VIDALIA — The Louisiana Municipal Association has stepped in and asked the state bond commission to take back up Vidalia’s proposed Square on Carter project.

The LMA’s executive board adopted earlier this month a resolution asking the bond commission to place the Vidalia project on its agenda “as soon as practicable.”

The resolution also references a project by the Town of Arcadia, which is seeking to purchase a shopping center for use as a community center and offer as rental space for a medical clinic.

The last time the Vidalia project went before the bond commission was in August, but the matter was discussed behind closed doors because state officials said they had to respond to a “serious” records request about the project. They did not disclose who made the request.

Since then, the city has submitted an application for the project monthly, Concordia Economic Director Heather Malone said.

“We are waiting for the treasurer to put it on the agenda,” she said, adding that she hopes the LMA resolution will give the commission the nudge it needs to consider the project again.

“In our thought, it just proves that other communities are doing similar projects, and they have been successful and there others that are currently looking to do some similar — and the bond commission has held those up, too. We are honored — if that’s the right word — to have the LMA behind the project.”

The Square on Carter project — which would include the purchase and development of the land in question for resale to developers — was first unveiled in March, though the Vidalia Board of Aldermen had given the go-ahead for a $7 million bond application for the project in February.

State Treasurer John Kennedy eventually shelved that application in late June after the state bond commission received legal advice from its attorney that the project might not meet constitutional muster because it needed to demonstrate “public purpose.”

The city applied for the bonds a second time, this time through an economic development district the aldermen created last year instead of directly through the city. The aldermen also serve as the governing board for the district.

The bond commission has requested an opinion from the attorney general’s office about the Vidalia and Arcadia projects, and the LMA resolution says the commission has chosen not to place the items on its agenda until that opinion is issued.

The resolution also asks the attorney general’s office to issue an expedited opinion about the projects.

“The ability of these projects has been impaired by the unresolved issue of whether public funds may be used for such projects,” the LMA resolution states.

“The Louisiana State Bond Commission has in the past, after careful scrutiny, routinely approved the use of public funds and general obligation bonds to fund projects that benefit local governments.”

The benefit for the City of Vidalia would be “a gathering place for its citizens and, in the long-term, to attract development in the area,” according to the LMA resolution.

Malone said the city has complied with every request for further information from state officials.

Approximately half of the site for the proposed Square on Carter project is located on land formerly owned by City Engineer Bryant Hammett, Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland and two others, who bought 33 acres across the highway from Walmart in 2006.

Copeland and the two other partners sold out their portions in 2010. Businessman Brad Dutruch of Baton Rouge later joined the partnership.

Copeland has previously provided paperwork showing he lost money on the deal.

The Square on Carter proposal was developed by outside consultants following a series of meetings in 2014.

It is the centerpiece of a larger city master plan that includes revamped city codes and zoning that the board of aldermen adopted earlier this year.

City and economic development officials have contended the site of the project is the only place left for serious development in a city that has experienced significant growth in recent years.