Mayor Kip Holden’s $335 million bond proposal went from debatable to dead over the course of a mere two days this week.
After the Metro Council voted 8-4 against placing the bond proposal on the May 2 budget at its meeting on Wednesday, Holden announced he won’t push to have it placed on the Oct. 24 ballot—which will carry his name as a candidate for lieutenant governor.
With the bond issue now dead, Metro Councilmen John Delgado and Ryan Heck—who were among the eight members who ultimately rejected sending the measure to voters—are looking for ways to bring at least one project in Holden’s package to fruition without raising taxes. They want the Finance Department to bring them a report outlining tax-neutral options for building the mental health facility and have submitted request to have the item added to the Jan. 28 regular council meeting agenda. If their fellow council members approve the item later this month, Delgado says he hopes the Finance Department would be able to deliver the report by the council’s Feb. 11 meeting.
Also this week, local department heads of state agencies began grappling with the possibility of significant budget cuts as lawmakers start looking at ways to fill a projected $1.4 billion hole in next year’s state budget.
With the state’s higher education institutions facing upward of $350 million in cuts, university officials are putting pencil to paper to determine just how serious the damage could be—and what they’re coming up with isn’t pretty. On Thursday, State Senate President John Alario suggested as many as 16 campuses could be closed, including the Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
While that’s admittedly a worst-case scenario, LSU officials are trying to figure out what a reduction of 35% to 40% would do to their budgets. Bill Richardson, vice president for agriculture at the LSU AgCenter and dean of LSU’s College of Agriculture, says that while the college may be able to absorb some of the cuts by raising tuition, the LSU AgCenter would be “decimated.”
Here’s a rundown of some other top local stories making headlines in Daily Report this week:
— As Louisiana lawmakers prepare to address a budget deficit currently pegged at $1.4 billion—and likely growing due to falling oil prices—the roughly $200 million in tax credits the state provides the film industry each year could be a fat target. Advocates and critics of the state’s film tax credits discussed the incentive program at a half-day summit this week.
— BRAC President and CEO Adam Knapp outlined the organization’s priorities for 2015 this week at a meeting of the Press Club of Baton Rouge. BRAC’s top six priorities are job creation, transportation solutions, ozone and air credits, commercial property development, creating a new five-year plan, and developing a regional gubernatorial agenda.
— The three Republican candidates running in a special election to fill Louisiana’s House District 66 seat, which includes portions of southeast East Baton Rouge Parish, showed off their conservative credentials this week to an appreciative crowd at a lunch forum hosted by the local Republican Party. Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso, attorney Rick Bond and former Metro Councilman Darrell Ourso all said they favor lower taxes, Louisiana’s ban on gay marriage, and getting a better handle on the millions of dollars in tax credits the state offers businesses as an economic development incentive.
— A committee to vet parish attorney candidates got off to a slow start at its first meeting this week. Several members of the recently formed committee voiced concern that current qualifications for the position don’t require enough experience, but the committee deferred taking action to raise them. The committee also delayed electing a chairman, advertising the parish attorney position and setting the next meeting date.
— A more progressive tax structure and expanding early childhood education opportunities could help address the income gap in Louisiana, LSU economist Jim Richardson said as guest speaker of the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge.
— The Baton Rouge Metro Airport is asking the Metro Council to approve an increase in the fees it collects on rental cars at the airport to fund some $6 million in improvements to the main parking garage. The issue is scheduled to come before the council at its meeting next week. Improvements to the 19-year-old garage—including repairing columns, addressing leaks and new lighting and cameras—are long overdue, says Airport Director Anthony Marino.
— The Baton Rouge Metro Airport Commission’s new chairman, Jared Smith, wants to study ways to spur new business at the local airport. Smith, who took over as chairman on Jan. 1 after serving on the commission for one year, says he would like to examine as much data as possible to find any potential opportunities for new air service the airport may be missing.
— At its monthly meeting, Downtown Development District officials unveiled a number of projects they’re hoping to see completed this year, including a new 6-foot-wide sidewalk connecting a levee access project under development at Florida Boulevard and River Road to the nearby state buildings downtown.
— Construction is finally underway at developer Mike Wampold’s newest development—a luxury, multifamily complex at 900 Stanford Ave. called Bayonne at Southshore. Bayonne at Southshore will be a four-floor gated community with one-, two- and three-bedroom units and garage parking, and will cost some $42 million to construct. The complex, projected to open in May 2016, will include a resort style pool and clubhouse, fitness and business centers.
