2theadvocate.com | News | Council surprised by Alive site issues

Members question silence on problems

By GREG GARLAND
Advocate staff writer
Published: Sep 24, 2009 - Page: 1A

Several Metro Council members said Wednesday they were surprised by questions that have arisen about who owns the land downtown where Mayor-President Kip Holden wants to build the proposed $225 million Alive riverfront attraction.

They said they were never told during briefings earlier this year on the $901 million capital improvements tax package, which will appear on the Nov. 14 ballot, that there is an ongoing legal dispute over the land’s ownership.

They also said they weren’t told in meetings with Holden, Chief Administrative Officer Mike Futrell and Special Advisor Walter Monsour that $40 million in state funds needed to prepare the land for construction might not be available for that purpose.

“I just feel like somebody needs to address all of these issues that are coming forward,” Councilwoman Alison Cascio said prior to Wednesday’s council meeting.

“This is a lot of money,” she added, referring to the bond issue. “People have questions and they deserve to have their questions answered.”

As he walked into the council chambers Wednesday afternoon, Holden responded “no comment, no comment” when a reporter attempted to ask him about issues relating to the land. A spokesman, Scott Dyer, said in an e-mail sent earlier Wednesday that the mayor would address questions in a briefing early next week.

The Advocate reported Sunday that it is unclear whether $40 million in state money would be available to raise the 16-acre parcel to the level of the levee. Gov. Bobby Jindal said the state no longer has a substantial surplus, so any money for the project would have to come from the state construction budget.

Holden hopes to see a small-scale version of Epcot Center built on the site, which is between the levee and the Mississippi River just south of Hollywood Casino. The Alive attraction would feature an aquarium, amphitheater and thrill rides and would be operated by the Audubon Nature Institute.

But questions have arisen over who owns the land — the state or the Illinois Central Railroad Co. Jindal’s administration said Tuesday the ownership issue hasn’t been resolved, despite several years of litigation with the railroad.

In interviews before Wednesday’s regular council meeting, several council members said they were surprised by the revelations coming out about the property, just a few weeks before the capital improvements tax package goes before voters.

The tax package, like one that narrowly failed last year, consists of a half-cent sales tax increase and a 9.9-mill property tax. If approved, the taxes would fund drainage system improvements, a new public safety complex and parish prison, traffic light synchronization, the riverfront development and other projects.

Councilman Rodney “Smokie” Bourgeois said it was “crazy” to go forward with Alive in the capital improvements tax package when such basic issues as who legally owns the land are yet to be resolved.

“They’re saying give it to us, and we’ll work it out,” Bourgeois said. “That’s not a good plan. To the ordinary citizen like myself, something’s not right.”

But Mayor Pro Tem Mike Walker, a staunch ally of Holden and a strong supporter of the capital improvements bond issue, said he doesn’t see any problems involving the land that can’t be resolved satisfactorily.

“I’m sure everything will be worked out,” Walker said. “I’m sure everything is going well. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary. I don’t think that there are problems.”

Councilman Joel Boé said it was “kind of disturbing” to learn from a newspaper article there are unresolved legal questions relating to the ownership of the land for the Alive project.

He said that issue never came up when council members were briefed on the bond issue three months ago.

Boé said he asked Futrell at the briefing what understanding the administration had with the state about providing $40 million to build up the land.

Boé said he was told the governor had promised to find the money if the tax issue on last year’s ballot passed, but there had been no further conversations with the governor this year.

Boé said “These pretty basic questions” about the land should have been addressed long before the decision was made to put the tax issue before voters.

“If you go to buy a house, they’re not going to give you a loan without a clear title,” Boé said. “And they’re not going to give you a loan when you have an IOU on the down payment, which is the state financing portion.”

Cascio said administration officials expressed confidence in the briefing she attended that they could get $40 million in state money to prepare the Alive property for construction.

“They didn’t make it sound like there was a question mark,” Cascio said. “They said they were confident about it, but that it had to wait until the tax went through.”

Councilman Tara Wicker said she wasn’t aware of the ownership or funding issues until they were reported in the newspaper.

“I’m confident they will work through whatever the issues are to make sure the project moves forward,” Wicker said.

Councilman Trae Welch said he had assumed the state owned the land and there were no issues involving state funding.

“I didn’t know there was even a question about it,” Welch said. “My understanding was that everything was ready to go.”

He questioned what would happen if voters approve the tax package and it turns out the city-parish is not able to build the Alive project on the site because of ownership questions or funding issues.

The city-parish’s bond counsel, Richard Leibowitz, said in a telephone interview that if something happened to prevent the Alive project from going forward, bonds simply wouldn’t be issued for its construction.

He said the money could not be used for any other purpose without the consent of voters. He said the taxes could either be reduced or the excess revenue used to pay off the bond issue more quickly.


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