By MELISSA PEACOCK

EDGARD – More money and more jobs are on the way to St. John the Baptist Parish. Exactly how much more? St. John the Baptist Parish President Nickie Monica said the project is expected to generate millions. The cost to the parish – one 25 acre tract of land valued at $20,000 per acre.

In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the St. John the Baptist Parish Council voted to authorize Parish President Nickie Monica to donate acreage near Regala Park in Reserve to the state. The land will be used by the state and the Department of Veterans Affairs to build a multi-million dollar war veterans home in the parish.

The parish was awarded the veterans home last October after the parish petitioned the state government and the Department of Veterans Affairs in Baton Rouge.

“We have turned in everything they have requested and we have been attending the Veterans Committee meetings,” Monica said. “We want to prove to them that we care about veterans in this parish.”

The new facility is expected to bring between $17 and $18 million dollars into the parish in construction costs alone. An estimated $8 million per year is expected in salaries, supplies and other operating costs when the facility becomes operational.

While there is no official guarantee that St. John residents will receive priority during hiring at the veterans home, Monica said the planned expansion of the technical school in Reserve will give residents an advantage. Economic Development Director Julia Remondet agrees.

“About 80 percent of the jobs will be practical nurses,” Remondet said. “The VA home will be right next to the technical school. It will give them a stream of employees from the college.”

About 200 new jobs will be available when the veterans home opens in the parish. The jobs will be registered as Civil Service jobs through the state.

“It will have a significant impact on the parish,” Ranney Wilson, St. John the Baptist Parish Council, said. “We are looking at putting at least 200 people to work. And these are not just any jobs – they are competitive and offer good pay.”

Plans to bring the new facility to St. John the Baptist Parish have been in the works for months. Two sites in St. John were discussed as the potential location for the veterans home. The second was selected because of its proximity to Airline Highway. Parish Council Chairman Cleveland Farlough said the Parish Council had no problem with donating the land for the veterans.

“We certainly welcome the veterans home,” Farlough said. “These are the people who have served our country and protected our freedom. It is going to have a big impact on the area, economically and also for the veterans who live near the home.”

But the donation of the land is also a big investment for the parish. To protect it, the parish administration had special language added to the Act of Donation to ensure the land is used for its intended purpose. The language also stipulates that the land must be utilized within ten years or it will be reverted back to the parish.

“Hopefully they will start working on it soon,” Councilman Ranney Wilson said. “In 10 years from now I would like to have a veterans home that is already eight or nine years old.”

Council members said the addition of the language is a standard procedure for acts of donation.