New library in Gray delayed

Students in Gray, Thibodaux, Schriever and Gibson
will have to wait until this fall before
they can check out books and use the internet at a new
library currently under construction.

On Monday, the Terrebonne Parish Council granted an 83 day extension to
contractors working on the new edifice, after they argued more
time is needed due to rain delays and a muddy working
environment.

Councilwoman Teri Cavalier however, voted against the
extension, saying the contract to build the facility isn't worth
the paper it is written on. Cavalier's claim is that the contractors
could have made better use of their time, among other things.

She said this will be the second consecutive summer where area
students will not be able to use the facility, some who even use
the area as a repreave from the summer heat, as they do not
have air conditioning in their homes.

But more importantly, Cavalier said the students who were
12 and 13, will now be 14 and 15 - "try getting older teenagers
to use the library now, when they were not properly trained
when they were younger," she told her colleagues on the council.
"That's not so easy to do," she said.