Delcambre passes resolution in support of project; Capital outlay being sought in legislature for new Acadiana Crime Lab facility

DELCAMBRE — The Delcambre Board of Aldermen passed a resolution Monday night in support of a $20 million capital outlay project for construction of a new Acadiana Crime Lab, which covers an eight-parish region and four federal judicial districts.
Bo Duhe, District Attorney for the 16th Judicial District that covers Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes, played a three-minute video showing the need for a new crime lab at Monday’s regular monthly board meeting and asked the Delcambre board to support the capital outlay project currently working its way through the state legislature, which would need 25 percent matching funds from the communities that use the crime lab.
The crime lab handled seven cases from Delcambre in 2019, the last full year before the COVID pandemic, Duhe said. Delcambre’s share of matching funds, based on tax records and the number of cases the lab handled, would be $5,639, Duhe said.
“What I’m here to ask you for is a resolution in support of that capital outlay project … and that y’all would use your best efforts to contribute up to $5,629 to this match, which is what the legislature is looking for right now,” Duhe said.
The crime lab provides evidence analysis and expert trial testimony for Vermilion, Iberia, St. Mary, St. Martin, Lafayette, Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry parishes. But the lab, which opened in 1972 before moving in the 1980s to its current location in a former oilfield business building at the Acadiana Regional Airport in New Iberia, a central location for the eight parishes, is outdated and crowded. The facility covers 10,000 square feet, but needs much more space to fit the standard 1,000 square feet per employee used in crime labs around the country. ACL has 23 employees, according to the video Duhe played.
The facility has a roof that continues to leak despite numerous repairs and has flooded in heavy rains, and the lab could lose expensive equipment and much or all of the evidence it must store to maintain proper chain of custody for criminal cases if a hurricane such as Laura or Ida made a direct hit on the area.
The proposed new lab would be able to withstand such a storm, according to the video. The state would put up $15 million of the cost of the outlay project, with matching funds from the communities the lab serves supplying the rest, based on the figures from 2019.
State Rep. Beau Beaullieu (R.-New Iberia) and state Sen. Bret Allain (R.-Franklin) are supporting the funding of the project in their respective legislative branches, Duhe said, but are asking that Acadiana communities, parishes and law enforcement organizations show support as well.
“They’re looking for some kind of letter or resolution that shows the approval and the commitment to the project, and I feel very confident that if we get that we can go ahead and get this capital outlay project, which is extremely, extremely important,” Duhe said. “Particularly it’s a dire situation, because like you saw in the video, if we get hurricane up the gut, we could lose a lot of valuable evidence which is stored in the lab.”
Duhe said the town could spread the cost of the matching funds over a two-year period. The board approved the resolution unanimously.
In other business, the board:
• approved the Louisiana compliance questionnaire for audit;
• discussed abandoned houses and other properties that need to be cleaned up, putting off a discussion of the town ordinance for enforcing property cleanup until June’s meeting;
• discussed submitting a drawing of plans for work at the park property on the corner of Main and Pelloat streets;
• heard from Larry Cramer of Sellers & Associates engineering firm about what needs to be done to submit a second round of applications to receive funds for a grant to improve the town’s sewer works;
• heard about plans for a fundraiser for the Delcambre Volunteer Fire Department on June 25 from Fire Chief Brock Benoit.