Vidalia — Vidalia’s Square on Carter project may be subject to a “serious” discussion at Thursday’s Louisiana State Bond Commission meeting, but likely only behind closed doors.

The City of Vidalia is seeking the state’s approval to borrow up to $7 million to purchase land and provide infrastructure improvements in hopes of luring private investors to the development.

The application for the current incarnation of the proposed development is listed as the last item on the agenda, under “other business.”

The agenda reads, “Discussion of records request regarding the proposed Town of Vidalia and Carter Street No. 1 Economic Development District bond issue to receive legal advice from legal counsel.”

The agenda notes the commission may discuss the matter behind closed doors.

State Bond Commission Director Lela Folse said she could not comment on the nature of the records request or who had placed it, only saying that, “It is serious.”

“The bond commission may or may not have a comment after that executive session,” she said.

Folse said she did not know when the proposal might be considered as an action item.

An attorney representing the landowners for part of the proposed site — Bryant Hammett and Brad Dutruch — has reportedly filed a request for the correspondence tied to the application.

The request followed a public call by former Secretary State Al Ater for an investigation of the project, which he alleged was part of a conspiracy to justify Vidalia purchasing the land at an enormous profit to the landowners, a charge those involved have denied.

Hammett, Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland and two others bought 33 acres across the highway from Walmart in 2006. Copeland and the two other partners sold out their portions in 2010, paving the way for Dutruch to join the partnership.

Copeland has previously provided paperwork showing he lost money on the deal.

The Square on Carter project — which would include the purchase and development of the land in question for resale to developers — was first unveiled in March, though the Vidalia Board of Aldermen had given the go-ahead for a $7 million bond application for the project in February.

State Treasurer John Kennedy eventually shelved that application in late June after the state bond commission received legal advice from its attorney that the project might not meet constitutional muster. The city has applied for the bonds a second time, this time through an economic development district the aldermen created last year instead of directly through the city. The aldermen also serve as the governing board for the district.

The Square on Carter proposal was developed by outside consultants following a series of meetings last year. It is the centerpiece of a larger city master plan that includes revamped city codes and zoning that the board of aldermen adopted earlier this year.