The Times Progress 2017

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PROGRESS

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017

LAFOURCHE MOVES FORWARD AMID TURNOVER, PARISH CONTINUES PROJECT WORK

BY KARL GOMMEL

karl@rushing-media.com A massive change in leadership has not stopped Lafourche Parish from continuing its work throughout the parish.

Jimmy Cantrelle has been parish president for one year after taking over for three-term veteran Charlotte Randolph last year, and the parish council welcomed six new members to the government complex in Mathews. While the turnover has come with growing pains and discord among council members and Cantrelle, Lafourche’s Public Works Department has kept a busy schedule focused on pump station renovations and drainage improvements. According to Cantrelle, Public Works Director James Barnes completed six times the amount of work orders last year that the department did in the previous two years combined.

Lafourche has also completed or is in the progress of completing a number of road and recreation improvements spanning from Thibodaux in the northern end of the parish to Golden Meadow down the bayou. In between at Lockport, a Coastal Restoration and Protection Agency project will help guard Bayou Lafourche, the drinking water source for hundreds of thousands of residents across four parishes, from saltwater intrusion.

District 1, represented by Jerry Jones and primarily in Thibodaux, has seen a collection of drainage projects over the past year. Public Works has swept Waverly Ditch and the Leighton Outfall Canal as well as continued drainage by installing pipes and culverts on Abby Road. The parish also installed culverts on Diplomat Way in Jones’s district. More drainage work is coming down the pipeline, as the council approved Jones’s plans to add $350,000 to the parish’s 2017 budget for more Diplomat Way drainage work and another $200,000 for Abby Lakes drainage.

On the southern end of the parish, Daniel Lorraine is always happy to wax on the work being done in District 9. Of particular import to the council member from Golden Meadow has been the addition of a handicap-accessible fishing pier

KARL GOMMEL | THE TIMES

The morning sun shining over the southern end of the Leeville Boat Launch. Council Member Daniel Lorraine said this spot should have a completed fishing pier and pavilion by this summer – an exciting project for outdoorsmen in Lafourche Parish.

and pavilion to the Leeville boat launch.

Lafourche had received $500,000 from the state in capital outlay money in 2015, matched by $166,000 from the parish, to build the pier, but the previous administration did not immediately move on the project, and last year the state reneged on its obligation as it scrounged for any available money during its budget crisis. According to Lorraine, the Greater Lafourche Port Commission stepped in to offer $166,000 to help supplement the project, while District 8 Council Member Jerry LaFont helped to get the Lafourche Tourism Commission to contribute

$42,000 toward the pier. Lorraine added another $100,000 from the parish in the 2017 budget, which the council approved.

The parish is now working with the state’s Department of Natural Resources to adjust the permit on the project to move the pier and pavilion a bit further into the water so as to not interfere with a water line. However, Lorraine said he expects the pier and pavilion to be ready by this summer. According to Lorraine, the launch has already been a boon for Leeville businesses who have been harmed by the Louisiana Highway 1 elevated bridge bypassing the small commu-

nity. The boat launch has brought sportsmen back to the area to spend money, and Lorraine predicts “business will be booming again” once the launch’s additions are completed.

“This’ll be the best fishing spot in Lafourche Parish - it’s the best now. But once we put this pier with some lights at night? Game warden’s gonna have a lot of fun,” Lorraine said.

Cantrelle praised the pier for the promise of bringing one of Lafourche’s favorite pastimes to more people. He noted not everyone has a big boat to hit the waters, and said the handicap-accessible aspect

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of the pier makes the launch a prime destination for all.

“If you have a disability you should be able to enjoy the same aspects as everyone else in your community,” Cantrelle said.

At Oak Ridge Community Park in Golden Meadow, citizens are celebrating an addition different from everything else.

The parish has completed a skate park, with a ribbon cutting for the $340,000 project coming soon. According to Lorraine, the parish initially forgot to ribbon off the park, and dozens of children were riding on the completed course with skateboards and bikes. Lorraine said the addition will bring a whole new crowd to Oak Ridge and could see expansion in the future.

“This is real nice. We built it here for enlargement. We can go wider, we can go longer,” Lorraine said.

The parish has also completed a number of drainage projects down the bayou, including filling in a ditch and adding catch basins near Lady of the Sea Hospital and along La. Highway 308 from East 149th Street to East 152nd Street.

Lafourche also filled in a ditch that was bumping up against homeowners’ properties on West 111th, which Lorraine highlighted as a safety improvement for neighborhood children. The parish’s 2017 budget includes further drainage work for West 107th, West 217th and West 124th streets.

In Lockport, Council Member Armand Autin saw the unveiling of a big CPRA project and is targeting derelict vessels along the bayou. The $4.1 million Bayou Lafourche Saltwater Control Structure is a combination gate and weir that can prevent saltwater intrusion north of the structure. The parish also cleaned the Romy Drive Outfall Canal, dug the Company Canal and installed culverts on Louis and School streets.

Looking toward the future, Autin said he hopes the parish can break ground on the $4 million recreation center in Lockport as well as tend to the town’s boat launch, which he said “has been neglected for years.” Autin wants to upgrade the deteriorating wharves and bulkheads as well as expand the launch’s limited parking. Autin has also helped to secure $250,000 for the removal of derelict vessels along Bayou Lafourche. While the money will also be spent in areas outside of Autin’s district, he said setting aside money is a sign of Lafourche’s intent to clean up its key waterway.

