St. John Parish board authorizes LOI to sell Leon Godchaux site, approves food contracts and to readvertise gym bond package

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board on May 9 authorized the superintendent to execute a letter of intent to sell the old Leon Godchaux site to St. John the Baptist Parish Government and approved several procurement actions.

On a roll-call vote, the Board granted authority to the superintendent to execute the letter of intent. Public commenter Anthony Miller said the most recent insurance appraisal (2019) listed the property at $21,769,762 and that he is arranging updated appraisals; he also asked administration to research whether the Board holds batture rights to the property.

The Board also voted to readvertise a bond project covering West St. John Elementary School and Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet gymnasium improvements after the low bidder withdrew and the next-lowest responsive bidder exceeded the budget by about $1.6 million. Administration said it plans to combine this package with two smaller project packages to attract more competitive bids.

Procurement votes included awarding the bread products contract (four items) to Flower’s Baking of New Orleans and multiple food categories (frozen food, meat/meat products, and processed food) to Pon Food Corporation. Each contract passed on recorded roll-call votes.

In related business, the Board approved a two‑year renewal of the grass maintenance contract but decided, by substitute motion, to exclude athletic-field maintenance at Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet; athletic-field maintenance will instead be addressed through a separate RFP.

All procurement and contract votes were recorded by roll call in open session.