Cotton Bayou boat ramp in Orange Beach swamped

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/01/cott...p_in_oran.html

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[size=14pt]Cotton Bayou boat ramp in Orange Beach swamped, some want relief[/size]
Published: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 7:11 AM
By Press-Register staff

ORANGE BEACH, Alabama -- The city wants to relieve congestion at Cotton Bayou boat launch by limiting parking along Alabama 161, setting a maximum boat size, and -- if the state will fund it -- building a new launch.

"If we can’t get a boat ramp, then go no-wake," Margaret Childress Long, a Cotton Bayou resident for 62 years, told the City Council last week. "We’ve got to have some relief."

The heavy boat traffic at the state-owned launch, and the number of personal water craft -- as many as 18 at a time -- cause the wake to go over her boat ramp and neighboring ramps, according to Long.

Residents’ complaints of vandalism and damage to private property would be reduced by the changes as well, according to Mayor Tony Kennon. The Cotton Bayou launch was built in 1979, and not many boats used Cotton Bayou, but as the city has grown, so has the traffic, he said.

The Cotton Bayou public boat ramp is on the north side of Perdido Beach Boulevard, about a quarter-mile east of Alabama 161.

The preferred site for a new launch is on Old River, just off Ono Island’s western tip, according to Kennon.

In 2007, Orange Beach designed a $2 million, five-ramp boat launch facility for Old River, which at that time would have been paid for and managed by Orange Beach but built on state land. Several homes overlook the site, however, and those homeowners opposed it, so the state backed off.

The Old River launch was included in the proposed projects to be funded from the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resources Damage Assessment monies, according to Kennon.

So far, $57 million in restoration projects have been proposed and will be up for public comment over the next two months. The projects will be funded from a $1 billion pool established by BP as a down payment on fines related to the 2010 oil spill.

Gunter Guy Jr., head of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, is on the NRDA committee, and asked the city to send him a letter of unanimous support for the project, according to the mayor.

On Nov. 30, the city sent the requested letter signed by Kennon and all City Council members except Brett Holk and Pattisue Carranza.

Holk explained at the council meeting: "So all those bad things you want to put in someone else’s backyard? We need more public input. I’m not going to push it in someone else’s neighborhood without them having a say."

Without unanimous support, the state may not want to tackle the launch again, according to Kennon, who plans to meet with Guy next week.

"I understand where the state is coming from," Kennon said. "They do not want to spend the money if we’ve got a divided council and a spitting match" between Ono and Cotton Bayou residents. "We’ve got to get a united front."

Long said her no-wake suggestion could work to the city’s advantage.

"Maybe with all the complaints you’ll get from people about where can they park or put their boat in the water, the state will say we need another boat ramp."