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COURTESY | THE TIMES

Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle said Public Works Director James Barnes completed six times as many work orders as he had in the two years prior to Cantrelle’s first in office.

“Talked to Wildlife and Fisheries, they do a GPS coordinate and note it as a navigational hazard. But there is nobody that’s funding to get rid of them. So, like Terrebonne and the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, we’re going to take action,” Autin said.

Luci Sposito’s District 2 saw a string of drainage projects in the form of levee, canal and pump repairs over her first year.

Sposito detailed Barnes’s department’s accomplishments in a January Facebook post. Public Works completed work, in the form of conversions, rebuilding and reservoir cleanings to 10 pumps in District 2. The department also built one levee along Peltier Drive, cleaned out seven others along canals and raised and extended one by the Rodrigue pump station.

Sposito said the Elsie, Morvant Nos. 3 and 4, Legendre and Rink pumps are set to receive equipment replacements in 2017.

Sposito also added $250,000 to the 2017 budget to complete engineering and design on a bulkhead or culvert to stop corroding on Waverly Road from the

ditch beside it. She said the parish will install a new raised wharf at the Theriot boat launch, completing phase two of the projects. Sposito said the parish has two drainage improvements for Manchester Manor budgeted in 2017 as well as road projects at Choctaw Road and Bayous L’Ourse and Onion.

In west Thibodaux, Michael Gros’ District 3 has some major road work scheduled. According to Gros, the parish has chosen an engineer for the Abby Road overlay project and it should come before the council very soon. Cantrelle said he has told Barnes to “fast track” the overlay project. The parish president said the length of the work will be determined when a contractor signs on, but he hopes the overlay can be done promptly.

“You know there’s always delays with rain and weather, but hopefully they can get it done in the amount of days,” Cantrelle said.

Lafourche cleaned up Parish Road and multiple ditches located in District 3 over the past year. While still waiting on the

overlay, the parish did do repair works on the road over the last year, which the parish called a “work in progress.”

Gros said there is additional drainage work planned in his district, including the cleaning of the ditch behind Abigail Drive. Gros said the parish is working to obtain a right of way to begin the project, which will be done in-house. Lafourche has also scheduled repairs for the Leighton pump station, according to Gros.

Council Member Aaron Melvin’s District 4, the center of a debate over a pump station last year, saw a number of other drainage projects. While parish administration, held up by the Bayou Lafourche Freshwater District and Terrebonne Consolidated Waterworks No. 1, did not move forward with a paid-for Dugas Canal pump station that could have helped alleviate flooding in the area near the Bayou Country Club, it did do supplementary drainage work in the area. Public Works swept culverts in the Country SEE LAFOURCHE, PAGE B5

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017

FULL STEAM AHEAD TERREBONNE INFRASTRUCTURE PUSHES FORWARD

BY JOHN DESANTIS

john@rushing-media.com In some ways government operations bear a resemblance to icebergs, with one portion highly visible, but its mass concealed below the surface.

In Terrebonne Parish, many plans for drainage, infrastructure and other projects are underway, garnering neither headlines nor any other form of attention, but existing nonetheless.

“Even though we are cutting in some departments we are still full steam ahead on ditches, roads and pump stations and none of that has stopped us,” says Parish President Gordon Dove. “It’s on a case by case basis with public works. You may cut certain money. But public safety is a number one concern. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s public safety.”

Special mats laid out in marshy areas to help rebuild eroding land, new connections between major thoroughfares already under construction and some still on planning tables – along with enhancements to critical pumping systems – are among the projects Dove has in mind for Terrebonne Parish’s present and future.

The parish will pay half the million dollar cost for gabion mats in the Lake Chien area. These mats are designed to create living reefs.

“It’s a good project,” Dove said, during a lengthy interview about Terrebonne’s future. The other half of the cost will come from a block grant.

Unseen by most passersby is the planned extension of Hollywood Road, which now terminates at Valhi Boulevard.

“We are still moving forward from Valhi to Southdown Mandalay Road and that is fully funded,” Dove said, estimating the cost at about $4 million. “There was a mitigation issue but that is moving forward accordingly and will go out to bid in about a month and a half.”

Already completed projects include a traffic circle on Corporate Drive, as well as the Hollywood Road widening between Highway 311 and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

FILE | THE TIMES

Work at Hollywood Road was a mess at one time, but the much-anticipated project is now complete and is helping traffic flow in Terrebonne.

The Bayou Gardens Boulevard Extension that will carry traffic from Coteau Road to Bayou Blue Road, Dove said, will be completed in about a month and a half.

Dove also said a widening of Country Drive in Bourg is well underway, a project actually begun years ago under the administration of former Parish President Barry Bonvillain. Federal money is being used for that project, but was not released until recently.

The contstruction of new roads in some cases will lead to further land development opportunities. The Bayou Gardens project has land that in some places is too low for construction on either side but in other spots will allow residential or commercial expansion.

In the middle they would have to lift it quite a ways. But you can see along Coteau and Bayou, a project that should see completion within about a month is an extension of Thompson Road, near the Houma airbase, stretching from La. 56 to La. 57.

