RESET - SLCC Land Donor Proposals Sought

A brand new day - a clean slate! That's how La. State Senator Fred Mills describes the current state of affairs relating to the competing efforts made by the cities of St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge to land a new $9.2 million dollar South Louisiana Community College (SLCC) campus in upper St. Martin Parish.

After requests for land donors on Sept. 19 and Oct. 17, 2013 failed to yield results from St. Martinville area property owners, Breaux Bridge businessman Frank Pellerin, on Monday, January 13, 2014, signed an offer to donate nine acres of prime real estate, adjacent to the St. Martin Parish School Board building just off of Rees Street in Breaux Bridge, In responding to the offer Chancellor Natalie Harder said that " SLCC appreciates the opportunity to explore the use of the Pellerin property for its new campus in St. Martin parish" adding, "Despite two requests for land released last year, no other formal offers for property have come forth."

That caught the attention of St. Martinville elected officials, as well as parish officials, who claimed that their efforts were ceaseless in working towards securing property to meet SLCC's needs. In turn, this launched a flurry of activity which resulted in negotiations this week with the J.B. Levert Land Company to donate a seven to nine acre tract on Highway 31 just south of the old Martin Mills.

Senator Mills said that Wednesday afternoon phone calls were fast and furious with the end result being that SLCC and state officials have agreed to issue a third Request For Proposal, in effect starting the property search anew. Senator Mills said that this will afford interested parties the opportunity to make offers with a clean slate, adding that both school officials as well as state agencies have been very open and responsive to this latest development. Mills said that the deadline for submitting proposals is usually 14 - 21 days after the announcement.