SLEMCO, Laf. board engage on substation

LAFAYETTE — The regional electric company, SLEMCO, has asked for the Lafayette Parish School Board’s help in expanding its services in the Youngsville area. But some board members may need more convincing based on their initial reaction to the proposal.

At the board’s May 2 meeting, Glenn Angelle, a SLEMCO rights-of-way agent, asked the board to consider allowing the company to build an electrical substation on five acres of board-owned property on South Larriviere Road. The company is willing to pay $35,000 per acre and build an 8-foot-tall wooden fence around the substation, according to the agreement proposed by the company.

“We need some power there — like quick,” Angelle told the board. “SLEMCO has been a good friend of the School Board for many, many years and we really, really need some help.”

On May 2, board member Rae Trahan recommended the company build the substation on “someone else’s property.”

“Why are we doing this?” she asked after Angelle’s pitch. The property is designated for future school construction and the location of an electrical substation could hinder future plans, she said.

“Why are they coming to us? … Why not rent from someone else?” Trahan questioned.

Angelle said the company had considered other locations, but the property on South Larriviere is the most feasible for the company.

Board member Kermit Bouillion agreed with Trahan.

“Have we done this on other School Board properties — put a massive five-acre electrical plant” on board-owned property, Bouillion asked.

School system Finance Director Matt Dugas told Bouillion he wasn’t aware of any other substations on School Board-owned property.

Board member Greg Awbrey requested that Angelle present a rendering of the project at the board’s next meeting. It was not clear late Friday afternoon whether the board would take up the issue at its meeting on Wednesday.