Port, Gibson landowner to begin talks

Benjamin Franklin said the definition of insanity is attempting the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. And it is by this definition one may describe the Terrebonne Parish Port Commission as being insane.

But the situation isn’t quite the same as it was in the past.

At a special meeting last Monday, the Port Commission voted to give port director David Rabalais authority to open negotiations with L-M Management president Porter Baron for 100 acres of the company’s little more than the 1,700 acres of derelict land out by Gibson.

Rabalais said the Port has another company interested in the site.

Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Mike Ferdinand said the project came to his agency through one of their strategic allies, who had seen the property previously.

Ferdinand said the company’s site location consultant requested three things from the state, the parish and other strategic partners. They came to the Port Commission for the land.

“The reason why the port is the preferred conduit is because you can apply for port priority funds to improve the infrastructure and that would be critical to the project going forward,” said Ferdinand.

Rabalais said the port’s intention is to get Baron to agree on a price for his land. And right now, he envisions getting a price from Baron in writing.

If the port does get Baron to agree on a price, it will then work up a lease for the interested company and try to bond out the cost of the purchase.

Rabalais is optimistic, he said, because instead of trying the stick, they’re going with the carrot.

The interested company wants certain infrastructure improvements made to the railway running through the site. Negotiations for this are under way and the state may pay a part of it.

If these improvements are made, the value of the rest of Baron’s land will increase.

“The railroad extension would bring great value to the rest of his property,” said Ferdinand. “There’s a lot of motivation for him, as well as us.”

This is a little ironic, given the fact Rabalais, himself, wasn’t happy with the fact taxpayer dollars previously went into building up Baron’s land, which is a dedicated spoil site.

When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges nearby channels, it dumps the dredge material on Baron’s property and has been doing this since the Sixties.

Rabalais previously said Baron’s property was much more wetland than it is now.

Besides some hard feelings, another hiccup in the process could be the port’s need for an appraisal. Baron has previously said an appraisal wasn’t necessary and he didn’t want one in order to protect his land from possible expropriation.

All of this follows the death of state Senate Bill 33, which was proposed by the Port Commission to put pressure on Baron to come back to the negotiation table with a more reasonable price.

The bill, if it had been approved, could have given the Port Commission the necessary expropriation power to seize Baron’s land.

Baron had been asking three to four times the value the parish tax assessor has placed on the land and had been accused of hiking up the price for his land after TEDA and the Port Commission brought interested parties to the table.

The section the anonymous company is specifically interested in is Tract A and the old service marine yard.

The Port Commission plans to mail a letter of intent to Baron of its intent to negotiate a price and purchase his land.

Baron said he was aware of the meeting, which was open to the public, but could not attend.

As far as selling his land, Baron said he’s been talking to some people. He said he has one party interested in all of it and another interested in part of it.

“I’ve been talking to three people within the last two or three or four weeks. And frankly, when the local government involves themselves in this, it really makes it harder for me to deal with people, because people would rather go talk to the government than me,” said Baron.

Companies, generally, would prefer to go through the government to get Baron’s land to pick up tax incentives, which are something Baron can’t provide.

At time of press, Rabalais and Ferdinand were planning to contact Baron.