Plans to construct an evacuation center in Iberia Parish were met in contention at Wednesday’s Iberia Parish Council meeting when some members of the council questioned the need and costs of the project.

The council voted on a resolution to add $2.7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for the remaining construction match funding for the project Wednesday, but Councilman Scott Saunier said he would not be supporting the bid.

“I haven’t been a fan of this from the beginning,” Saunier said. “We’re going to spend $12 million on this, if we get like Lake Charles we migh this but this building might get blown away too.”

Iberia Parish President Larry Richard said plans for an evacuation center had been talked about since the 2016 flood in south Louisiana that caused a sudden need to house many local residents who were evacuated from their homes.

Richard said the COVID-19 pandemic also presented a need for a building like this due to the parish having no facility to quarantine people when needed.

“We’ve been trying to get a facility for many years,” Richard said. “This is an evacuation center, however the way it’s designed could be used for other things.”

Richard added that the entire project would be funding through state capital outlay funding in addition to ARPA funding, which puts it at no cost to parish money.

Councilwoman Natalie Broussard said the facility would be useful for more than just hurricanes as well.

“The (2016) flood was an example, the tornado was an example. We’re not talking about just a storm, we’re talking about any kind of disaster where we can put our people,” Broussard said.

“My issue is the financial aspect of it,” Saunier said. “We struggle to maintain the facilities we own now.”

The resolution passed with Saunier and Councilman Scott Ransonet both voting against the measure.