DONALDSONVILLE The Ascension Parish School Board has given its approval for property tax exemptions for a manufacturer looking to build in Geismar.

Under an executive order issued by Gov. John Bel Edwards last summer, a manufacturer seeking an industrial tax exemption in the state must first get the approval of the School Board, sheriff and parish government in the area where the company hopes to build, before taking its request for a tax exemption to the state Board of Commerce and Industry.

DONALDSONVILLE The Ascension Parish School Board, Sheriff's Office and Parish Council will

The resolution the School Board approved Tuesday would provide an exemption from property tax at 100 percent for five years and at 80 percent for three years for the container manufacturer whose name hasn't been announced yet, at the request of the company.

Because of a request made last month by School Board member Robyn Penn Delaney, the resolution presented by board attorney Jeff Diez says the board "encourages that at least 50 percent" of the permanent employees of the company be residents of the parish.

Before the vote, Delaney asked Diez to change the wording to "strongly encourages."

Also on Tuesday, the School Board recognized the school district's 2017 School Nurse of the Year, Jodi Sheets.

Sheets has been a school nurse in Ascension Parish public schools for 16 years and is at St. Amant High.

The board also approved a resolution declaring a former Donaldsonville elementary school, West Ascension, which was closed in 2005, as surplus property. The board will be advertising for bids and a public sale of the school building on St. Patrick Street.

The minimum bid price for the property is $212,500, which is 85 percent of its appraised value as required by law, the resolution says.

Follow Ellyn Couvillion on Twitter, @EllynCouvillion.

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Ascension Parish School Board approves tax exemption for business - The Advocate