The City-Parish Council Tuesday defeated an ordinance that would have repealed previously approved measures challenging the border between Lafayette and Vermilion parishes. The two parishes agreed on the present border in 2002 following a survey by the State Land Office, but Councilman Don Bertrand, who was absent from Tuesday night’s meeting, has been pushing to have it redrawn, a procedure that would give Lafayette about 1,000 acres currently located in Vermilion Parish. Bertrand argues that re-establishing the Lafayette-Vermilion parish line could have an impact on a redrawing of Lafayette’s eastern border with St. Martin Parish.
The Lafayette council this year pursued through ordinance a redrawing of the line with Vermilion, but the police jury there balked. Lafayette’s bid to redraw the line has since been block by both a district court judge in Lafayette and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal. In batting down Tuesday’s ordinance by Councilman Jared Bellard to drop the litigation, the council gave the green light to appeal the 3rd Circuit ruling to the Louisiana Supreme Court. It’s unclear at this time whether the state’s high court will even agree to hear the appeal.
The Advocate’s Richard Burgess has details on the squabble here.