St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune from Franklin, Louisiana • 1

Volume 130, No. 2013, LSNPublishing LLC Wednesday, Feburary 20, Per Copy 14 Pages LAPEYROUSE LAPEYROUSE SERVING SOUTH LOUISIANA SINCE 1934 WHY BUY HERE? PRESSURE, NO HASSLE ATMOSPHERE! GAMES, NO GIMMICKS! SNEAKY OVERPRICED ADD ON CHARGES! THE BOTTOM LINE! SHORT DRIVE FROM MARY AREA! NOT IN STOCK, GET IT! 1105 MAIN (HWY 182) JEANERETTE, LA 337.276.4541 800.516.7000 1105 MAIN (HWY 182) JEANERETTE, LA 337.276.4541 800.516.7000 HUGE SAVINGS ON ALL CHEVROLET, CHRYSLER, DODGE JEEP IN STOCK! HUGE SAVINGS ON ALL CHEVROLET, CHRYSLER, DODGE JEEP IN STOCK! HUGE SAVINGS ON ALL CHEVROLET, CHRYSLER, DODGE JEEP IN STOCK! HUGE SAVINGS ON ALL CHEVROLET, CHRYSLER, DODGE JEEP IN STOCK! Purchase of E.A. Crowell Elementary was finalized Friday with the signing of an agreement between the City of Franklin and the St. Mary Parish School Board. The city has leased the building for use as city hall for some 20 years.

From back left are legal counsel Vincent Borne, Councilman Chuck Autin, Rep. Sam Jones, Councilmen Dale Rogers and Joe Garrison, Director of Administration Karen Leblanc, assistant to the Director of Administration Brittany Landry, and at front left school board member Murphy Pontiff and Mayor Raymond Harris, who signed the agreement after Pontiff in the photo below. E.A. Crowell Elementary purchase City finalizes acquisition of Crowell school Mayor Raymond Harris and St. Mary Parish School Board member Murphy Pontiff signed off on an agreement Tuesday finalizing the sale of E.A.

Crowell Elementary to the City of Franklin. attended class in this building many, many years Pontiff said. children came to school here, my mother was in the first adult education graduating class in the City of Franklin many years ago, and my father was a carpenter who built many of the houses for the late Sen. Lee Firmin who was a developer of many of the neighborhoods in Franklin and the surrounding area. This is an especially important meeting for The city has leased the building for some 20 years from the school board and recently came to an agreement to purchase it for $35,000.

would be a shame for this building to have gone by the wayside like many historic buildings have in the Pontiff said, complimenting the city on the acquisition. Former mayor Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin) said 20 years ago this building was where we eventually moved after Hurricane was a perfect fit for us, we did a lot of work in here, and it was our hope to buy it at some point and finally come Jones recalled that when the school, which was shut down in the mid-1980s in a wave of closures by the school board, was leased to the city was one caveat that (school board member) Mr. Oswald Melancon said the only requirement for him to vote for this lease is that the name E.A. Crowell be erected somewhere on this building so that it will always have that name.

The sign is still up Jones said the building represents over one hundred years of memories and is an icon in the city. Mayor Harris, then chief financial officer for the city, said when Jones brought him in to see the building two decades ago were raccoons running around in here, I said, oh, boy. My question at the time was where would we find the money? With our own crews and the money we did have we made it work. This place has served us well, been very comfortable. We looked around at other buildings but it always came back that this one was the best Harris said waterproofing of the building will begin soon at about $1 million in cost.

He said he looks forward to up my career in this building, I think going to serve many administrations to Councilman Eugene Foulcard, whose father Carl C. Foulcard was among the councilmen who pursued locating city hall in the school building, said we could have built a brand new city hall we would have, but at the same time this building was an icon in our community and is something that will live on for a long time. It was a good fit for us Councilman Joe Garrison said the council have made a better move. It is a historic landmark, a building that is Franklin and proud to be a part of doing what we did biggest thing was trying to preserve the historic value of this Councilman Dale Rogers said. think a good move.

going to put a good chunk of money into it to get it into good Councilman Chuck Autin, who opposed the purchase, concluded, done, move Facade, lift station funds are approved Rep. Sam Jones (D- Franklin) told Franklin City Council members Tuesday that $35,000 in improvement in the historic district is available. Jones said be a meeting next week in Patterson to discuss distribution of the funds to the city. He also said a $36,000 improvement to the Iberia Street lift station has been approved in Louisiana Governmental Assistance Program funds. Jones reiterated statements made previously that math add in Gov.

Bobby proposal to eliminate the state income tax. telling us that he can do it by increasing the sales tax by 2 percent instead of 4 percent, and I went to school in this building (formerly E.A. Crowell) and that just work Jones said. He warned that some things not currently taxed will be, including and is a cradle to grave tax. Cemetery plots, dog grooming, barber shops, catering top of that, even if his numbers are accurate, and I think off, an additional cost for contractors, materials for contractors, offshore oil industry and machinery, he also wants to take away the exemption of severance tax for the first two years that the oil and gas industry has used to advance their technology.

