Deal appears to be near on Coliseum parking lot

A long-awaited deal that would clear the way for Rapides Parish Coliseum renovations to begin appears to be close to fruition.

A proposed agreement between the Rapides Parish Police Jury and the city of Alexandria over jointly owned property needed for Coliseum parking could be finalized as early as next week, Police Jury President Richard Billings said Thursday.

"I'm praying that this issue can be solved, and we can get our P's and Q's together and go ahead and start the project and get it done," Billings said of the $23 million Coliseum renovation.

The Police Jury canceled a special meeting that had been set for Thursday morning on a proposed intergovernmental agreement with the city of Alexandria on the parking lot issue.

The meeting cancellation occurred because wording of the agreement was still being worked on, but Billings is hopeful the agreement will be ready soon.

If the process goes smoothly, Billings said, it's possible a special Police Jury meeting could be held Tuesday morning to approve the agreement and then that agreement could be considered by the Alexandria City Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

City Council President Chuck Fowler said the city looks forward to getting a deal done and that the council could act on it at its Tuesday meeting if everything was in order.

"Would I like to get it done Tuesday? Yeah. I'd like it to be over and done with," Fowler said.

Attorneys on both sides are working hard to get the agreement ready, he said.

"There's nobody wants it done any more than we do, get it off our plate," Fowler said.

"We would love for them (jurors) to be able to award a contract and start working on Wednesday," he added.

The City Council passed an ordinance in November to enter an intergovernmental agreement with the Police Jury so that it could be ready if and when a deal was worked out.

If the finalized agreement "falls within the confines of the ordinance," which he expects, then the council would just have to consider the contract, Fowler said.

The proposed agreement is for the Police Jury to pay $1.1 million for the city's part of 16 acres of property the two governmental entities have jointly owned since the Coliseum was built in the 1960s. The property is needed for the parking plan of the renovation project, and the Police Jury needs clear rights to it before the permitting process for the project can be completed, officials say.

Parish officials are also trying to get a long-term lease on property that is not connected to city ownership so it can be used for "overflow parking," Billings said.

Rapides Parish voters approved two Coliseum taxes — one for the renovation project and the other for maintenance and operation — in November 2012, but renovations have not yet begun. The Coliseum is closed while awaiting the beginning of the project.

On the agenda of Thursday's canceled meeting was an item for jurors to go into executive session to discuss the jury's lawsuit against the city. The jury sued the city to try to resolve the parking lot dispute.

Police Juror Sean McGlothlin said the Police Jury would drop its lawsuit against the city if the issue is resolved through an agreement.

McGlothlin said the two sides have been negotiating, but getting specific wording agreeable to both parties has been a challenge.

"We're ready to purchase it. We're ready to write a check. We've been ready to write a check, but there's just wording in their contract that we just can't agree with," McGlothlin said.

Still, he believes it will be resolved.

The jury is ready to pay for the city's part of the property "even though a lot of the jurors don't think that it's right that we should have to purchase it because the taxpayers already own it.

"We're willing to do that just to get the project moving and just separate our ties in dealing with the city on the Coliseum property," McGlothlin said.

"It's going to be beneficial to everyone if we can finally get this resolved."