Board delays donating land to Duck Festival
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ABBEVILLE — On the advice of its attorney, the Vermilion Parish Police Jury delayed action Tuesday night to donate 10 acres near Gueydan to the Duck Festival.
Attorney Paul Moresi made the recommendation after a state attorney general’s opinion said the property could not be donated to the festival without a value being placed on the property and the parish being compensated in some manner.
“You can’t (legally) just give it away, even if it was to the town of Gueydan,” he said.
The property was originally owned by the Atlantic Richfield Company before being donated to the parish.
The Police Jury allowed the Duck Festival use of the land after it moved the festival out of Gueydan; it decided to donate the property to the festival before the opinion delayed the move.
“It does not look like it can be a donation,” parish Secretary-Treasurer Chris Theriot said after the meeting. “But we are still looking at a sale or long-term lease to the festival.”
Action will be further delayed while legal details are sorted, a new plan is formulated in committee and it is discussed with festival officials.
Juror Wayne Touchet said the land has not been appraised.
In other business, the jury amended parish law to follow state guidelines concerning the sale of adjudicated property.
On the advice of Moresi, jurors chose to do away with old laws that allowed the private sale of these properties.
The private sale of court-seized property is now illegal in Louisiana.
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