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| "..The Apparent testimony from a local resident conerning a tree, on the parish boundary, in the vicinity of point "A" leads us tp beleive the survey was an attempt, in 1931, to re-establish the parish boundary in its original location. Since Bernard Engineers was furnishing maps to both Lafayette and Vermilion Parishes, it seems that both parishes were in agreement with his interpretation of the location of their common parish boundary." State Land Office Report, Lafayette and Vermilion Parish Boundary, Page 12, Conclusions, Presented to Lafayette Consolidated Government and Vermilion Parish (Click Here to See Page 12 of the SLO Report) |
| The Final Word ? Continued.6 |
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| In researching police jury minutes of both parishes, I found that the meetings in fact contradict the findings and conclusion in the State Land Office Report. In the April 11, 1929 meeting of the Lafayette Parish Police Jury, it is noted that in the previous meeting, Merrill Bernard made a proposal to provide a parish map. It is also noted in that meeting Bernard substituted a proposition to provide landowner maps for the Lafayette Parish Tax Assessor. While his proposition was accepted, further research of the Lafayette Parish Minutes to 1941 do not mention that the work was completed or that Bernard was paid for the work. It is also stated in the State Land Office Report to both Lafayette and Vermilion, no record of the maps could be located in either the Assessor's Office or the Records of the Clerk of Court. This search was conducted by Mr. Conrad Comeaux, the current Lafayette Tax Assessor. (Click Here to see exerpts from the April 11, 1929 Meeting) I continued by researching the Vermilion Parish Police Jury minutes and found that Bernard was hired by Vermilion Parish on October 21, 1930, in the absence of R.I. Tanner the Vermilion Parish surveyor, to provide a survey and map of the boundary line between Lafayette and Vermilion Parish. The ordinance adopted at that meeting called for a meeting with Lafayette Parish on April 27, 1931 at ten o'clock in the morning to fix the boundary. It also stated that the survey would commence at the intersection of Bayou Vermilion and Coulee Isle des Cannes and the purpose of the survey was to fix the boundary according to the Act No. 81 of the Louisiana Legislature in 1844. According to the meeting minutes a copy of the ordinance was to be sent to the Lafayette Parish Police Jury. No reference is made to this in the Lafayette Parish Police Jury Minutes. No word of Vermilion sending the ordinance forward to Lafayette or acceptance of the proposal, or an acceptance of this ordinance is mentioned in the Lafayette Jury's minutes. (Click Here to see exerpts from the October 21, 1930 Meeting) Vermilion Parish had two more meetings regarding the Bernard Survey. On June 4, 1931 the Vermilion body met to accept the findings of Mr. Merrill Bernard. (Click Here to see exerpts from the June 4, 1931 Meeting) Again Vermilion met on July 5, 1933 and resolved that they wished to definitely locate the division line on the ground and mentioned the work of Mr. Bernard. They also mentioned the April 11, 1929 meeting and that Lafayette did not participate or appear. A concern mentioned by the Vermilion Jury was that 900 acres of land was assessed in Lafayette Parish which they (Vermilion) felt should be taxed in their parish. The Jurors resolved to ask Lafayette to erase those 900 acres from the Lafayette Assessor's rolls. The Vermilion Jury appointed a comittee of three to present the motion to the Lafayette Parish Police Jury President at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Lafayette body. The Chairman of the comittee was Mr. Sidney McDonald who was to be joined by R. L. Chauvier and Eli Duhon. (Click Here to see exerpt from the July 5, 1933 Meeting) There is no mention in the Lafayette Parish Police Jury minutes the committee from Vermilion ever met with the Jurors from Lafayette. I researched the minutes through 1941 and could find no mention of the Committe attending a meeting or that Lafayette Parish accepted or participated in the Bernard Survey. In the State Land Office report, only two meetings were referenced. If Mr. Campbell researched the Police Jury records from 1929 to 1930, then why not reference all four meetings in which the Bernard Survey was discussed? Why would he not mention that Lafayette Parish did not take this issue up at the times referenced in the Vermilion Parish Minutes? We do know that in 1935, in the Case of Meaux v. Commercial Bank, that the Bernard Survey was thrown out of court as unsatisfactory by the Apellate Court Judge Elliot. Why was this not mentioned in the "extensive research"? (Click here to see Exerpts of Commercial Bank v. Meaux) On page twelve (12) of the State Land Office Report to Lafayette Consolidated Government and the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, it is stated that Lafayette and Vermilion must have been in agreement, since Bernard was furnishing maps to both parishes. However, when I reviewed the minutes from both parishes, and studied them chronoligically, it became apparent that in 1929 Lafayette had no intention of having Bernard prepare a map of the Parish. They agreed only to land owner maps for the Assessor, which it appears were never completed or paid for. Since this meeting took place before the October 21, 1930 meeting Bernard had with the Vermilion Parish Jury, Lafayette had no prior knowledge of the meeting that was to take place with Vermilion. How could Lafayette be in agreement with an ordinance, resolution or proposal with Vermilion which had not happened yet when Lafayette met with Bernard in the meeting of April 11, 1929? It is obvious from the Vermilion Police Jury Records that Lafayette did not appear or wish to enter into an agreement with Bernard or the Vermilion Jury. Is it not obvious from the Lafayette Police Jury minutes that they did not participate or wish to entertain Bernard's findings? Even the ommission speaks volume of Lafayettes intention. If the State Land Office is to leap to any conclusion, it surely can not be that Lafayette Parish was a willing participant in this endeavor. Today only a map and preliminary drawing exists of Bernard's work. There are no survey notes to accompany his final product and this in and of itself should be suspect. Moreover, the preliminary drawing indicates that Bernard was relying on United States Geological Survey Maps, in particular he identifys a line he took from the Gueydan Quadrangle Map. U.S.G.S. can not be used as authoritative maps because they draw information from so many sources. This is well known in the industry and the State Land Office should be aware of this. The U.S.G.S. maps are often used by engineers and surveyors to overlay mapping information for presentation. These U.S.G.S. maps are for reference purposed only. Also conspicuously absent from the State Land Office report is any mention or discussion of Coulee isle des Cannes. The study mentions only Grange's Coulee to Indian Point Coulee. One cannot study this boundary line and how it was derived in 1844 without Coulee Isle des Cannes, its intersection with the Vermilion River and a thorough understanding of Coulee Isle des Cannes intersected the coulee now called Granger's Coulee. Coulee Isle des Cannes has been omitted from the State Land Office Report of the Boundary of Lafayette and Vermilion Parishes and it was omitted by Bernard as well the third reference used to determine this line by the State Land Office, The Gervis Lombard Abstract. |