“All they are waiting on is that a waterline needs to be relocated, which is a waterworks issue,” Dove said. “There is an

AT&T line and we need to finish laying asphalt. It’s awfully close.”

Pumps are another big deal for the administration. A 3,000 cubic foot per second pump station is being built on the Elliot Canal to pump out Bayou Black. The heavily wooded, swampy areas of Chacahoula and Gibson are the catchpoint for water draining in from Assumption and Lafourche parishes, as well as Terrebonne.

“We have to get a pump station going,” Dove said. “I am pushing this forward March 6, 7 and 8 when I go to Washington, D.C.” The area takes in a great deal of Athafalaya River backwater and can ultimately result in drainage problems for surrounding lands in Terrebonne. Dove said he wants to do everything possible to defeat that possibility.

Studies dating back to 2011 drew approval from a Corps of Engineers colonel.

Dove’s goal is to eventually be able to pump 77 million gallons of Atchafalaya backwater to a place where it won’t cause harm.

Finally, extension of Valhi Boulevard –

which currently stops at Savanne Road – will be stretched to Bull Run Road at first, and could go as far as U.S. 90, under plans Dove is currently reviewing.

“That’s in the infant stages,” Dove said.

“That would also make one more evacuation route, plus a buildup of commercial and residential property.

Another project Dove is working with is changing out of lights on key thoroughfares. Currently he is working with plans for replacing the lights that now illuminate the Schriever Overpass.

“You’d be surprised how many lights there are on the overpass,” Dove said, noting that several of the most important infrastructure projects will not be completed until way in the future. “I am focusing very much on the roads we have under construction. The idea is not to create a loop, but to create a traffic flow that can get around these main arteries that currently get backed up on traffic.

It’s a critical step. If you don’t get started with your projects now you will never get them done.”

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LAFOURCHE: Parish President thrilled with number of projects in the past year FROM PAGE B3 Club and Crossing North subdivisions and replaced culverts at Four Point Drive. The parish also cleaned a number of roads in District 4.

Cantrelle said there is still a plan in place to further alleviate flooding in the Country Club area, saying the parish is transforming the Country Club lift pump. He said he is having a meeting to determine permitting through the waterworks office concerning the pump, but that should move forward as well.

Back in south Lafourche in LaFont’s District 8, the parish cleaned a host of streets and made a few drainage upgrades. Public works cleaned and repaired 20 total streets, repaired the roads and ditches of two more, and changed the culverts on and cleaned another two streets. LaFont was also able to secure money in the 2017 budget for significant improvements to the Cut Off Youth Center. The parish has $100,000 tabbed for handicapped playground equipment and another $50,000 for an air conditioner and hood vent system at the center.

Corey Perrillioux added recreation upgrades for District 6 to this year’s budget. The council approved his measure of setting aside $150,000 to upgrade the sewers and bleachers at the Raceland Recreation Center and repair lighting at the Lafourche Parish Roping and Riding Arena. Over the past year, Perrillioux’s district has seen culvert repairs on Central Lafourche Drive and Williams Street as well as the cleaning of six streets, the Coastal pump station, 40 Arpent Canal, Greenville and Sugarland Center.

In the Bayou Blue area, James Bourgeois’ District 5 has seen a wave of drainage work, with more on the way. DPW repaired or improved equipment at four pump stations in District 5 and also installed culverts and catch basins in Paradise Cove. The council has accepted a low bid on the Cyprien pump station, which the parish has set aside $3.2 million for, according to Bourgeois. Bourgeois said the Cyprien project had been in the works for a while and had seen delays, but he is happy it is finally moving forward.

“Cyprien was long overdue. It should have been done years ago. We can’t give the time back to the people when it

COURTESY | THE TIMES

Council Member Daniel Lorraine walks on the new skate park at Oak Ridge Community Park in Golden Meadow. The $340,000 skate park officially opened to the public last week.

should have been done. All we can do is move forward, that’s what we’re doing,” Bourgeois said.

Also in Bourgeois’ district is the addition of the Bayou Blue Splash Park. The $900,000 project is set to go out to bid by March, according to Cantrelle. Both Cantrelle and Bourgeois said they do not understand why the splash park suffered from delays during the previous administration, but they are hopeful to see shovels hit the dirt soon.

“The focus is moving things forward,” Cantrelle said.

While his administration has featured an array of shakeups, hires and firings over the first year, Cantrelle is also working to update day-to-day operations in his departments. The finance department, under the leadership of Carrel Hymel III, is working on streamlining capital management and human resource payment and procedures with outside consultant Stagni and Co. to further minimize error,

according to parish spokesperson Caroline Eschette. Hymel’s department is also working to automate the bid process and make it entirely online.

In communications, Eschette has taken over all communications duties from Doug Cheramie, the parish’s former communications director who resigned three weeks ago. Eschette said the parish’s website is currently under audit for upgrades and may see a redesign to promote user-friendliness and accessibility.

The Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is continuing to update a list of citizens who plan on staying during storms. Any citizens who plan on staying put can volunteer that information, as well as medical situations, to the LOHSEP to add to its database. The list gives the office the chance to identify and get to residents faster during search and rescue missions. Eschette stressed the importance of such preparations in improving the chances for both residents

and first responders.

