St. Martinville – the St. Martinville City Council heard a proposal from Rev. Michael Champagne of the Community of Jesus Crucified to rent space in the St. Teresa Center for Works of Mercy to the St. Martinville Police Department, which would move its offices from S. New Market Street, across from City Hall to the new location.
Police Chief Ricky Martin also spoke in favor of the move, saying that the location on Martin Luther King Drive would alleviate a lack of parking the police department currently deals with as well as bringing the police station closer to the center of the area where officers spend much of their time responding to calls.
The move would also nearly triple the size of the office space the police department currently has, when including the conference room the department would share with the St. Teresa Center.
The police department would have about 5,620 square feet of space. The auditorium and conference room would be available to the police department to use if needed, under the lease agreement.
The former SLCC building was purchased from the state in 2023 by Community of Jesus Crucified and refurbished using grants totaling more than a million dollars, Champagne said.
The church uses the facility as its soup kitchen, and runs Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and Bible studies in the center.
“We rebuilt the whole thing, but it has space that I don’t need, so I’m looking to lease it, and I talked to the chief about it,” Champagne said.
Martin also had looked at the property when it was up for sale but the cost of purchasing and refurbishing the building was thought to be too much for the city to afford.
Work to the building included a new roof, new electrical wiring and new paint. The ceiling tiles also were changed and the lights were changed to LED fixtures. The church plans to purchase a backup generator for the center so there will be electrical power in case of emergencies.
Police
New cameras were purchased that cover the perimeter of the property as well, and interior cameras are in the areas where St. Teresa Center workers are located. The police department would be given access to those camera feeds and could install its own interior and exterior cameras in areas where it wants them, Champagne said.
Champagne’s proposal would be to rent the office space to the police department for $3,500 a month, or about $21 a square foot. The city would pay utilities for the space it rents, while the St. Teresa Center would continue to pay utility bills for the parts it would use.
“I think it would serve us well having the police there close by, and it’s a joint project with our youth and different projects, so I think it would be a win-win situation, and I think it would be a very reasonable price for space,” Champagne said. “And we would lock that price in and wouldn’t increase it per year, so you would be looking at that for a 10-year period.”
St. Teresa Center would be responsible for structural, mechanical and electrical maintenance while the city would be responsible for normal upkeep maintenance of the facility.
The lease would give the city permission to paint, add security cameras, change carpet and other moves to accommodate the police force and staff. The city would have to ask for permission to make structural changes such as moving walls.
The city also would have to furnish insurance for its rented space and contents.
The lease agreement would be for 10 years with each party allowed to break the agreement with a one-year notice, if, for instance, the city were to get federal funding to construct a new police department building.
Champagne said that between Community of Jesus Crucified and the St. Teresa Center, the city was paid $64,500 in utilities last year. That number would be reduced somewhat because the city would be paying utilities for about 5,000 square feet of the St. Teresa Center.
The current police station has about 2,800 square feet of space. The new office space would be nearly twice that big at 5,300 square feet, and about 7,200 square feet if the auditorium and conference room shared with the center are included.
The police chief said parking at the police station has become a nightmare because parking along the street is shared with Pellerin Funeral Home, directly across S. Market Street from the police department.
“For me, the location is the main thing,” Martin said. “It would be a lot bigger building and the police department would not have to move in a very long time. It’s huge. There’s plenty of room for us.
“But the biggest thing is the location where it’s at. We spend a lot of our time on that end of town.”
Mayor Jason Willis said he looked at the facility as well and is in favor of the move.
The city could then rent the space in the current police department to the Acadiana Workforce Solutions center and the Section 8 Housing department that are currently housed on Evangeline Boulevard at the corner of S. Market Street. Acadiana Workforce, a parish program, currently doesn’t pay rent for the space it is using. Willis said he thinks the increase in office space in a better building should appeal to the Workforce directors.
City council members were asked to set up times to look the facility over before making a decision. Council members Carol Frederick and Janise Anthony, who were not at Monday’s council meeting, would be contacted so they can tour the facility when convenient before the next council meeting.
There would be some costs for the city, such as installing keypads and scanners for entry, and moving from the current police department to the new office. Martin said that those things could be paid for as the city has funding for it City attorney Allan Durand has drawn up a rough draft of a lease based on the proposal and would write a completed lease agreement if the city council decides to rent the facility.
Sewer work
The city council approved awarding a bid for Contract No. 2 of the Sewer Main Extension project, the last project of the water sector/sewer projects to go to bid.
Only one bid was received, but the bid was for $869,238.24, which was $259,000 lower than the estimated cost, according to engineer Pam Granger of McBade Engineers and Consultants.
“If they would have been over, we would have rejected bids and would have asked to go back out,” she said. “All of your projects have come under bid. We recommend to award the contract to LeLeux’s Construction pending approval by the state.”
The council voted 3-0 to award the bid and approve the contractor.
In other business
In other business, the council introduced an ordinance to amend the operating budget for fiscal year 2024-25 and an ordinance to adopt an operating budget for fiscal year 2025-26, and set a date (June 2 at 4:30 p.m.) for a budget hearing.
The council also accepted and declared the results of the May 2 election wherein voters approved changing the city’s Special Legislative Charter to the Lawrason Act, which would affect the setup of city government.
The council also added 10 properties from last year’s list of nuisance properties to its list of nuisance properties for the next fiscal year, so the city can apply for grants from the state to clean up those properties.
The council also authorized the mayor to enter into an agreement with the Acadiana Metro Planning Organization, which had previously been known as the Lafayette MPO.
The council met in executive session to discuss
(Chris
updates on a lawsuit with the owners of Foco Road.
Willis told the council that the slab has been poured for the new pavilion at Adam Carlson Park. Two fans costing $25,000-$28,000 for the pavilion at Magnolia Park, approved by the council at an earlier meeting, have been ordered, Willis added.
SEWER PROJECT – Pam Granger of McBade Engineers speaks at Monday’s St. Martinville City Council meeting about a sewer project bid in the city. Only one bid was received but it was more than $200,000 below the estimated cost, so Granger recommended the city award the bid. The council approved the move. (Chris Landry)
PARK WORK – St. Martinville Mayor Jason Willis talks to the City Council about work being done at Adam Carlson Park and Magnolia Park at the council’s regular meeting on Monday. Landry)
