VIDALIA — The legal memorandum that was cited as a reason for keeping the City of Vidalia’s Square on Carter project off the Louisiana Bond Commission’s agenda calls the project “well-intentioned” but “prohibited” under the state constitution.

The memorandum, issued by the state attorney general’s office as legal counsel to the bond commission June 10, was not initially available, but became a public record after it was distributed at the bond commission’s Thursday hearing.

At issue is if the $7 million proposal to purchase two parcels making up 65 acres of land near Walmart and develop it with infrastructure in order to woo developers to build a new city center with residential and commercial buildings is considered a valid “public purpose.”

According to the memorandum, it is not.

Concordia Parish Economic Development Director Heather Malone said she has reviewed the document and does not agree with its conclusions.

“We have been working with attorneys on our end, who have been working with the attorney general’s office to prove the public purpose,” she said. “We have provided everything we possibly can as far as we are on the project, but it is over my paygrade now.”

In defining public purpose, the memorandum cites Louisiana Constitution article 1.4, and article 4.23, which deal with municipal purchasing of property and defining public purpose.

Article 1.4 states public purpose includes a general public right to a definite use of property, the removal of a public health threat or the continuous public ownership of property dedicated to:

4Public buildings in which public services are provided.

4Roads, bridges, waterways and access to public waters and lands.

4Drainage, flood control, levees or other land reclamation structures.

4Parks, convention centers, museums, historical buildings and recreation facilities open to the public.

4Public utilities.

4Public ports and airports to facilitate the transport of goods.

“The primary purpose of Vidalia’s proposed project is economic development, achieved through the purchase, development, and selling of property,” the memo says. “Vidalia’s economic development project, unlike other economic development projects in the state, does not involve a private developer seeking the assistance of the local political subdivision in the form of tax breaks or surrounding infrastructure development.

“Rather, it is the town itself that is acquiring the property, developing it, and selling it. It is the belief of this office that such a purpose, despite its well-intentioned goals, does not qualify as a ‘public purpose’… and thus, the Town of Vidalia would be prohibited from entering the transaction for the purchase of the property.”

While Malone said at this point attorneys are handling the matter, she sees similarities with other projects the state has approved.

“I think it is similar to the megasites where the state has purchased property, put money toward the infrastructure and then awaited clients for the land in that part,” she said. “There are multiple projects that are similar in nature.”

Malone said the city has continued to work with the bond commission on the matter.

“All the requests they have made, we have supplied information back, as we have since February,” she said.

Mayor Hyram Copeland did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.