“Anything you can do prior to a chaotic event is extremely helpful in the aftermath of the storm,” Eschette said.

The parish is also working on renovating a facility owned by Lafourche to give the Civil Service Department its own building to operate with more privacy, according to Cantrelle. The parish president said he and the Civil Service Board will be setting down to update and revise some of the civil service code in April.

Cantrelle said some of the civil service changes, as well as other departmental adjustments, could come with growing pains for managers and employees, but they are in the best interest of the parish.

“Most of the time people resist changes, but we want to be more efficient and spend people’s tax dollars wisely,” Cantrelle said.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017

FROM JAILS TO TRUCKS LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MAKES SIGNIFICANT STRIDES

BY JOHN DESANTIS

john@rushing-media.com Two new jails – one all-purpose and the other with a special population, along with a few extras here and there, are among developments this year that local law enforcement officials say are items in the good news department, despite financial challenges due to a shaky economy and other issues they are contending with.

“This new jail allows us to increase the overall number of inmates we can house,” said Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, in reference to his personally supervised transition of the parish’s former juvenile detention center to a jail used exclusively for women.

The women’s jail’s 130 beds will free up a total of 80 beds for men at the main jail next door.

Both Larpenter and Parish President Gordon Dove said the women’s jail, which began admitting inmates last week, was placed online with a minimum of financial cost. Inmate labor made the difference, they said, helping to place the budget item at $150,000, by saving more than $200,000 in opening costs.

Progress is being made as well in Lafourche Parish, where Sheriff Craig Webre’s dream of a new jail to replace an aging and flawed facility that has long posed risks for both correctional officers and inmates is being realized.

A $42 million complex capable of holding 500 inmates is rising at La. 3185, across from Lafourche’s infamous old jail. Taxpayers agreed a to .2 percent sales tax to help pay for the facility after years of attempts by Webre to sell the community on the reasons why it is needed.

Other good news to come out of law enforcement this year is a renewed level of cooperation at the community level with law enforcement officers, something Houma Police Chief Dana Coleman says makes a huge difference in the ability of officers to prevent crime and to better investigate crimes that do occur.

Houma and surrounding communities in Terrebonne Parish have been plagued by spates of violence, much of it between

FILE PHOTO | THE TIMES

TPSO Water Patrol agents now have new Ford trucks, which Sheriff Jerry Larpenter believes will diversify where deputies can go.

loosely-organized groups of young entrepreneurs in engaged in drug traffic.

“People are getting the message and they are cooperating,” Coleman said in an interview late last year.

Larpenter said he is keeping optimistic about the coming year and is encouraged that despite economic problems there has not been a major change in the level of work his officers are doing for the public.

“Even though I am losing $1 million a year with my work release shut down and I am down on sales taxes, we are maintaining our service level and everyone is keeping their jobs,” Larpenter said.

“Hopefully the rainy day will stop and the sun will shine on Terrebonne Parish as a whole. We are hoping to get back our stream of tax dollars. If the economy starts back up we can open our work release program again. Then we can put inmates back to work and get them into these re-entry programs the state is talking about, so that they can be rehabilitated.”

The full implementation of body cams in Terrebonne is something Larpenter

says has made for some good results.

“The body cameras are helping out a great deal,” Larpenter said, noting that complaints against officers have hit alltime lows. He attributes that to the body cam usage.

Public response to law enforcement because of concerns about officer safety – boosted because of attacks on officers elsewhere in the state or the nation – have also helped provide an extra measure of protection.

“We have re-supplied all of our officers with new bullet-proof vests,” Larpenter said.

Good news came to a small group of law enforcement officers recently in the form of new equipment that they agreed was badly needed.

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff ’s Office has been recognized nationally for innovations in its adaptations for patrol cars, which have been post-designed with user-friendly features inside and what critics have referred to as a sharp appearance on the outside.

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Water Patrol officers used dark blue pickups to pull their boats, which often must be rushed to areas with boat launches for immediate deployment in emergencies. The boats got bigger but pickups remained the same stock, fullsize models for years.

Despite serious budget problems caused by an eroding tax base, Larpenter said he was able to replace the Water Patrol truck fleet with Ford 350 Super Duty trucks. They are the same high-visibility white as the regular patrol units, with the Sheriff ’s Office logo and trim present on those units as well.

“I feel so much more confident,” Water Patrol Capt. Mike Ledet said of the new ride “I feel that if I have a situation I can get to wherever I need to get to and do whatever I need to do. It’s a taller truck to climb into but that’s good because of all our storms and water.”

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017

CUTS, BUT STILL PROGRESS SCHOOLS, COLLEGES MOVE AHEAD, DESPITE OBSTACLES

KARL GOMMEL | THE TIMES

The lot formerly known as Southdown Elementary is set to be home to a brand-new, two-story school in about 18 months. TPSD officials are planning for the new Southdown to be ready in 2018-19.

BY KARL GOMMEL

karl@rushing-media.com At the corner of St. Charles Street and Tunnel Blvd. in Houma sits a near-empty lot, barely reminiscent of the collection of memories stored there.

Gone are just about all of the buildings that housed generations of schoolchildren, replaced by flattened earth, lumber and heavy equipment. All that remains standing is an old gym those same children, including Super Bowl winner Frank Clark, played in for decades.

