Officials with the National Hurricane Museum & Science Center said they are considering several options on how to move forward with the project and should have a definitive answer by the end of the year.
“We’ve checked in with all of our major partners, financial and strategic, around the country, and they’ve reinforced their support,” Gray Stream, museum board chairman, told Calcasieu Parish police jurors on Thursday. “On the other hand, we don’t take that support for granted, nor do we don’t want to lose momentum.”
One option being “questioned very vigorously” is continuing with the original vision for the estimated $57 million, 60,000-square-foot facility, Stream said. A phased-in approach is also being considered.
Stream, along with Mark McMurry, board secretary-treasurer, thanked police jurors for their support of a 10-year, 1.5-mill property tax proposal that failed overwhelmingly during an election in April. Eighty percent of voters opposed the new tax, while 20 percent supported it.
Part of the project was supposed to be funded by the $2.6 million that the tax would have generated annually. The plan called for using most of the tax for the museum and splitting the rest among seven other museums in the parish.
McMurry, who served as Calcasieu Parish administrator for decades, said the outcome was “one of the worst tax elections I’ve experienced in my career.” He said the board paid the parish more than $106,000 to cover the cost of the election.
“No taxpayer money went into any of the election cost,” he said.
McMurry said Gov. John Bel Edwards and Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne both support the project. During the recent legislative session, McMurry said Edwards decided to keep the state capital outlay money allocated for the facility.
District 14 Police Juror Hal McMillin urged museum officials to not give up on the effort. He blamed the tax failing partially on bad timing, with voters approving other new taxes and tax renewals over the last 12 months. Another issue was the 1 percent increase in the state sales tax earlier this year.
“This is truly needed,” he said of the project. “If it’s on life support, I’ll be the first one to give CPR. I hope that someday this gets built.”
Later in the meeting, police jurors approved accepting the low bid of $3.05 million by Miller and Associates Development Co. to work on the next phase of the River Bluff Park project in Moss Bluff. The work includes building restrooms, a playground and parking.
---
Follow John Guidroz on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JohnAmPress
from American Press: Your Best News And Advertising Source - Home http://ift.tt/2bWhecd
0 التعليقات:
Post a Comment