Parish staff outlines derelict-boat removal plan; RFP opens for six permitted vessels, grant pending

Parish staff briefed committee members on efforts to remove derelict vessels from parish waterways, saying a request-for-proposals (RFP) will open for six vessels that have already received state and federal permits and that the parish is pursuing additional grant funding to expand removals.

Randy (parish staff) told the committee the RFP for the six previously permitted vessels opens the next day. He said the parish had pursued state and federal permitting and described required permits as potentially including Department of Natural Resources cultural-use approvals, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizations and, in some waterways, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries clearances. "If they're pretty straightforward, we got them back pretty pretty fast. I would say maybe it's a 2, 3 month process," Randy said.

Randy said the parish earlier set aside $150,000 for boat-removal work and that $150,000 had gone out to bid; in the exchange that followed he identified "100" as the figure available to work with when bids come in. He also said a pending federal grant application could cover many of the remaining vessels and that the parish expected to hear about that award before the end of the month. If the grant and matching funds align, the grant recipient would remove as many vessels as it can from the parish list. Randy said the parish maintains an internal map of reported vessels and will overlay council districts on that map to help prioritize responses.

To accelerate removals, Randy said staff is developing a task-order approach: issue a request for qualifications and maintain a prequalified list of contractors who can be task-ordered when funds are available. "Every time a boat is reported to us, we can instantly task order it to a consultant and start the permitting and advertising process and get it removed fast," he said.

Council members asked about the possibility of a parish impound yard and whether legislative changes would be required to authorize immediate removals. Randy said the kind of authority that would permit on-water removal followed by paperwork would likely require state legislative action; he said he is working with state representatives who sponsored changes the prior year to seek stronger authority in future legislation.

No formal committee action was recorded on the vessel program at this meeting; committee members voted later to adjourn and to refer other agenda items as noted in separate votes.