Lafayette Council Seeks $30K To Research Vermilion Parish Border

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL) — The Lafayette City-Parish Council will again consider tonight the border between Vermilion and Lafayette Parishes.

Council Member Donald Bertrand, District 7, will introduce the ordinance that formally accepts findings from M. P. Mayeux Survey & Boundary Consulting that puts Lafayette Parish's boundary deeper into Vermilion's. It also allots $30,000 for further research to re-establish the border.

City-Parish President Joey Durel said the area within the contentious border line is only about 700 acres, but it affects residents and businesses within the area in terms of taxing, school districting and official address.

The council voted unanimously in October to void a 2002 boundary agreement with the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, contending the state Land Office's findings did not account for historical records dating back to the line's 1844 origin.

The ordinance does not legally change the border, however, and the matter seems likely to reach a courtroom.