St. Martinville – The St. Martin Parish Council voted 7-2 to reject awarding the contract to the apparent low bidder for the expansion and renovation of the parish government’s central office complex at its meeting this past Tuesday, then voted 8-1 to reject all bids on the project, bringing a halt at least for the time being to a project that’s been a point of contention between some council members and Parish President Pete Delcambre for months.
Architect Lynn Guidry had spoken to the council’s Finance/Administrative Committee in July and recommended accepting the low bid, if the parish had the funds available.
He presented two other options, which would be reducing the quality of work in the project to lower costs or reducing the scope and size of the renovation and additions.
At Tuesday’s meeting, council members Carla JeanBatiste and Tangie Narcisse were the only ones voting yes on the resolution presented by Delcambre to award the bid to Castle Row Construction for $1,890,000.
Narcisse was the only council member voting no to a resolution by Council Chairman Chris Tauzin to reject all bids received on the project.
Expansion
At the close of the meeting, Delcambre said that it had been brought up that necessary information had not been given that would allow the council to make a determination on the project.
But Delcambre said the administration is always available to provide any numbers that council members are seeking in regards to projects and bids.
He went on to say that the parish has additional $1.78 million in its sales tax road construction fund that can be used beyond the parish road projects that already have been paid for in this cycle.
In the general fund, he said, there is additional money because the tax assessor reassessed real estate values after the parish budget had been done, leading to an additional $2.5 million in the general fund because of the tax reassessment and the additional revenue expected from the video poker tax. Another $1.8 million remains in the drainage bond funds.
“When we’re doing these projects and looking at possible change orders or possible extensions of revenues needed to take care of these projects, I just want to bring to your attention that these moneys are available,” he said. “And therefore in the event that you are not made aware of it and so forth, to be able to make a conscious and qualified decision on this, I just wanted to make sure that (you know) that information is always available either through myself or Mr. Sean (Hundley, the parish Director of Finance).”
Resolutions passed
The council passed a resolution awarding the contract for the Box Car Road roadside stabilization and road repairs project to apparent low bidder Diverse Solutions for $1,662,796.
The Parish President told the council that the Vermilion River had completely eroded the banks alongside the road and that the road was currently being eroded, so the work needs to be done as quickly as possible. The council had approved the bidding of the work at a previous meeting.
Delcambre said there are eight families living along Box Car Road whose property would be threatened if the erosion continues unabated.
The parish council passed a resolution to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Lafayette Consolidated Government related to the Metairie Place Subdivision, located largely in Youngsville but with several homes in St. Martin Parish, providing water to those homes in St. Martin Parish from Youngsville.
JeanBatiste had asked at the previous council committee meetings to have the administration look into whether the new subdivision would potentially affect homes along nearby Briar Patch Drive in St. Martin Parish, but was satisfied that the new subdivision was not substantially higher than Briar Patch and would not create flooding issues.
The council also approved intergovernmental agreements with the City of Breaux Bridge for a drainage project on Elise D Drive and for a tree removal project for the Belle Terre Subdivision.
The council approved resolutions regarding several appointments of people to server on boards, including:
• appointing Yvette Morris to serve on the Greater St. Martinville Economic Development District board;
• reappointing Heath Babineaux to serve as a member of the St. Martin Fire Protection District Civil Service Board;
• reappointing Wanda Johnson, Kevin Bonhomme and Judge Lewis Pitman Jr. to serve as members of the 16th Judicial District Children and Youth Planning Board;
• reappointing Marel Thibodeaux to serve as a member of the St. Martin Parish Tourism Commission; • reappointing Jimmy Bailey to serve as a member of the St. Martin Parish Water & Sewerage Commission No. 1 for Stephensville- Belle River;
• and appointing Greg Domingue to serve as a member of the St. Martin Parish Tourism Commission.
