St. Amant Library- Community Center layout
Two years after announcing the joint effort to build a St. Amant library/community center by the Library Board and parish government, an actual Intergovernmental Agreement was approved by the Parish Council on Tuesday. It was part of a two-item Special Meeting as the governing authority struggles to muster a quorum as the current term in office nears an end.
From the Intergovernmental Agreement;
- The parties desire to construct a multi-purpose complex [hereinafter, the Complex] including a library, a Community Center, a common area, and an emergency operations center on the property;
- The Library desires to allow and permit the Parish to use a portion of the property by virtue of an Intergovernmental Agreement or Local Services Agreement;
- The Complex, including the portions to be constructed by the Parish will ultimately further the purposes of the APL in providing more opportunities to the citizens of the Parish and providing publicity of the library and its benefits to said citizens;
- Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office and Office of Emergency Planning will be consulted and permitted to use the facilities during emergencies, such as floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
Nearly a decade ago the Library Board acquired 13+ acres for a fifth branch, along Hwy 431 (between Cannon and Bayou Narcisse roads) in St. Amant. Subsequently, much of St. Amant was devastated by the Flood of August 2016 that rendered St. Amant Park (which had been renamed to honor Roger Clouatre) unfit for its intended use. On October 7, 2021 Planning and Facilities Director Ricky Compton unveiled plans to combine forces with the Library to utilize its acreage to house an 8,000 square foot community center adjacent to the 22,000 square foot library to the Parish Council.
The Board has accumulated funds to build a facility in St. Amant for some time.
The site will be designed for recreational use, converting to a distribution center/shelter in those all too frequent times of emergency. Ascension’s sheriff and Parish Government’s Office of Emergency Preparedness participated in discussions leading to the design.
On August 15, 2020 voters, by a 2 to 1 margin, renewed a ten-year property tax (actually combining two and decreasing the overall levy by one mill. See ballot proposition below:
Shall the Parish of Ascension, State of Louisiana (the “Parish”), be authorized to levy and collect a 5.6 mills tax on all the property subject to taxation in the Parish (an estimated $9,535,200.00 is reasonably expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of ten (10) years, beginning with the year 2021 and ending with the year 2030, for the purpose of maintaining and supporting the Ascension Parish Library and its branches, such tax to be in lieu of the 2.6 mills and 4.2 mills taxes currently being levied for the same purpose?
Examples of pier and beam construction.
“We are well aware of the impacts and implications of building and adding fill in the flood zone, especially in St. Amant which experienced so much devastation in 2016,” Rick Compton said in 2021. “Together, we’ve decided that we’ll be building the library and community center on piers, utilizing as little off-site fill as possible.”
Loading ...