Avoyelles School Board refuses to reduce 16th Section lease

A 16th Section leaseholder’s efforts to significantly lower the per-acre price on their tract was soundly rejected at the Avoyelles School Board meeting Sept. 5, but a board committee has recommended readvertising for bids with a lower acceptable minimum bid.

Faucheaux Law Firm of LaPlace had been leasing the Alligator Bayou section, in the Pomme de Terre area of the parish, for $34.50 an acre, or a total annual payment of $22,390 for the entire section.

Its bid of $20 an acre, a total of $12,800 a year -- although the only bid received -- was rejected because it did not meet the minimum bid set by the board.

The Building & Lands Committee decided at its Sept. 19 meeting to recommend setting the minimum bid at $25 an acre and readvertise. The board will consider that item at its Oct. 3 meeting.

The group led by Faucheaux Law Firm has been leasing the tract on a month-to-month basis while it decides whether to renew the multi-year lease that has expired. The group has paid over $134,000 in lease payments over the last six years.

In May, the leaseholders sent the School Board a letter noting several factors have “led to a continuing decline in our hunting access,” forcing the group to seek a change in the lease terms.

One factor cited was a “steady decline in the deer population,” as well as a “decline in habitat and food source (declining cover/thinning vegetation) to support and attract whitetail deer as the property ages.”

The letter also alleges that poaching has been an ongoing issue on the tract.

In that letter, the group offered to sign a 10-year lease for the tract for $25/acre.

The board decided in July to readvertise for bids to lease the Alligator Bayou tract. Those bids were opened on Aug. 22, with Faucheaux being the only bidder. The property has no right-of-way, but the law firm said adjoining property owners have agreed to grant it -- but no one else -- right-of- way.

PROPOSED LAND SWAP

Board President Chris LaCour told board members that the law firm has offered to purchase another section of property, with right-of-way, of the same appraised value as the Alligator Bayou property and swap the tracts with the board.

“There is one major problem with the land swap,” LaCour said. “It has to go to the state Legislature, and our legislator (Robert Johnson) will not entertain that idea.”

Maintenance Supervisor Steve Marcotte recommended the board get the State Lands Office involved in obtaining rights-of-way to 16th section properties.

Board Member Darrell Wiley pointed out about half of the board’s ten 16th Section properties have right-of-way access.

The board referred the overall issue, and whether to lower the minimum acceptable bid for the Alligator Bayou lease, to the Building & Lands Committee for further discussion.

On another matter, the board agreed to lease the entire “Effie-Vick Farm Land” 16th Section to Tarver Land Development for $35/acre, a total annual payment of $22,715.