,” said Councilman Lindel Toups. “The commission just needs to work out the terms.”

For several months since the beachfront commission’s inception, the parish council has been toying with the idea of allocating funds to the entity to hire workers, and buy supplies and other office equipment.

Lorraine advised the council not to delay approving the funds because the development commission and the landowner have finally reached a “happy medium” that satisfies both parties.

“This is why we formed the commission, so that they can work directly with the landowner instead of the parish administration and the Lafourche Parish Port Commission,” he said. “The development commission has been waiting for and they have worked hard for it.”

The $77,000 will help the South Lafourche Beachfront Commission to run properly, Lorraine added.

The development commission meets once a week.

“We are well on our way to doing what we plan to do. We need short-term access to the beach and long-term access to the beach,” said development commission chairman Al Danos.

Co-chair Cheramie said the landowners have a tremendous amount of property to develop that would also benefit the parish in the long haul.

“There are no recreational activities for Ward 10 and millions of dollars go into Grand Isle every year because of the development out there. We need some of that money to come our way too,” he said.

The council passed the measure unanimously.

The council also approved paying its annual fee of $25,000 to the South Louisiana Economic Council and to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement for recruitment services.

“We (pay) this every year. The money spent is well worth what the parish gets in return,” Parish President Charlotte Randolph said of SLEC’s fee.

The council passed the measure with no contest. However, the approval of the agreement sparked a discussion among the councilmen.

“The MOU is to ensure that I follow the rules; I can’t just take a project and suggest where it should go,” explained SLEC Executive Director Vic LaFont. “This protects me and the parish.”

LaFont said SLEC is in charge of marketing Lafourche, St. Mary, Assumption and Terrebonne’s business market to the rest of the world. The MOU should only affect potential businesses, not existing ones, he said.

“Lafourche, St. Mary and Assumption have agreed to the terms of the agreement. However, Terrebonne Parish also has another economic development authority doing work for them, so its a little different,” LaFont said.

The SLEC executive said the MOU is critical for the parish to ensure its potential recruits. Presently, Lafourche has 11 potential businesses looking at all areas of the parish, he said.

“We have been at this for three months and we have some really good business looking to come into the parish. This measure is very time sensitive,” LaFont said.

Councilman Matt Matherne wanted the board to hold off on approving the MOU for 30 days.

“My concern is that if we wait two weeks then the potential businesses that are looking at Lafourche Parish may decide not to come here,” Councilman Louis Richard said.

Matherne withdrew his objection, and the motion passed unanimously.