News Alert: Plan Baton Rouge Phase II team selected

A group led by urban design firm Chan Krieger Sieniewicz has been selected to develop the second phase of Plan Baton Rouge, the city’s master plan for development. The team will look for ways to maximize private and public investment in downtown; specifically, they will recommend incentives to promote the growth of the newly designated Arts and Entertainment District.

The Downtown Development District and the Center for Planning Excellence will work with the Chan Krieger Sieniewicz team. Details of the contract are still being negotiated, with work scheduled to begin this month. Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, based in Cambridge, Mass., has been involved in urban design projects for waterways in Dallas, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

Other members of the team include:

- HR&A Advisors Inc., economic strategic planning, New York City

- James Richardson, LSU’s Ourso College of Business Administration, regional planning advisor, Baton Rouge

- Reed Hildebrand, landscape architecture, Watertown, Mass.

- Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, traffic planning, Denver

- WHLC Architecture, local planning coordinator, Baton Rouge, and

- Eskew + Dumez + Ripple, regional planning advisor, New Orleans.

News Alert: Sharper running for re-election

Metro Councilman Byron Sharper says he will run for re-election. Sharper says he will continue to make District 7 "a better place to live, work, play and pray." He was charged with simple battery earlier this spring after reportedly trying to kiss an 18-year-old woman. Already, three challengers -- Suchitra S. Dyer, C. Denise Marcelle and Isaiah Marshall -- have announced plans to run for the seat, which stretches from College Drive to Scenic Highway. For a list of all announced candidates, click here.

LSU student, community planner to run for Metro Council

Brett Jackson, an LSU senior majoring in finance, told The Daily Reveille he intends to run for the District 12 seat on the Metro Council. Jackson, 20, serves as a senator in LSU's Student Government, representing the College of Arts and Sciences. He is one of several candidates planning to run for the south Baton Rouge seat, which is open after Councilman Mickey Skyring decided against another term.

Alison Cascio, who works as an outreach director for the Center for Planning Excellence, says she will run for the District 11 seat. From early 2005 to late 2006, Cascio was as an aide for District 11 Councilman David Boneno, who last week announced he was not seeking a third term because of family and business obligations. Cascio is the first candidate to declare for the seat. Qualifying for the Metro Council elections will be held July 9-11. For a list of all announced candidates, click here.

AEDC looks to buy site for business park

The Ascension Economic Development Corporation has given a landowner until 6 p.m. Wednesday to either accept or turn down an offer for an 88-acre plot that the organization would like to see used for a business park. AEDC would not buy the land directly; rather, it is seeking to broker a purchase option that can be transferred to a private developer or developers. AEDC president Tommy Kurtz says two out-of-state developers have already expressed interest. Exact terms of the possible deal and the location of the site within Ascension remain confidential. As envisioned, the park would feature office space, light manufacturing and distribution, comparable to the Industriplex in Baton Rouge. A consultant hired by AEDC found there were fewer than 35 acres of prepared, vacant industrial park land available for sale on the east side of the Mississippi River in the greater Baton Rouge market. Given the need, AEDC will try to move on another property if this deal doesn’t pan out, and has several options in mind, Kurtz says.—David Jacobs

Subcontractors protest at Perkins Rowe

The owners of a local painting and drywall business who picketed at Perkins Rowe on Monday afternoon say they are owed more than $7,800. Teresa and Manuel Sanchez of J&M Painting Contractors say they've been owed the money since March. "We need this money to live on," says Teresa Sanchez, who was holding a sign that read, "Where is our money?" J&M was working as subcontractors for Omega Construction, which was working for MAPP Construction on the Fish City Grill restaurant. The couple says they plan to protest until they get paid for their work.

Mike Polito, who owns MAPP Construction, says his company was waiting on payment from Fish City Grill. Paul Carlson, general manger of Perkins Rowe, says J&M's problems are "entirely between them and Fish City Grill" and don’t involve developer JTS. There are liens on file against JTS, which developed the mixed-use project at Bluebonnet Boulevard and Perkins Road. The problems stem from the national credit crunch, which dried up some of the funding sources for JTS. The contractors contacted by Daily Report didn’t want to discuss their problems on the record, saying they were hopeful a resolution could be reached.

Carlson says the amount of liens was not unusual and is part of doing a project the size of Perkins Rowe. Also, not every lien was filed because of nonpayment; in some cases they involved disputed work that had to be resolved. The project is working toward getting a new source of funding for the permanent loans. "Everybody is going to get paid," he says. "This has nothing to do with Perkins Rowe running out of money. That isn't the case."—Timothy Boone

Vacancies abound on boards and commissions

If you ever wanted to serve on a state board or commission and don’t mind the public rummaging through your finances, now is the time to finagle your way onto a nomination list. At least 132 people have resigned from Louisiana’s boards and commissions over the past 24 hours. The deadline to step down before new financial disclosure rules go on the books was midnight. As a result, the Ethics Board is all but shut down, as is the Louisiana State Arts Council, which lost local members LeAnne Weill and Suzanne Turner. The Louisiana Geographic Information Systems Council saw half its membership step down (nine open positions) and the Louisiana Emergency Response Network Board suffered 12 resignations, leaving one private citizen and a panel of legislators to do the heavy lifting.

