Parish sues for access to community center site

Iberville Parish Council access to five acres of land it purchased as the site for a North Iberville community center was at stake in a court hearing set for 9 a.m. Wednesday (yesterday).

District Judge Alvin Batiste Jr. set the hearing on whether to grant the council a permanent injunction to keep a farming company that has leased the land since 2002 from denying the parish access to begin work on the project.

The Parish Council has $1.68 million in state funds to build a community center to serve the North End, and planned to begin working on the project last month. The council purchased a five-acre tract of land for the building last year, but gave a farm company that had been leasing the property time to harvest its cane crop.

A council contractor, Professional Services Inc. (PSI), went onto the property on January 15 to start taking soil samples to determine the requirements for the community center's foundations.

The leasor, Gynn J. Rivet and Sons Inc., filed suit seeing an injunction to keep the Parish Council from entering the property.

Neither the council nor any of its agents had permission to enter the property, the brief filling said. It added that the council had not purchased the company's leasehold rights or made any offer to do so despite plans to build the community center.

The Parish Council filed an answer to the Rivet suit, and countersued for the injunction to stop the Rivet company from interfering with its access to the land. Judge Batiste granted the council a temporary restraining order against the company.

“Glynn Rivet, the president of Glynn Rivet and Sons Inc, threatened the workers of PSI and attempted to block them from entering the property and succeeded in removing them from the property through the use of law enforcement, as local law enforcement was called to the scene and required that PSI leave the property pursuant to the demands of Gynn Rivet and Sons Inc,” according to the petition attorney Nedi A. Cannella of Plaquemine filed for the parish.

The lease agreement gives the leasors “the right, at all times, to enter the leased premises,” the parish petition said. Also according to the petition, after Rivet denied the access, the council sent his lawyer written notice that the lease was being terminated and giving the company notice to vacate the land.

Judge Batiste signed the temporary on January 19.

On the same day, the Rivet's attorney, Kenneth L. Blanchard Jr., filed a petition asking the judge to dismiss their suit without prejudice, allowing them to refile it later. Batiste signed the order to dismiss on January 22, according to the records provided by the Iberville Clerk of Court's Office.

The council is pushing ahead with its suit, claiming the parish would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm” if they are denied access to their property, primarily in the potential loss of state funding for the community center.

“The project has already been delayed several months in order to allow the [defendant] a reasonable amount of time to harvest his remaining sugar cane crop,” the council's petition said. “The council has been notified that if the project is not moved forward that the Legislative auditor's office could question why the funds have not been used. The council is fearful that any delay will increase the risk of the parish losing the funds to construct the community center.”

The Parish Council also is asking the court to order the Rivets to pay $898 in expenses the parish incurred for PSI's services, for attorney's fees and other court costs incurred from the lawsuit, and for any other costs the parish incurs because of the delay.