A new nonprofit and three Vermilion Parish residents have sued the Vermilion Parish Police Jury and the parish Industrial Development Board, asking a judge to void the board’s approval of the tax agreement behind SpaceX’s planned Starbase Louisiana launch site at Pecan Island.

The suit was filed Monday, Oct. 26, in the 15th Judicial District Court, according to WWNO and the Gulf States Newsroom. The plaintiffs are the Vermilion Citizens Coalition and residents Dr. Robert J. Young III, Rebecca C. Young and Cheryl Choate, who lives on Pecan Island.

What the suit alleges

The petition claims eight violations of Louisiana’s Open Meetings Law. Among those described in the reporting:

  • the Police Jury did not livestream its July 15 and Aug. 19 meetings;
  • notice of the development board’s July 23 and Aug. 25 meetings was not sent to the state commissioner of administration, and notice was posted only on the courthouse door, not online;
  • the Aug. 25 agenda used a code name, “Project Osprey,” instead of describing the deal;
  • the Police Jury amended its July 15 agenda during the meeting to revive the development board, a move the plaintiffs call a “subterfuge.”

The suit asks the court to void the board’s Aug. 25 actions, which approved a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with SpaceX, so the decisions would have to be made again in public.

The deal at stake

Under the agreement, SpaceX would make annual payments to the parish starting at $25 million and rising 2% a year for 25 years, roughly $800 million in all by the Gulf States Newsroom’s calculation. The newsroom reported that the property tax exemption is worth nearly $23.8 billion over the same period.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, William Most of New Orleans, said the Open Meetings Law is meant to “make sure that our public officials are working for us, not the other way around,” according to WWNO.

The Police Jury declined to comment, and the Industrial Development Board did not respond, WWNO reported. The board’s minutes say the Aug. 25 meeting notice was “duly posted and given in the manner provided by the Open Meetings Law.” The governor’s office said its executive counsel attended the July 15 meeting and that the settlement was discussed in executive session before a public vote. SpaceX did not respond to the newsroom.

No hearing date had been reported as of Saturday.

School land near the site

Separately, the Vermilion Parish School District owns six parcels totaling about 4,000 acres north of LA 82 near White Lake, next to the planned spaceport, Acadiana News First reported Oct. 28. The land is Section 16 property, set aside by the state for public education. Parishes cannot sell Section 16 land without legislative approval but can swap it, and the report said the land would be appraised before any negotiations.

“Basically, we have to look at that land,” Superintendent Tommy Byler said, according to the station. No values or timeline were reported.

The Times will follow both stories.