N O L A.C O M
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M o n d ay, a p r i l 7, 2025
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Lawsuit’s lurid details revealed Leesville, mayor settled 2020 case involving harassment, discrimination for $299,000
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
The project to rehabilitate the blighted former naval base in Bywater and turn the main building into nearly 300 apartments with subsidized rents has cleared its final financing hurdles and should soon begin construction.
FINAL HURDLES Affordable housing project in Bywater with nearly 300 apartments to begin construction soon at former naval base, officials say
Nicole Ybarra received an urgent request from Leesville Mayor Rick Allen. He needed to meet that evening at City Hall with Ybarra and the other City Council members. The public was not invited. Before the six council members and Allen filed into the empty council chamber, the mayor of the small town near the Texas border asked everyone to leave behind their cellphones, Ybarra said. Allen quickly got to the point: He and the city manager had just returned from a mediation ses- Allen sion in Baton Rouge and needed the council at its next meeting to approve the settlement of a lawsuit filed by what he described as two disgruntled city employees. Allen said a court gag order prevented him from discussing the details with the council or the public, Ybarra recounted in a re- Ybarra cent interview. Several days later, at a regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 14, 2020, the council approved
ä See DETAILS, page 5A
BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer
A long-touted project to rehabilitate the blighted former naval base in Bywater and turn the main building into nearly 300 apartments with subsidized rents has cleared its final financing hurdles and should soon begin construction, according to city and federal officials. On March 28, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the key loan guarantee needed to secure part of the $166 million financing package for the project. The previous week, Finance New Orleans — a public benefit organization, formerly known as Finance Authority of New Orleans — approved a payment in lieu of taxes deal that will allow the owners to pay a substantially lower rate of property tax than it otherwise would be liable for. The federal loan guarantee and city tax deal mean the project — called NSA East Bank Apartments — can now move to finalize financing and begin construction by the summer, the officials said. “We expect the initial (financial) closing within 60-120 days,” said Kasey Lovett, spokesperson for HUD, in an email. “Then construction will commence.”
Landry hunting trip includes trial lawyers Legislative chairs say talks focused on auto insurance
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
People walk around the abandoned former naval base in New Orleans on Saturday. The Naval Support Activity base at the intersection of Dauphine Street and Poland Avenue had been used for various military purposes for more than a century until it was vacated in 2011. In recent years, it has become one of the most notorious, graffiti-covered eyesores in the city and a focal point of crime, requiring police to conduct multiple sweeps to remove squatters.
The 22-acre site was taken over in 2016 by the city, which then tapped a consortium of developers led by the late Joe Jaeger to rehabilitate the three buildings. Jaeger had told Bywater residents over the years that he wanted to convert the massive complex into hundreds of “affordable luxury” apartments for the
ä See PROJECT, page 3A
Five legislative leaders met with Gov. Jeff Landry and two prominent trial attorneys in Texas last week to hunt turkey and talk legislative business — including whether lawmakers will keep trying to make it harder for lawyers to collect big payouts for clients injured in car accidents. Gordon McKernan, one of the two attorneys, flew House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, Senate President Cameron Henry and Landry three committee chairs on his law firm’s jet to the Tributary Sporting Club near Austin. Landry met them there. They all returned Wednesday.
ä See TRIP, page 3A
Louisiana farmers in limbo after funds are frozen Trump halts $363M in state reimbursements
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
DeRidder corn and wheat farmer David Smith said he wanted to try out something new this year on his farm. He started tinkering with the idea of adding cover crops over small acreages but GETTy IMAGES wanted to expand it to hundreds of acres. Louisiana farmers were expected to receive around “It is not a moneymaking thing. In fact, you spend money. You just want to im$363 million from fiscal year 2025 to 2031 through prove your soil,” Smith said. the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the He couldn’t justify the cost in the curConservation Steward Program and other programs, rent agricultural economy with its high according to data collected by the Policy Design Lab. input costs and low commodity prices. So A freeze by President Donald Trump put all current he looked at applying for a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources and future contracts on hold.
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Conservation Service program that would have partly covered the cost of seed. The agency helps farmers identify conservation concerns on their operations and works to ensure availability of resources for future generations. Smith would have been one of the hundreds of Louisiana farmers who participate every year in federal programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Steward Program, among others. But a sweeping freeze by President Donald Trump put all current and future contracts on hold as the administration evaluates that programs are “focused on supporting farmers and ranchers, not DEIA programs or far-left climate programs,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Louisiana farmers were expected to
receive around $363 million from fiscal year 2025 to 2031 through EQIP, CSP and other programs, according to data collected by the Policy Design Lab. EQIP and CSP are partly funded through the Farm Bill. Former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act added nearly $20 billion in investments to the USDA conservation programs over a five-year period, with many focused on climate-friendly initiatives. The projects farmers can participate in include improving water quality and retention, reducing soil runoff, and improving soil health by installing fencing for livestock. But the main goal is to help improve efficiency in farming, Michael Deliberto, associate professor in agricultural policy at LSU, said.
Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
ä See FUNDS, page 5A
12TH yEAR, NO. 238