— Baton Rouge attorney Wade Shows purchased two more tracts of land near his Beauregard Town law office in an effort he says will proactively improve the neighborhood and protect property values. Shows has headquartered his practice—Shows, Cali, Berthelot & Welsh—in a one-time fraternity house at 628 St. Louis St. since 2006. In recent years he has bought and revived a number of lots on the block and across the street from the law office.
— As Tom Cook noted in his column this week, Hardee’s has acquired a building on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard for its second Baton Rouge restaurant. The fast food chain bought land on O’Neal Lane a few months ago for its first restaurant in the city. Best Boilers most recently occupied the location on South Sherwood, which Hardee’s has purchased for $665,000, but the structure was originally built for Schlotzsky’s Deli.
— The Louisiana Culinary Institute began gutting a warehouse at 10423 Jefferson Highway, located just behind the main institute building, with plans to transform the space into an 8,000-square-foot annex that will house several Louisiana-themed culinary ventures, including two restaurants and, potentially, a seafood market. LCI has hired Chef Tony Deano, previously of City Pork Deli & Charcuterie, to spearhead the first restaurant. Called Brackish, the restaurant is expected to open in about five to six months.
— After more than 30 years in business, the owners of Carriages Fine Clothier in the Bocage Shopping Center announced they will close their ladies store. A hard date for the closure has yet to be set, but co-owner Jeff Daquanno says the store probably will remain open through February. Carriages men’s store, which is located in a nearby storefront in the same shopping center, will remain open.
— A fully occupied Shenandoah neighborhood shopping center at the corner of Jones Creek Road and Ferrell Avenue sold for $975,000. Amazon Properties LLC, managed by Raghavendra R. Narra, sold the 9,300-square-foot retail space to Datta Jones Creek LLC, managed by Neal, Karan and Krunal Patel. Wade Greene, an agent with Maestri-Murrell Commercial Real Estate, represented the buyer in the deal.
— A 75-unit apartment complex in north Baton Rouge was sold for $800,000 to PF Developers LLC, a Brooklyn-based company that became involved in the New Orleans real estate market following Hurricane Katrina. The Palms at McClelland Apartments, a four-story complex situated on 2.83-acres at 5665 McClelland Drive, near the intersection of Greenwell Street and Airline Highway, was sold by Atlanta-based Judge Holdings LLC, managed by Paul Qantas Judge.
— Vivid Ink Graphics, the area’s largest supplier of signs and graphic solutions, has acquired Acadian Signs, a 16-year-old family-owned business based in Denham Springs. The acquisition will allow Vivid Ink to expand its product line to include outdoor flags and way-finding signage, which were Acadian Signs’ areas of specialty. “The proud 16-year history of service to its clients made Acadian signs a natural fit,” Vivid Ink President Stephen St. Cyr says.
— Group Industries, the industrial construction firm headquartered on Jefferson Highway that operates Group Contractors and Arrighi Construction, has added another subsidiary company to its portfolio: Group Deep Foundations. “The primary focus is to better serve our clientele,” Donn Peterson, business development manager for Group Industries, explains.
— Delta Tech Services, which has provided chemical plant cleaning services across south Louisiana for more than 40 years, has plans to relocate its offices to St. Gabriel after closing a deal for a pair of warehouses collectively measuring 17,500 square feet. Delta Tech purchased the warehouses, which sit on 2.51 acres at 3525 Delta Drive, from Bill Gremillion, an agent with NAI/Latter & Blum who had owned the property as an investment.
— The Capital Area Transit System could convert more than half its bus fleet to electric or hybrid vehicles over the next five years if it follows recommendations of a study on alternative fuel use options presented by the University of New Orleans Transportation Institute to a CATS committee. Converting the entire diesel fleet to electric vehicles would save more than $2 million annually in fuel costs alone, according to the study. Electric buses are easier to maintain and need to be replaced less often, which would generate additional savings, the study shows.
— The Baton Rouge Area Chamber announced attorney Van Mayhall Jr. has been selected as its board chairman for the year. “As we prepare to embark on a new five-year strategic plan later this year, we’re pleased to have Van’s leadership,” BRAC President and CEO Adam Knapp says.
— LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business announced it’s kicking off a new speaker series next week designed to provide practical information for analytics professionals in the local business community. “Speakers will give their experience with analytics followed by an interactive discussion about the value of analytics in organizations and the challenge of moving analytics from theory into the field,” says Joni Shreve, who directs the college’s master’s program in analytics.
— Albemarle completed its $6.2 billion cash and stock acquisition of New Jersey-based Rockwood Holdings Inc., placing the Baton Rouge-based company among the world’s largest specialty chemical makers producing lithium, catalysts, bromine and surface treatment chemicals. Under the terms of the merger, as first announced in July, Rockwood has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Albemarle.
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