Vermilion Parish's LSU Ag Center may be rebuilt at different location

County Agent Andrew Granger was in the recent Police Jury committee meeting to learn of the fate of the LSU Ag Center building, which flooded six weeks ago.
The LSU Ag Center, also known as the county agent building, had 18 inches of water that was caused by the historical flood in August.
A week had passed after the flood before anyone could begin cleaning, and cutting flooded walls.
Today, the office has moved into offices located behind the Henry gymnasium.
Granger told the jurors he came only to listen and when he left the meeting, he also learned that there is a good chance the old county agent building may have to be rebuilt at a new location.
Police Juror Errol Domingues educated Granger and the rest of the jurors about the choices the police jury has.
The police jury did not have flood insurance on the building.
The police jury is also waiting to see if the building had 50 percent worth of damage. If it did, then the building will have to be rebuilt and lifted above the base flood elevation height.
Police Juror Mark Poché asked if FEMA will provide funds to elevate a new building above the base flood elevation. His idea is to take the $1.3 million that the tax payers approved this year to build a new Ag Center building and use it to build one large building, with the police jury chipping in added funds.
The new, elevated building, could cost as much as $2 million.
Domingues said that the city of Abbeville has an ordinance that allows only a two-foot high dirt pad to be built and the rest would have to be elevated with bricks or blocks. It would cost the police jury more money to build ramps and steps.
“Since this flood, do we want to build in a flood zone?,” said Domingues.
Police juror Wayne Touchet suggested that the police jury begin looking for another place to rebuild the county agent, away from the old location.
He suggested taking the $300,000 the police jury would spend to repair the old flooded building and couple that with the $1.3 million the taxpayers approved to build a new building next to the old building. The police jury could then build one larger facility out of a flood zone.
“We can move it,” said Touchet.
Domingues told the jurors that architect Gene Sellers Jr. recommended not rebuilding the building at the old location. Sellers recommended to find another location because of how much money it would take to build up the land at the present location.
“If you can find property elsewhere, where you don’t have to build the foundation so much, it would be cheaper,” Domingues explained.
There is talk about possibly building it at the Abbeville airport, in Kaplan or on Section 16 Land in the North Vermilion area.
No decision was made about the LSU Ag Center building.