Council to seek alternate site

By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Following a decision last Thursday to work with the Solid Waste Disposal Company (SWDI) to help the company relocate its garbage storage facility, the St. John Parish Council and Administration are actively pursuing possible business deals and researching alternative locations.

While the council analyzes viable options, SWDI has promised to hold off the facility’s groundbreaking for 30 days from this past Monday, its originally planned groundbreaking date, according to SWDI General Manager Roddie Matherne.

Although an agreement may not be reached between SWDI and Parish representatives, Matherne said the company is committed to its promise to allow the parish to look into a relocation and Council Member Steve Lee is certain a deal will come to fruition.

&#8220I am very optimistic it can be done,” he said. &#8220I am totally confident that we can find a better location for them, and something that doesn’t hurt them financially because of the lease option they have.”

Lee won’t say what properties are being looked into as possible alternatives, but claims that the best options are industrially or light commercially zoned areas away from residences.

However, SWDI made a $500,000 financial commitment to a plot of land off Highway 51 by Interstate 10 and near several subdivisions, according to Matherne, and will possibly need to receive some form of incentive before the company is willing to relocate.

Council members are not sure what those incentives would be, but could include restructuring the company’s contract or swapping parish owned property for SWDI’s plot on Highway 51, which is under lease from Land-Glo and owned by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, according to Lee.

&#8220If we got reasonable property to match what we have, then we’ll be pleased with that. That’s great if they can find us a location and we can work something out, but I don’t want to put the burden on the parish,” Matherne said. &#8220We’ve been fighting with this for two and a half years and we’ve got to make a decision and get the trucks from where they’re at.”

Property near the airport is considered a last resort option and will not likely come into play, because of aviation representatives’ suggestions that the facility would jeopardize future grants from the airport and hinder aviation expansion, according to Lee.

Although the council’s research is in its infancy, the agreement from Matherne to allow the council to pursue a new location marks the first opportunity for council representatives to appease concerned residents and move the garbage storage facility to more favorable location.

Prior to the agreement, concerned residents, SWDI and parish representatives were at a standstill because SWDI’s lease of the property was a private business transaction. Council members could not legally force the company to move, nor could strip the land of its industrial zoning.

&#8220We’re trying to act as a go-between, making sure the channels of communication are open, because we want to make this go as quickly as possible,” Council Member Sean Roussel said.

In response to a surge in population in St. John Parish, SWDI was signed to a long-term contract to provide trash disposal because the company was able to offer more reliable service than Waste Management, the parish’s former garbage service provider, Lee said.

The company provides 15 trucks, nine more than Waste Management, and has more employees on hand to ensure the parish is serviced properly, according to Lee.

&#8220Speaking on behalf of myself, (Council Members) Sean Roussel and Ronnie Smith, we are all three 100% in favor of doing this and (Parish President) Nickie Monica acknowledged the same thing. So you’ve got three council members and the parish president saying they’re going to do anything and everything to rectify this situation,” Lee said.