La. 318 interchange work may begin by summer ‘15

Construction on the long awaited U.S. 90 interchange at La. 318 in western St. Mary Parish could begin as early as late summer next year, according to state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin.
Jones, who said he recovered from triple heart bypass surgery in February in time to attend the legislative session that began in mid-March, addressed the parish council Wednesday with updates on that $50 million project and others.
He said the project that is funded will be let for bids as a design build by the end of December.
Design by the winning contractor will be based on the final draft that impacts the least amount of homes, he said.
Purchase of the impacted properties that he put at about five will be at fair market value.
With construction beginning in late summer or early fall the interchange should be complete by late 2016 or early 2017, he said.
Then the I-49 corridor “will be finished from Lafayette all the way to the Wax Lake Outlet, and we can turn even more attention and put more pressure on the last pieces in Patterson and Berwick where we know we have some challenges,” he said.
In regard to a recent state-funded feasibility study that considered tolls as a way to fund the more than $3 billion price tag to complete I-49 South from Lafayette to New Orleans, Jones said, “I will not vote for tolling to build the rest of this highway. Everyone else in the state has gotten their roads with the tax structure and the taxes that we’ve already paid.”
He added that the southern corridor is one of the most economically productive routes in the state.
Jones blamed the current state administration for dipping into the federal road dollars for other projects.
“We don’t deserve to be forced to pay twice for something we’ve been paying for for 30 years,” he said.
In other business Wednesday the council:
—Approved a Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation to deny the rezoning of property owned by Richard David at 103 Poverty Row off of La. 319 on Cypremort Point. David was seeking to rezone the property from single-family residential to an existing neighborhood 2 zone that would allow him to use a recreational vehicle as an occasional residence, according to his representative Leonard Pauley. David pointed out that there are at least half a dozen other property owners in violation of the more restrictive SR zone by using their RVs as camp residences. Parish Councilman David Hanagriff said he is in the process of working to “tweek the (zoning) ordinance for the Cypremort area because it is unique.”
—Declined to approve a Planning and Zoning recommendation to issue a special use permit to Tony Booty for operation of a strip club at 8691 La. 182 in Amelia. The recommendation failed on a 4-4-3 vote with Councilmen Steve Bierhorst, Hanagriff, Glen Hidalgo and Ken Singleton in favor and Logan Fromenthal, Sterling Fryou, Lionel “Butch” Metz and Kevin Voisin against. Councilmen Albert Foulcard and Charles “Butch Middleton were absent due to major medical reasons and Tim Tregle was out of the room at the time of the vote.
—Heard from 4-Hers Jaylen Thomas, Ashley Landry and Taylor Stirling on their positive experiences in 4-H.
—Introduced an ordinance amending the zoning law to rezone property on behalf of Diane Matthews at 144 Yellow Bayou Road in Centerville from single family residential to existing neighborhood to allow for placement of a motor home.
—Passed resolutions on a consent agreement with the Corps of Engineers on the Hanson Canal floodgate project; and cooperative endeavor agreements with the state Department of the Treasury on grant funds for the Keep St. Mary Beautiful program, the Myette Point Landing drainage project, and Kemper Williams Park and the Patterson Cypress Sawmill Festival.
—Passed resolutions requesting Coastal Protection and Restoration funding under the Restore Act for the Bayou Chene, Bayou Teche, Lake Palourde area and Yokely Levee flood protection projects; and an amending the sales tax allocation agreement on the Wards 6 and 9 three-tenths sales tax.
—Introduced an ordinance to increase the membership of the Board of Commissioners of the St. Mary Parish Sewerage Commission 8 from three members to five.