More important than the departed structures are the absent children who were at Southdown Elementary as recently as last May. They have been shuttled off to the vacant Dularge Elementary and Greenwood Middle schools while the operators of that heavy equipment get to work.

If all goes according to plan, some of the younger children who departed Southdown could return to a brand-new, two-story school. Terrebonne Parish School District officials are planning for the new Southdown, which the district raised about $20.1 million in bonds to build, to be ready for the 2018-19 school year. TPSD Superintendent Philip Martin said the rebuilding of Southdown is an accomplishment that will outlive any administrator’s career.

“I consider it a privilege to be a part

of something that significant. Most people probably don’t think about it, but in terms of the school, it’s fairly permanent.

It’s something that generations of kids will go through,” Martin said.

While Martin expressed pride in Southdown’s construction, he preferred to focus on the things that happen inside the district’s schools. This year, the TPSD’s letter grade from the Louisiana Department of Education jumped up from 90.5 points last year to 95.1 this year. The school district’s grade remained a “B,” but Terrebonne moved considerably closer to the 100-point threshold to become an “A” school.

The school district’s number of A schools remained the same, although South Terrebonne High School replaced Terrebonne High School on the list after THS just dropped out of the A range with a 99.3 grade. Overall, 21 of the TPSD’s 32 schools that received grades the previous year saw its grades improve.

Martin credited the community, the district’s teachers and the students with the gains made in Terrebonne. He said the TPSD is still focusing on areas, such as the graduation rate and certain end of course exams, it has the greatest room to improve going forward. Martin said he thinks the TPSD can get to an A next year if it stays the course, even with the DOE changing the grading rubric this month to put a larger emphasis on growth over

performance.

“I just wish we could get a set of rules and stick to them for a while. By the time I learn one, we’ve got another one to learn.

Understanding the rules of the game helps you succeed in the game,” Martin said.

Martin made a point to particularly highlight the work done by Terrebonne’s educators, saying nobody, aside from parents, is as important to student success.

He said the school district has made a concerted recruiting effort and has a strong retention rate with teachers, something he credits to the district’s culture and the welcoming community. Martin said that retention is important because it keeps the parish’s children under the guidance of the best they have to offer.

“Teaching done correctly is a very special, very difficult, thing that not most people in the world can do. It is a gift,” Martin said.

Next door, Lafourche Parish will consider putting its money where its mouth is in terms of keeping its educational talent.

Lafourche voters will vote on the Apr. 29 election on whether to put a one-cent sales tax increase on themselves for a teacher pay raise. That election will also feature a vote on allowing the Lafourche Parish School District to raise $80 million in bonds, which would be spent on construction projects in the district.

Lafourche’s teachers requested a raise

at an opportune time, considering the school district’s accomplishments. Lafourche became an A district this year with a 102.2 score, up from 95.8 the previous year. The district doubled its number of A schools from six to 12, and 23 of 30 schools saw their scores improve. LPSD Superintendent Matthews said the district’s big jump was the result of a team effort.

“Working, of course, with all of our teachers on understanding all of the content, and the teachers working with the students in turn using a lot of strategies and of course our parents as well, doing homework at home. So it’s a deep commitment on all of our stakeholders’ parts to help move the school district forward,” Matthews said.

LOCAL HIGHER EDUCATION MOVES FORWARD In higher education, both Nicholls State University and Fletcher Technical Community College were able to make firsts in the face of budgetary uncertainty.

Nicholls saw its enrollment grow for the third straight semester, up to 5,763 total students taking full-time or part-time course loads at the university. This year’s figure was only a modest, nine-person increase from spring 2016. The fall 2016 headcount was 6,267 (fall enrollment is

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typically higher than in the spring), a 103 increase from fall 2015. Nicholls President Murphy said the small but continued increase is a sign there is still a demand for higher education, and NSU is finding a way to fulfill that demand.

“To me it says one thing: that is that students still want to get a college education, and they’re still coming to do that,” Murphy said.

Murphy credited the increased enrollment to both recruitment and retention gains in Thibodaux. The university is using new software that personalizes messages to prospective students, and recruiters are empowered to offer more money, up to a certain amount, to a wavering student on the spot. On the retention side, Nicholls revamped how it teaches its freshman math course while also offering a one-credit study skills course in the spring to any freshman who struggled in their first semester.

“We spend a lot of effort getting [students]. We don’t have to re-spend that effort. So, when we get them once we want to keep them moving along,” Murphy said.

Nicholls is still considerably far from Murphy’s stated enrollment goal of 8,000. Murphy said if things go well, including less yearly budget cuts to the state university system, Nicholls could reach that figure within three to five years. However, Murphy acknowledges the goal is an ambitious one and that his primary focus is on growth overall.

“It’s a big, stretch goal. Emphasis on stretch. If we don’t get there-if we get halfway there, we’ll be doing really good,” Murphy said.

Murphy highlighted the university’s culinary program as one with room to grow, in part due to a $68,000 renovation to its kitchen laboratory in Gouaux Hall. The renovations include new flooring, dishwashers, ovens, tables and kitchen equipment. One classroom has been completed and the other is underway. Nicholls also had its grand reopening of the Al and Mary Danos Theater in Talbot Hall at the beginning of this school year. The theater underwent $9.6 million in renovations, including a revamp for ampitheater acoustics, updated lighting and a climate-controlled room for the university’s two Steinway grand pianos.

