LEONARD GRAY

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish President Albert Laque told the parish council Monday that to accept a donation of 34 acres off Interstate 310 was “almost a no-brainer,” and the council agreed to take the land. The offer, made by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edward A. Dufresne Jr., is for eventual construction of a building for public use, possibly a multi-use complex. “I don’t want you to take too damn long to build it. I want to see it!” Dufresne prompted. The site, located behind the railroad tracks from the St. Charles School Board office, is across from the planned Sugarland Parkway from the 40-acre site acquired from Dufresne in May 2000, where a school is eventually to be constructed and named for the late educator, Raymond K. Smith. Construction on the four-lane access road by Esperanza Land Co. is to begin soon, along with installation of necessary utility lines, at no cost to the parish. Possible uses include some sort of public auditorium, where events such as graduations, proms and trade shows could be held. The vote on accepting the donation was 7-2 in favor, with Barry Minnich and Dee Abadie voting against the donation. Both Minnich and Abadie balked at the stipulation that the building be in place by 2007. With no progress made on the project, the land would return to Dufresne. However, Dufresne’s attorney, Louis Authement, said that deadline is not hard and fast and could be extended, provided some progress has been made. Minnich also said a 34-acre site is insufficient acreage for such a project, and added, “I love the land and I appreciate the offer, but it’s not enough.” On the other hand, April Black emphasized, “How do you turn down land?” Councilman G. “Ram” Ramchandran also said his first priority is to build some sort of courthouse addition, preferably on the land already owned by the parish next to the courthouse. He, nevertheless, voted to accept the Dufresne land. Clayton Faucheux urged his fellow council members, “If we do nothing with it, it costs the parish exactly zero.” Terry Authement prompted the council to “get what you can” and said having the property in hand could speed up getting $7 million in the state Capital Outlay Bill out of Priority Three to Priority One. Sen. Joel Chaisson II agreed with Authement, and commented, “When you have land, it goes a long way to help secure the funding.” Rep. Gary Smith added, “When you tell us the time is right to go after these funds this will give us solid proof to the Legislature that we’re serious about making improvements to our community.” Talks began on the possible donation of the site, appraised at $1.8 million, with Laque in November. However, Laque has floated the idea since his first term as parish president, establishing a feasibility study committee, which completed its work in March 1996. In July 1996 requests for proposals were advertised among local major landowners. Dufresne, at that time, and several others submitted proposals. The state legislative delegation successfully pushed for funding through the Capital Outlay Bill. However, with no local match in either money or land, the project slipped to the back burner.