New Thibodaux library to be built along La. 308

The Lafourche Parish Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to buy land owned by J.B. Levert Land Company, Inc., to build a Thibodaux branch library.

The 2.45-acre lot is located at the corner of La. 308 and Rosedown Drive.

“It’s been a long time coming,” newly-appointed council chairman Tommy Lasseigne said of the project. “Finally, we can get something done.”

Because the land is already bare, councilman Mark Atzenhoffer agreed the property purchase, which totaled $439,000, was a good deal for the parish.

The council’s other option was to purchase a building that was formerly “The Foundry,” on the corner of Jackson Street and Hwy. 1. Opponents have argued that the site was too costly since the building would have to be demolished before library construction could begin.

The council is expected to approve an act of sale for the property at its next meeting. Architect Jay Caillouet will then be given the green light to begin designing the more spacious Thibodaux branch.

Also during Tuesday’s meeting, discussion resurfaced on the water inflatable protection devices supplied by U.S. Flood Control during Hurricane Rita.

Lasseigne launched the discussion because of confusion surrounding the situation.

“It seems like we get more and more … conflicting information,” he said. “I’m just wondering where are we now?”

Originally it was said that the parish had used 102 portable devices, but after further interviews with workers in the area, Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant said the number deployed during the storm has increased to over 300.

“I believe we need to try to bring this to a resolution,” said Morvant. “You’ve got some other issues that I know y’all need to move on to in the parish, and we really don’t want to have to end up litigating this with U.S. Flood Control if we don’t have to.”

It had previously been Morvant’s theory that the parish would only have to pay for the devices actually used during the storm, not the total number rented, according to stipulations in U.S. Flood Control’s contract.

Morvant said Tuesday he does not believe any misinformation was intentional, just that after talking to more people, more information has come to light.

After discussion of the discrepancy arose, Parish President Charlotte Randolph said, “As Mr. Morvant said early on in his address to you… that because of the situation we were in, it was difficult to determine how many devices were used exactly. This is a situation that was not orderly. It was something that was done very quickly. Some of these devices were put into trucks. Some of them were set aside for future use. So the fact that the numbers have changes is not that someone has changed their story. It is simply that with all of the interviewing going on, you’re going to see additional numbers going out.”

Acting on behalf of the council, Morvant and U.S. Flood Control representatives had been trying to renegotiate the nearly $5 million bill, the cost of renting 375 tubes and related equipment.

Morvant had initially argued that because few of the tubes had actually been deployed during the storm, the parish owed the company only $1 million at most. The estimate was based on early estimates by parish administrators that only 102 of the tubes were used along a Valentine levee.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already reimbursed the parish the nearly $5 million U.S. Flood Control charged for the rental of the tubes.

In late December, Morvant told the council U.S. Flood Control had proposed reducing the parish’s rental bill to $3.6 million.

Matt LeBlanc can be reached at matt@tri-parishtimes.com.