Nicholls started its Bridge to Independence program this past fall. The program is offered to students who have intellectual disabilities or are on the au-

B9

COURTESY PHOTO | THE TIMES

Nicholls State University has seen its enrollment grow for the third consecutive semester, even in light of the state’s budget cuts to higher education.

Nicholls President Bruce Murphy credited the university’s updated recruiting and retention policies for sustaining its march toward 8,000 students.

tism spectrum. The program is the only of its kind in the state to be certified by the Federal Department of Education, thus opening up the opportunity for federal student aid. Depending on qualification, some students can earn a four-year degree while others can earn a two-year certificate with a focus on developing skills to be gainfully employed after leaving Nicholls.

“Think about somebody with these challenges. We’re not talking about what are we going to do today? We’re talking about what’s life going to be like,” Murphy said.

In Schriever, Fletcher has been able to celebrate firsts while facing the realities of a limited budget. Fletcher Chancellor Kristine Strickland has just completed her first year in charge of the technical college and has spent her time working with industry and community partners to re-evaluate the school’s curriculum.

She said Fletcher is working on shortterm training courses for those in oil and gas and manufacturing workers. The school is also going to launch its first two completely online courses, in business administration and criminal justice, in

the upcoming fall semester. Strickland said the addition of online courses makes Fletcher’s opportunities more accessible to adult learners and those who cannot drive to campus every day.

“For those who have full-time jobs or family responsibilities, we’re trying to figure out a way to get an education while still balancing all of that. We want to make that as easy as possible,” Strickland said.

Fletcher is also developing courses for the coastal protection and restoration industry. According to Strickland, the program will start out as short-term training in the fall before eventually growing into one that offers degrees. The short-term classes will focus on getting those in other industries with related skills used to coastal restoration vocabulary and equipment.

“There’s a lot of transferrable skills and a lot of transferrable crafts,” Strickland said. “Given that there is a focus with the RESTORE Act and some of the funding that’s coming down from various agencies that are specifically around rebuilding our coast, I think we’re going to see a few years out a demand for people to work

in those areas.”

Fletcher has seen its share of challenges in Strickland’s first year, including suffering from some layoffs in the face of decreasing state appropriations. Fletcher’s chancellor said the budgetary reality means she has had to reconsider the college’s core offerings and focus on allocating its resource as efficiently as possible.

A major part of that is staying involved with the local industry and community to figure out what programs are essential to developing the Bayou Region’s workforce.

“One of the things that the community college sector is committed to is the idea of regrowing the American middle class,” Strickland said. “That’s very important to us, is to help take individuals who may be working a minimum wage job - sometimes it’s a few weeks, sometimes it’s a few semesters - but with that minimal training, get them to the point where they can go out and get a good job, support their families, get the benefits of health insurance and things like that that are so important.”

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PROTECTING THE FUTURE COASTAL PROTECTION GETS A BOOST ON MANY FRONTS

BY JOHN DESANTIS

john@rushing-media.com

FILE PHOTO | THE TIMES

Vehicles and equipment on the site of a levee alignment in Terrebonne Parish as part of the Morganza alignment construction. Terrebonne taxpayers opted to pay for the projects themselves rather than wait for federal money

freshwater marsh systems allowing for the maintenance of thousands of acres of wetlands which serve as critical wildlife habitat and nurseries for fisheries,” the text of the plan reads. “The Houma Navigation Canal Lock Complex will also provide crucial flood protection by blocking storm surge as a key component of the Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection Project.”

The project is billed as having multiple benefits, providing for the rebuilding of the ecosystem as well as providing coastal protection.

While it has great promise, a look at the timeline related to it shows how many years can pass when government has its hand in develppment.

The project has roots in the effect Hurricane Juan had on the parish in 1985, causing extensive flooding in both Terrebonne and Lafourche.

In 1992 a reconnaissance study of the planned Morganza to the Gulf project was authorized and in 1994 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the report.

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Two years later, Section 425 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 required the Corps to develop a study of the Navigation Canal as an independent feature of the Morganza project.

The study recommended a 200-foot wide lock in the canal south of Bayou Grand Caillou. A lock structure, the report concluded, would provide both direct and indirect benefits.

In the year 2000, the Preconstruction Engineering and Design phase for the HNC lock was initiated and a feasibility study including the HNC lock was completed in 2002. A supplemental report was required in 2003. Authorization for spending on the project was renewed in 2003, and in 2007 a reauthorization was ordered.

A final authorization was required in 2014.

Looking ahead through the next year, local officials have renewed confidence in how federal waters might be navigated for coastal protection purposes.

Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge,

was named last week as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

The committee oversees regulatory programs supervised by the Corps and the EPA. “We are all-in with the new Administration’s focus on modernizing our country’s infrastructure – but until you reform the current regulatory climate, you can’t do infrastructure,” said Graves.

“Untangling the decades of bureaucracy and the culture of delay within the Corps, EPA and other agencies will take time, but we’re committed to helping lead the transformative change that has to occur to fix what’s broken in government operations. We’re going to work toward making Louisiana’s coast and the state’s need for hurricane and flood protection a case study on how it should be done – instead of another story of government failure.”

