Canoe/kayak dock on track

Karl Jeter
karl.jeter@techetoday.com

St. Martinville – Michael Domingue, the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreational Trails State Administrator for Louisiana called with some good news. It turns out that the story in the Aug. 3 paper that St. Martinville had lost its grant for the construction of a floating kayak and canoe launch in the bayou was not correct.
Domingue said that 15 to 19 of the docks are still planned for installation on the Bayou Teche from Port Barre to Berwick, and St. Martinville would definitely get one. He said that there are many delays related to topography or engineering issues and the program moves on to build the ones that are ready. But there are no deadlines that have to be met that would result in losing the grant.
Mayor Thomas Nelson said that he had received some incorrect information about the status of the project funding. Docks have been installed under the federal/state Recreational Trails Program in Breaux Bridge and New Iberia. Domingue said two or three of the docks, at an average cost of $20,000 each, will be built per year along the Teche.
Factors such as suitability of sites at high and low water levels have to be studied and local requirements met. Mayor Nelson told the Teche News that the site for the dock, about 100 yards south of the Evangeline Oak, is settled as far as the city is concerned.
Domingue could give no estimate as to when the St. Martinville dock would be installed, but said that he would keep local officials informed.
The Federal Recreational Trails Program provides funds to the states to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities. Each state administers its own program, usually through a state resource agency, in this case, the Louisiana Office of State Parks.