Lafourche residents sue parish levee district over land

A group of residents in south Lafourche who own property that the South Lafourche Levee District is attempting to appropriate to use for levee improvements are suing the district as a class action claiming that they were not paid a fair value for the land.

However, levee district officials say they followed the law and that all landowners were paid a fair price.

The landowners, some of whom are represented by Metairie-based attorney George Recile, claim that their land is worth far more than the levee district claims.

South Lafourche Levee District General Manager Windell Curole said that the agency took pains to make sure that the value determined for each piece of appropriated property was fair, going as far in some instances as getting three different appraisals to come to a price.

Curole said that most of the properties claimed for the improvement work were categorized into classes with the bulk of them being listed as clear pasture, wooded pasture or in some instances crawfish ponds among other categories.

The properties in question mostly fall into those categories, as the bulk of the lands are well removed from the major highway near the levee or any commercial or residential areas.

“When we undertook this process we wanted to be fair to both the landowner and the taxpayers,” Curole said. “We want to spend all of our money wisely for efficient levee protection and not to enrich anyone beyond the fair value of their land.

“To that end, the district got more than one appraisal on several properties to insure that the landowner was getting a fair price for their property.

“However, it appears that some don’t agree with the amount they were paid,” Curole added.

A total of 12 individuals are party to the suit, which asks the court to award fair market value of the land to its owners, claiming that the amounts offered to them are insufficient.

The land appropriation by the levee district is part of a process by which the district is attempting to acquire land in order to raise the levee by a height of approximately three feet on the west side of Bayou Lafourche from the Larose-Cut Off area south to Golden Meadow.

Attempts to reach Recile for comment were unsuccessful as of Monday’s press time.