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With funding or major coastal restoration projects in Louisiana now secured, Terrebonne Parish is expected to get a major slice of the pie to help meet its own coastal restoration and commerce needs.

Parish President Gordon Dove says the planned expenditures put Terrebonne Parish on track in an area where improvement as well as continued completion of projects are sorely needed.

“Our major coastal restoration project is expected to be completed by 2022,” Dove said. “The $365 million allocated is a great win. A lock system, salt water intrusion protection, and fresh water diversion system at the Bubba Dove floodgate has engineering that is already underway.”

On September 2, 2016, The Department of Treasury published an estimated allocation for the funds to be deposited in the trust fund from the BP final judgment.

As estimated, and adjusted according to procedures outlined in the Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the full totals the State of Louisiana anticipates receiving from the Transocean, Anadarko and BP deposits, in connection with the 2010 BP oil spill, amounts to $250.4 million into one trust fund over a 15-year period of over $260.4 million.

Another $551.5 million, plus interest, is going into the fund under another provision.

Accordingly, this Plan updates and amends the state’s September 21, 2015 RESTORE Plan and contains the projects and programs identified for funding by the CPRA, the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Millions of other dollars related to the 2010 disaster will also be available.

A major Terrebonne Parish feature that has won approval is the Houma Navigation Canal Lock.

It is intended to reduce salt water intrusion and distribute fresh water with the Terrebonne Basin, an area that has experienced one of the highest rates of land loss on the coast.

“Accordingly, this project will help to limit the intrusion of salt water into

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017

B11

FIELD TURF...? MAYBE SO RECREATIONAL PROJECTS SURROUND COMMUNITY

BY CASEY GISCLAIR

casey@rushing-media.com The local economy may have stumbled a bit in 2016, but a few big-time recreational projects still made great strides toward becoming reality, which is good news for folks in Lafourche Parish.

Recreational facilities projects took giant leaps forward in the past 12 months, which has paved the way for what many expect could be a big-time year – regardless of what happens with the price of oil.

GOLDEN MEADOW SKATEPARK Work is done on the Golden Meadow Skatepark, and the facility opened on Thursday afternoon for skaters.

Construction on the park started in mid-June, and the six-figure project, which was designed by Spohn Ranch Skateparks, will give an outlet to a segment of the community that “was forgotten,” according to former Golden Meadow councilwoman Priscilla Mounic, who took the project under her wing and saw it to fruition during her time in town government.

“A community should be a place that everyone can enjoy,” Mounic said during a planning meeting for the park. “And right now, there’s a clear segment of our population that’s left out. There’s no place for children and adults who enjoy skating and skateboarding to go. Actually, they have it worse than anyone else. For them, there’s usually even giant signs warning them to stay away.”

The park was expected to be completed in the past fall, but construction delays pushed the project into 2017, creating a lot of nervous energy for a lot of the local skaters who can’t wait to test the park out.

For the past several weeks, the structure has been in place, and the only thing missing have been “touch-ups,” according to Golden Meadow officials.

“We can’t wait to skate it,” said Galliano native Bret Duet. “It’s going to be a great thing for our community. I think this is something that the people here deserve.”

The facility was paid for by money given to Golden Meadow by the Lafourche Parish Council.

KARL GOMMEL | THE TIMES

When it rains over the summer, our area’s football fields take a beating, much like the South Terrebonne High School field did this past football season. Lafourche Parish is asking voters to renew a millage in April, which if extended, would fund field turf for the parish’s three high schools.

According to Vincent Onel, a designer and developer with Spohn Ranch Skateparks, the park was created with everyone’s interests in mind. He added that it will be a facility that can be skated comfortably by both beginners and experts.

“Everyone will be able to enjoy it. We didn’t seek to leave anyone out at all when we made our design,” Onel said. “We think it’s going to be something that everyone is proud of and can really enjoy.”

Golden Meadow mayor Joey Bouziga said the town will have signs posted across the facility, informing skaters that they are on their own when testing the facility.

“Skate at your own risk,” Bouziga said.

“You’re on your own.”

LAFOURCHE FIELD TURF MAKES PROGRESS The Golden Meadow Skatepark is in the final stages of completion and should open very soon.

As that wraps up, another long-anticipated project is moving to the forefront and has a very good shot at becoming real in the coming year.

,

SEE RECREATION, PAGE B12

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COURTESY | THE TIMES

The Bayou Country Sports Park, when completed, will look like this – a gorgeous facility that will offer recreational opportunities for everyone in the parish. But with the current economic downturn in the state, money for the project is at a premium, according to local leaders, who said they are trying to find different sources of income for the project.

RECREATION: Terrebonne park delayed by state budget crisis, lack of funding FROM PAGE B11 The Lafourche Parish School Board got creative in the past year and has seemingly found a way to fund field turf to the parish’s high schools – assuming area voters opt to renew a millage that’s already in place.

School board officials said they can use a millage designed for school-related facilities to generate the money necessary to lay turf at all three schools.

The obstacle will be getting the millage renewed this spring at the polls.

The millage has been in place since the ‘70s, and has helped fund countless facility upgrades or building construction projects throughout Lafourche.

