'Conditional' building permit issued for Coliseum work

The city of Alexandria has issued the long-awaited building permit to the Rapides Parish Police Jury for the Coliseum renovation project.

However, it is a "conditional" permit, and the Police Jury objects to some of the conditions.

"The Coliseum (issue) is 100 percent in the hands of the Police Jury," Mayor Jacques Roy said.

Roy said work now can begin on the Coliseum renovation whenever the parish wants.

The jury's acceptance of the requirements of the building permit would bring with it obligations, including that the clock would start running on a 90-day period that the jury would have to resolve its lawsuit against the city over the Coliseum parking lot.

Police Jury President Richard Billings said the city's conditions are being studied by the parish's legal team. He also said J. Chris Guillet, one of the attorneys representing the jury, has sent a response letter to City Attorney Chuck Johnson.

"We have written them back a response and are just waiting on them to answer that response," Billings said late Friday afternoon. A copy of Guillet's letter was not available at that time.

Johnson, in a letter dated Feb. 11 and sent to Guillet, said the city has granted a conditional permit "allowing you to proceed with construction immediately upon execution." The conditional permit will be converted to a "final permit upon your resolution of the litigation/parking issues" which "can also be remedied immediately."

The City Council and Police Jury already have approved an intergovernmental agreement whereby the jury would pay the city $1.1 million for the city's share of the Coliseum parking lot, which currently is jointly owned by the two entities. The parish needs the parking spots guaranteed to meet codes.

Provisions related to the governmental agreement have been sticking points.

A notation on the building permit — Permit No. 16724 — issued to the Police Jury says the city is issuing it "with the intention and desire to expedite the construction process and to allow the Owner to begin construction, prior to the submission and approval of the required parking agreements."

That is listed under a section titled "Jurisdictional Notes and Comments."

That section also stipulates litigation — the jury's lawsuit against the city over the parking lot — must be resolved within 90 days or the permit "shall become null and void and all work shall immediately cease until a new building permit is issued."

"In order to avoid any detrimental economic impact" on contractors, the 90-day clock would start running once the jury "accepts the requirements of this building permit thereby placing the burden of risking commencement of the Work on the Owner and its relationship with its contractors," the permit says.

The permit is from the Department of Construction Development in the city's Planning Division. The project is described as "new addition and renovation to the Rapides Parish Coliseum Arena with parking lot & landscape improvements."

The permit, signed by Superintendent of Construction Development Shirley Branham, shows 2,727 parking spaces are required. It lists Ratcliff Construction of Alexandria as the contractor, the price of the project as $22,290,000 and the square footage as 84,000.

The city wants legal counsel for the Police Jury to sign a consent judgment in 9th Judicial District Court dismissing the jury's claims against the city "with prejudice at the Rapides Parish Police Jury's costs."

The document also proposes the jury agree it is "suggesting to this Court that the Declinatory Exception of Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Dilatory Exception of Prematurity and Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action filed by the City of Alexandria in this matter would be meritorious and would be granted in favor of the City of Alexandria."

The city's "Declinatory Exception" and a related memorandum say the 9th District Court doesn't have jurisdiction in the case because of the city's sovereign immunity.

"… the plaintiff's (jury's) claim here is barred by sovereign immunity. … Unless authorized by the legislature, the trial court is without subject matter jurisdiction to entertain the Rapides Parish Police Jury's property rights claims," the Declinatory Exception filing reads.

For that reason, the memorandum states, "the Rapides Parish Police Jury's lawsuit should be dismissed with prejudice at Plaintiff's costs."

The proposed consent judgment was sent by Johnson to Guillet, who is with the Natchitoches law firm of Corkern, Crews & Guillet. It was written to be submitted to 9th District Judge George Metoyer.

Johnson's letter to Guillet said the consent judgment "is a necessary component to the City of Alexandria's voluntary resolution since it acknowledges the lack of subject matter jurisdiction and the prematurity of your lawsuit, which caused the taxpayers to incur unnecessary attorney's fees."

Roy said the Police Jury's lawsuit against the city was a "publicity stunt" because jurors "don't have the constitutional right to even file that suit."

Johnson also said in his letter, "Mr. Guillet, the power to resolve this case and move forward with your client's project is solely in the hands of your client, bringing this ugly process to a conclusion thereby benefiting the citizens. I trust that you will advise your client to take advantage of this opportunity and stop the continued waste of taxpayer resources."

Billings said he looks forward to the Police Jury getting a regular building permit, not a conditional one.

"We feel like we should have control of our project and not a conditional permit," Billings said, adding it seems like the city is adding "hoops" for the jury to jump through to proceed with the project.

The Police Jury will wait to hear back from its attorneys before scheduling a special meeting on the issue.

Billings said he did not want to elaborate at this time on which conditions the jury finds objectionable.

The parish's lawsuit against the city has not been dropped, but a hearing on it was put on hold "because we anticipated a solution," he said.

Once the jury has a regular building permit in hand, the renovation project can get moving, Billings said.

"Ratcliff is ready to go. The painting contractor is ready to go. Everybody is ready to go," he said.

"The people of Rapides Parish passed this tax. They would love to see it completed" to provide more entertainment options and boost the local economy, Billings said.

The building permit issued to the Police Jury includes provisions beyond the litigation resolution.

Those include:

•"Owner acknowledges any Work begun under this building permit is at its peril and risk, and that any future denial by the City of Alexandria of issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy or Zoning Certificate shall be handled in the manner prescribed by ordinance and law, including, but not limited to, administrative remedies." Also, the issuance of the building permit "shall create no detrimental reliance, similar claim, or any other claim for the Owner."

•The owner may not use the issuance of the permit "in any manner as the basis for future litigation, with regard to the litigation," or for any reason other than to allow work to begin pending resolution of the "outstanding zoning issues, specifically the agreements related to the parking requirements set out in the permitted set of plans. A Certificate of Occupancy and/or Zoning Certificate will not be issued by the City of Alexandria until such parking agreements are submitted and approved by the Zoning Department, Planning Division of the City of Alexandria."

The permit also lists the sequence for inspections as well as standard regulations the contractor must follow.