A monstrous project turned into a miracle after the Parish’s teamwork and effort to make Lafreniere Park ADA compliant. A surprising eight million dollar judgment demolished an idea to add a soccer complex at the jewel of Jefferson Parish in federal court against the Parish. Council members of District 4 inherited a problem that needed a robust solution. Myers Engineering, alongside the Parish attorney’s office, worked tirelessly to save the parish money. The two were successful in knocking the judgment down from 8 million dollars to 1.5 million dollars. According to Council District 4, Dominick F. Impastato III, “that was a huge win, so I’m proud to say we put the team together including [Debbie Villio] and our office and got that judgment knocked down significantly, and then we had to figure out how to get it done.”

The Parish did not only have one lucky break but instead two. Tamethia Shaw, former Director of Community Development, advised the Parish to find state community-development grant money to help cover the project’s cost. Shaw was “even more right than she anticipated through her work along with Cole Fountaneau,” said Impastato.

The office received one million dollars of grant money from the State of Louisiana, bringing the cost of the 8 million dollar project down to a 500,000 dollar liability for Jefferson Parish. Lafreniere Park and Councilmen Impastato celebrated the victory and new changes to the park on Nov. 13. The changes include ADA compliant parking spots, sidewalk ramps, restroom buildings with modern light fixtures, flooring, baby changing stations, changes to the park office, and even the Robert “Bob” Deviney Foundation Center entrances and parking.