“We need the fields badly,” Central Lafourche football coach Keith Menard said. “Our facilities are overworked, and it’s going to be a problem that’s not going to go away until we get this done. … It’s a safety issue, and our kids shouldn’t be at risk.”

The quest for turf has been an ongoing

battle for more than a decade in both Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.

When it’s a wet summer, the fields take a beating, which is part of the problem.

Also part of the problem is that the grass never gets a chance to breathe, because of middle school games, P.E. classes, band practices and other functions that take place in our area’s stadiums.

“They do these studies and tell you how many contests your field can host in a year before the grass is worn down,” Menard said. “For our field, we are over that suggested number in the first month of football season most of the time. It’s just too much. We can’t keep up. We’ll never be able to.”

The school board met on Feb. 1, and passed a measure by a 13-0-2 vote, which will send the millage renewal to voters on April 29.

The fact that the project has made it this far is seen as progress, according to Menard and other head coaches in the area, who said they’re glad their voices are being heard.

TERREBONNE SCRATCHING FOR CASH TO ADVANCE PARK In Terrebonne Parish, some progress was made on the Bayou Country Sports Park in the past 12 months, but things currently sit at a standstill because of the tough economic climate in Louisiana.

Officials with Terrebonne Parish Government said crews have been working diligently on the park in an effort to complete baseball and softball fields to get them ready for competition.

Fields have been laid, fencing has been built and finishing touches are currently being added to 10 fields total – five for baseball and five for softball – at the sports complex, that is expected to completely change parish recreation in the future.

But now, things are slowed down.

The current work being done is part of phase two of the baseball/softball field project. A third phase will complete competition-necessary logistics like press boxes, parking and seating, among other things.

Work on those aspects is not yet feasible, because more than $5 million was cut from the money Terrebonne Parish was set to receive for the project after the state slashed its Capital Outlay Projects budget.

Alternative plans are currently being made to try and squeeze money out of the state to continue to piece construction along. Other funding sources are local motel taxes and income from parish recreation.

When completed fully, the park will cover 100 acres of land and will be a local hub for soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, basketball and several other sports.

The park will feature a pond for kayaking, and will also feature Frisbee golf and a bike trail, among other activities.

“It will be great for us,” Parish President Gordon Dove said this past winter.

“But right now, it’s hard, because money is at a premium, and when money is at a premium, it’s hard to get recreational parks like this built.”

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B13

YES, WE’RE PROGRESSING in the Bayou Region, the first definition could just as well apply in some instances.

With all of the Carnival season celebrations and parades we offer, certainly there is no shortage of royalty, after all.

BAYOUSIDE But yes, we indeed are talking about a forward or onward movement toward an objective or goal. If we agree with that, it would make sense to figure out what goal we mean. And the goals for our region are

BY JOHN DESANTIS multiple. john@rushing-media.com Primary among them, it would appear, is the goal of keeping enough land The word “progress” is a noun, defined by Webster’s as “a royal journey beneath our feet to allow for all to work, marked by pomp and pageant … a state recreate and prosper. In this respect, procession or a tour or circuit made by as several articles show, we are making an official (as a judge),” also “an expe- progress, even if not perfection. The peodition, journey, or march through a re- ple of Terrebonne Parish, in allowing themselves to be taxed, allowed for much gion.”

The second definition is “a forward or work to be done on the Morganza to the onward movement as to an objective or Gulf alignment. To the credit of Tony Alford and the rest of the Terrebonne Levee to a goal” or “an advance.”

This issue’s special section is titled and Conservation District board, as well “Progress” and as such, the second defi- as the tireless Reggie Dupre, that goal is coming closer to a reality. nition is what applies. Or does it?

Allstate Donnaour Owens (Progress) 02-22-17We (2x10.666).pdf 1 in 2/15/17 1:41 PM are – although many cases not obLooking back -over history here

viously – making infrastructure improvements that will help move us through this century, with new roads that will eventually carry traffic that will pass by new businesses and homes, increasing our economic potential.

All of this work continues even though we have experienced great setbacks.

For people who have lost their jobs due to the downturn in the oilfield, all this talk of progress might have a bitter aftertaste. It’s hard to celebrate an extension of Hollywood Road if the car you would be driving on it is on the brink of being repossessed. It’s hard to be happy about a home that will be safe from flood while it is currently at risk of being seized by the bank or mortgage company. For each step of progress, then it is easy and indeed understandable for some to shake their heads and say that none of it applies to them.

But progress isn’t just measured by things that are tangible. There are other ways to measure progress that sometimes just prove our stubborn ability to

withstand adversity. And in this sense, we are indeed enmeshed in progress, in the procession toward the future, holding our heads high as if we were all indeed royalty.

The joy we experience from the aroma of boiling crawfish on a Good Friday afternoon, the childish delight people of all ages can experience by catching the one coveted Carnival float trinket, the affirmation that we have done right by our children because we see the proof of their goodness in their school grades.

These are things that mark progress too, in each individual household.

As we move forward through this year we can hope as well that progress will be made in other areas, such as seeing to it that our state is able to care for the needy and the newly unemployed. If we keep our spirits pointed in a direction that is positive, if we look for fortune not just for ourselves but our neighbors, then progress can truly be made.

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