This flight of public servants also marks the end of an era. For instance, labor legend Victor V. Bussie, who now lives in Baton Rouge, relinquished his seat on the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors. He served as head of the Louisiana AFL-CIO for 41 years before retiring in 1997 and has participated on public boards ever since. If nothing else, Bussie has always been at the core of Louisiana’s political history, from campaigning for former President Lyndon B. Johnson and having his house bombed in 1966 over mandated school desegregation to the Legislature’s right-to-work fight of the 1980s. Bussie has repeatedly been described as the most powerful man in Louisiana history never to be elected to office.

Other high-profile names can be found on the state’s list of resignations as well. Clyde W. Kimball, formerly a state representative who is married to Associate Justice Catherine D. "Kitty" Kimball, gave up his seat on the Capital Area Human Services Board. Richard L. Stalder, former correction secretary, has left the Louisiana Correctional Facilities Corporation. F. Charles McMains Jr., another former state representative, also surrendered his position on the Louisiana Property and Casualty Insurance Commission.

What type of guidelines led to the exodus? Board and commission members, along with their spouses, must now disclose any business interests in which they own 10% or more and file a certificate stating any possible conflict of interest they might have with the public entity on which they serve.—Jeremy Alford

Grants funds available for smart growth

Calling all Louisiana municipalities, parishes and tribes: The Center for Planning Excellence has announced a program to help foster smart growth within the state through grants and technical assistance. CPEX will choose two or three communities in the state that commit to incorporating smart growth principles and techniques in planning efforts. The grants, ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, along with direct staff support from CPEX, will go to help the chosen communities with priorities such as comprehensive/master plans, infill/redevelopment, and planning for neighborhoods, downtowns, corridors and transportation. The money comes from a federal Housing and Urban Development grant. For application requirements, go to planningexcellence.org or call 267-6300. Deadline for applications is July 30.—Steve Clark

Publisher: Races for Metro Council, Congress to begin

Qualifying for a host of political offices begins next week, and it's a sure bet there will be change on Baton Rouge’s political landscape. At least 10 of 12 Metro Council seats will be up for grabs because of term limits or incumbents not seeking re-election. Moreover, East Baton Rouge will have a new district attorney and voters will also decide if Don Cazayoux's stay in Washington will be a short one. Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister says the time is now for voters to elect new faces to political office. In particular, he warns not to be fooled by old faces looking for a return and reminds readers that it was former Councilman Jim Benham, who is expected to run again, who fought hard to prevent a vote on term limits. As for the 6th Congressional District, the key to that race may well be whether Democrat Michael Jackson runs as in Independent. Finally, though Gov. Bobby Jindal announced his veto of the legislative pay raise bill Monday, McCollister looks at some of the issues Jindal had to deal with before reaching his decision. Read McCollister's column here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.

Louisiana Culinary Institute building new school

The Louisiana Culinary Institute has started work on a 30,000-square-foot building on Airline Highway between Arnold Lane and Jefferson Highway. The school should open in late September or mid-October, right in the middle of the fall semester, says Charlie Ruffolo, a spokesman for the culinary institute. The school, which trains chefs, has been at its current location on Essen Lane since 2003, but they're running out of room. Ruffolo says the school takes up about 8,500 square feet in its current location and is leasing space nearby. "Being a chef is a popular trend right now," he says. The Culinary Institute paid $1.4 million for the 3.5 acres of Airline Highway property in May 2007. B.J. Couvillion is handling construction of the new school.—Timothy Boone

Real Estate Weekly: More million-dollar homes on market

Real Estate Weekly is out with news about an increase in million-dollar homes for sale in the Capital Region, Investar Bank's next move and the latest columns from Tom Cook and Brian Andrews. Click here for the newsletter.

Best of 225 Award winners revealed

225 magazine is out with its annual list of the Capital Region's favorite people, places and meals. To find out who readers voted as the Best of 225 Award winners, click here or pick up a copy the magazine.

Poll: Most think Jindal made right call on veto

Just over half of the Daily Report readers who responded to an online poll say Gov. Bobby Jindal made the right call in vetoing a raise that would have doubled legislator's pay. Forty-seven percent say Jindal waited too long to issue the veto, while 2% say Jindal's veto was the wrong move. More than 2,200 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: Have the high gas prices affected your Fourth of July weekend plans?

News roundup: Exports fuel manufacturing growth; Mainieri named coach of the year by Rivals.com; BRAC releases legislative wrapup

Barely break five-month streak: A huge jump in commodity prices overshadowed feeble growth in manufacturing in June, while a rise in inventories signaled more trouble for makers of food, chemicals, furniture and electronics. The Institute for Supply Management says its index of prices manufacturers pay for raw materials hit 91.5 in June, up from 87 in May and the highest reading since 1979. Its overall manufacturing activity was 50.2, barely breaking a five-month contraction streak. Any reading above 50 signals growth. Putting the Tigers back on track: LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri was named the Rivals.com national coach of the year. Mainieri led the Tigers to the College World Series in his second season at LSU. The Tigers (49-19-1) set a school record with 23 consecutive wins and ranked No. 6 in all major polls. To read the story on Mainieri's award, click here. How did the session go? The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has released its wrap up of the recently concluded legislative session. BRAC saw accomplishments on a number of fronts, including workforce reform, boosting economic development efforts and more money for LSU. Click here for the review.

Deadline Thursday for Top 100 nominations

Business Report is asking local, privately owned companies to submit information to qualify for our annual Top 100 Private Companies list to be published July 15. We rank companies by gross revenue. Based on past numbers, companies with less than $12 million in revenue are unlikely to make the Top 100 list. For more information, e-mail jbayhi@businessreport.com. The deadline to submit information is 5 p.m. Thursday.