For example, without that exemption the Haynesville Shale would have Farmers would also feel the tax on fertilizer, machinery and more, Jones said. For cities like Franklin, Jones said relying on a small property tax and a proportionate sales tax has been tradition. we go from third highest sales tax in the nation to first, it will impact future revenues when people go to the grocery store and see how much the taxes is going up and how many additional things are being Also Tuesday, assistant Fire Chief Jeff Hildreth, at the request of Councilman Dale Rogers, updated the council on color-coding of fire hydrants. Hildreth said hydrants are coded by their available water flow. Those codes are, from least flow to most: black, red, orange, green and blue.

The city is in the process of repairing and removing hydrants. Hildreth said the cost is about $2,500 to repair hydrants. on small mains (water service lines) provide the water supply that we need. Historically we have good hydrants on the street corners, we have bad hydrants because we have small mains in the middle of the carry 1200 feet of five-inch hose on the trucks, so essentially we can lay a water main from a good hydrant 1200 feet and got good fire Roger said he understood the procedure and the public not to get excited when they remove a fire hydrant from in front a house. a reason for it, and not taking away from the In other business Tuesday, water plant operator Bernard Daniels said rehabilitation of the interior of the water tower at Foster Street is going well.

After interior work, the tower will be draped, sandblasted and refurbished as well. The council also bade farewell to legal counsel Vincent Borne, who will be taking the bench left by Judge John E. Conery in 16th Judicial District Court. The council also: ordinances amending the current fiscal and capital outlay budgets, and the same budgets proposed for next fiscal year. engineering for the first phase of work on city hall; applying for a sidewalks grant; requesting BNSF railroad to repair the crossing at Iberia Street and the barricade at Martin Luther King Boulevard; and authorized sale of alcohol at Techeland Arts upcoming production of Storm Kevin Moody new CFA board chair The Community Foundation of Acadiana (CFA) is pleased to announce that Kevin Moody, President and CEO of The Moody Company, will serve a two-year term as Chairman of its board of directors.

He was first elected to Board in 2003 and has served as an officer since 2008. a longtime member of the CFABoard, seen the great value the Community Foundation of Acadiana brings to our community. honored to serve as Chairman, and I look forward to helping CFAcontinue its philanthropic work here in said Moody. been fortunate to have outstanding leadership from our board year after year. We would like to thank our previous chairman, Lenny Lemoine, for his tremendous strategic guidance and business acumen.

We expect 2013 to be another great year for our said Raymond Hebert, President and CEO of CFA. Mr. Kevin Moody, a native of south Louisiana who makes his home in Lafayette, manages several business enterprises. Moody serves as CEO of the Moody Company, a Louisiana-based holding company with interests in newspapers, restaurants and private equity investments. Mr.

Moody also holds board seats with the Moody Company, ULL Foundation, Financial Corporation of Louisiana, and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Kevin Moody scholarship offered in St. Mary The Louisiana Program will award scholarships providing assistance to worthy Louisiana students in furthering their education and training with resources made available through the Louisiana orary Membership Program. One scholarship in the amount of $500 will be awarded to a graduating high school student from St. Mary Parish.

There are no restrictions on the purposes for which the scholarship is spent. The scholarship is not a loan and will be awarded as a gift to defray the rising costs of tuition and related expenses in higher education. The only limitations are that applicants be permanent residents of Louisiana; the scholarship be utilized in higher education within the state of Louisiana; and that the student be enrolled as a full-time, undergraduate student. Applicants must be eligible for admission to the school indicated on the application. The award will only be paid for attendance at institutions of higher learning within the state.

The scholarship winner will be announced by May 1. Completed applications must be submitted to the St. Mary Parish Office by April 1. Applications may be obtained from either of the St. Mary Parish Offices, on the fourth floor of the parish courthouse at 500 Main Street in Franklin or 1455 Railroad Avenue in Morgan City.

Completed applications may dropped off at those locations or mailed to P.O. Box 571 Franklin, LA70538. For more information regarding the Scholarship Program, contact the St. Mary Parish Office at 337-828-1960 or 985384-1622. Amovement is afoot to form a team of adult athletes for the Special Olympics in St.

Mary Parish. Special Olympics does not end when a person leaves high school. There is no limit for competing. types of events are often life changing for the athletes and volunteers said Charlie Courville, Special Olympics director of outreach and area management for the Southeast Region. But, Special Olympics is not just about competition.

It also offers health, education leadership, family training and sports programs. of the things that spurs (the start of this program) is that once (student athletes) get out of school, we kind of lose track of them being able to participate. We have a few parents (in St. Mary Parish) who want to gather those who have participated on the school level, which has a very high participation, and we want them to Courville said. He added that the area parents offered to gather people who can form a team of older athletes to participate in track meets, softball teams, aquatics, bowling and flag football.

Representatives will be in attendance from the Special Olympics and from the Brittany Project, a non-profit organization with the goal of creating a recreational facility in St. Mary Parish for people, school age through adult, with all types of disabilities. An informational and recruiting meeting will be held at 6 p.m. March 21 at the Knights of Columbus hall, 1215 First Patterson. Anyone interested in allowing the athletes to practice at their facility is encouraged to attend the meeting as well.

Special Olympics is an inter- Adult Special Olympics sought for the parish Continued on Page 14.