Police Jury approves deal on Rapides Coliseum

Rapides Parish police jurors on Tuesday gave their unanimous stamp of approval to an agreement with the city of Alexandria that could pave the way for Coliseum renovations to begin.

Police jurors met in executive session for 37 minutes Tuesday morning before the unanimous vote to go along with the terms of a proposed Alexandria City Council ordinance.

The ordinance was introduced by the City Council on Monday and is expected to come up for a council vote in early April.

The deal calls for the Police Jury to pay the city $1.1 million in a lump sum and to give the city clear ownership to 0.833 of an acre of jointly owned Coliseum property where the city has water wells and a communications tower.

In return, the Police Jury gets full ownership of 15.738 acres of land that is currently jointly owned by the parish and the city. The property is needed for parking to meet codes for the $22.9 million Coliseum renovation project.

Police Jury President Richard Billings said a bit of legal wording will need to be added to the agreement to designate the exact parcels of property. Otherwise, he thinks the proposed city ordinance will satisfactorily resolve the parking issue and let the jury get a building permit with no strings attached.

"I think it's going to happen," Billings said.

"We commend and thank the City Council for their integrity on moving this project forward."

The city has legal publication requirements that will prevent the council from officially voting on the ordinance until early April, but Billings said it would be "fantastic" if the city would issue a building permit before then based on the pending resolution of the parking issue.

"We're ready. All we want to do is buy the property, but we've got to have a clear-running permit so all we've got to do is follow the laws of the land, like any other builder will do …," Billings said.

The Police Jury and the City Council each previously had approved an agreement for a $1.1 million purchase by the parish of city property, but police jurors would not go along with stipulations that were included with that deal. The new agreement does not have the provisions to which police jurors objected.

The jury went into executive session Tuesday to discuss its lawsuit against the city over the parking issue. When jurors reconvened in open session, they voted 9-0 to approve the terms of the proposed city ordinance but did not address the lawsuit.

Jurors have said they will drop the lawsuit once they have a building permit in hand and can proceed with the renovation project.

"The voters have spoken, saying that they want it (renovation project) … and I think we're going to get it done," Juror Ollie Overton said.

"This is as close as we've ever gotten," Overton said.

Juror Joe Bishop said the deal is contingent on the Police Jury getting a regular — not conditional — building permit for the Coliseum renovation.

He said other approvals, including from state agencies, have been obtained for the renovation project.

"We're on green light as soon as we purchase the property, and then if the city will issue the building permit, we can start work," Bishop said.

Juror Richard Vanderlick said he's glad the dispute between the parish and city appears to be coming to a close.

"They got a good mayor and City Council and city administration. We just need to work together. It's like pulling on a rope. If you all pull on one end of it, it's easy. If you got someone pulling on the other end, you got some restriction. We don't need that," Vanderlick said.

"We need to work with the city, and hopefully they'll work with us."

Billings said a higher power has been at work on the Coliseum issue.

"It's been a lot of people praying about this project. We've got a power above all of our lawyers, above the Police Jury and above the council. And I believe prayers are being answered," Billings said.

He said he has prayed about the Coliseum issue "every night."

In November 2012, Rapides Parish voters approved a 2.5-mill property tax to fund renovation of the Coliseum and associated buildings. They also approved a 1-mill tax to help fund Coliseum operations for 20 years.

The last event held at the Coliseum was the Cenla Shrine Circus in April 2014. The building has been closed since then while awaiting renovation.