College bond sales on hold

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Nov 25, 2008 - Page: 1BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Delays, including a compromised bond market, continue to keep construction projects for the state’s technical and community college campuses in limbo.

Plans were for the bonds to be sold in the first week of December with closing scheduled the following week, but the Bond Commission deferred a decision about a requested issuance increase from $185 million to $200 million for the projects at its meeting last week.

“They wanted to review it more and discuss it more,” said Jan Jackson, Louisiana Community and Technical College System senior vice president of finance and administration about the commission’s decision last week.

“What we want to do is increase the ceiling to give us a cushion to sell the bonds,” Jackson said. “The market had been volatile, but it seems to be stabilizing.”

The matter will be discussed next month. If approved, the sales could move forward in early 2009, Jackson said.

The projects include an $8 million new campus for St. Martinville and $6 million in repairs to the Gulf Area campus in Abbeville. The two projects were part of a massive $151 million facilities improvement plan approved by the Legislature in 2007.

The Bond Commission approved the projects in December, but bad timing pushed the project bonds for sale around September, just when the economy started its teeter into instability.

Then, the bond market shut down in October with nearly $500 million in state projects on hold while the market stabilized.

Earlier this month, the state was able to sell $42 million in bonds for a planned new campus for Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe.

The success of the sale sparked more confidence in the timing of the sale for the other projects, Jackson said.

Needed repairs at the Evangeline campus in St. Martinville were so dire and costly, that it was more economical to build a new campus. The new campus will be built on St. Martin Parish School Board property near the current site.

Jackson said the system is still working out the details for the land agreement.

Repairing major structural damage to the main building of the Gulf Area campus is also included in the plan.