The St. Charles Parish administration asked the council to table a proposal to formally buy the Madere’s Garage property across the street from the Hahnville courthouse.
The ordinance before the council at the Dec. 15 meeting had the parish buying the property for $670,000.
St. Charles Parish spokesperson Renee Simpson said the administration was still waiting for a completed title, survey and environmental study. She said the administration expects those items to be ready in time for the Jan. 12 council meeting.
In November, the council voted to lease the property at a rate of $10,000 per month. Parish President V.J. St. Pierre reasoned this was done, in part, to keep the property off the open market and ensure it could be purchased with funds allocated in the 2015 budget.
Another ordinance authorizing the parish to spend an additional $5,484 to purchase a sliver of property adjacent to Madere’s was also tabled. According to the parish, the purchase was necessary to complete the sale, as a portion of a building on the Madere property was accidentally built on property owned by another party.
Madere’s Garage served as a car dealership, gas station and service garage across from the courthouse for nearly 90 years. The shop closed in September.
The administration has said that consolidating maintenance services out of various leased facilities and into the Madere property would ultimately save the parish as much as $50,000 per year.
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