ST. MARTINVILLE — Parish President Chester Cedars said that he expects the parish should be getting an appellate ruling soon on its lawsuit against a business owner on Lake Martin.

Cedars spent most of his parish president’s report explaining exactly how the issues with access to Lake Martin came into being. In recent months, private landowners around the lake have tried to block access for the public, either out of a fear of liability should an accident occur or, as in the case of the litigation the parish is engaged in, for commercial purposes.

“The lake and lake bed are under control of the state through the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,” Cedars said. “The parish has no jurisdiction. The property around the lake is privately owned. The landings are privately owned. The only jurisdiction the parish has is through zoning, and the right to legislate the use of the land around the lake.”

Initially, he said, the landings were built using parish materials and using trusty work crews from the parish jail. Aside from the limestone used for a parking lot at the lake, which is viewed as an extension of Rookery Road, the parish cannot use resources to repair or expand improvements on private property.

Cedars did say he had productive conversations with members of one family about their concerns and proposed a possible compromise.

“I did not get a formal response,” Cedars said. “But I did get an email response Sunday night thanking me for the proposal and saying they hope to speak again soon.”

He also addressed rumors that some landowners might try to block Rookery Road around the lake. Cedars said it is the parish’s stance that it has rights to the road because it has maintained it for decades.

“Nobody is going to block Rookery Road without a visit to the courthouse,” Cedars said. “This parish is not afraid to fight in the courts to protect the public’s rights.”

He also said that there could be a legal argument made that the state’s area of control extends to the lake’s high water mark — which could be construed as Rookery Road. That would mean the public would have a right to access the lake even with the typical shoreline under private ownership.

“The high water mark is at Rookery Road, where the levee used to be,” Cedars said. “You could argue with some validity that it is state controlled to that point.”

In other reports, the council heard from Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Executive Director Lt. Col. Billy Guidry about the projected water flow along the Bayou Teche this coming spring.

Although there are concerns from high water that has moved south from Cairo, Illinois, and through Jackson, Mississippi, Guidry said it is expected most of those floodwaters will remain north instead of cycling through the Teche.

The council also discussed the potential sale of property within the city of St. Martinville that had been adjudicated as being co-owned by the city and the parish.

“Years ago, when there was a tax sale in the city, the property was adjudicated to the city and the parish,” Parish Legal Counsel Allan Durand said. “There are about two dozen of these properties, and they are causing an expense to the city because they have to keep them up.”

Durand said the value of the individual properties was low, about $1,000 apiece.