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The Terrebonne Parish Council agreed last Wednesday to review complaints made by a foundation contractor regarding how grant money has been spent to elevate homes damaged by waters from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008.
A coalition from Orleans Shoring, based out of Harahan, and led by state Sen. Butch Gautreaux (D-Morgan City) addressed the council to voice complaints regarding the parish’s process for homeowners to select contractors, the elevation costs associated with FEMA recovery funds and compensation realized by elevation companies.
“We’re here to talk about the administration of [FEMA grants] for the elevation of homes. Those grants are being treated a little bit differently [in Terrebonne] than they are in every other parish in that those numbers for the grant award are being cut and we’re concerned that we’re not [able] to do quality work … under those price constraints,” Gautreaux said to the council.
Gautreaux confirmed that he is working as a paid consultant for Orleans Shoring and said that the elevation company would be earning less money from Terrebonne Parish elevation contracts, than from those in other parishes, while being asked to perform more services if they were to take on a job related to specific storm damage. Orleans Shoring currently has no contracts with the parish.
“We’ve seemed to run into a little bit of a roadblock with pricing,” Orleans Shoring administrator Mark Goodwin said. He told council members that the price structure, in his opinion, should contain an itemized list of costs to determine pricing.
Goodwin then presented a photograph of a house, allegedly in Terrebonne Parish, which had been dropped and destroyed by a contractor that Goodwin claimed was “a lower priced company” approved by parish administration. Goodwin also complained about the requirement that homeowners present three bids.
Questioning by council member Teri Cavalier revealed that the house presented by Orleans Shoring was not one that had been lifted or dropped by any parish approved contractor. Cavalier clarified that, indeed, no houses have fallen under the Terrebonne Parish program.
Orleans Shoring owner Christian Cancienne revealed his primary complaint as being that Terrebonne Parish operates FEMA funds under a process that blocks them from landing business because other companies are offering bids lower than theirs.
Following the meeting, planning and zoning director Patrick Gordon confirmed a suggestion that the complaint from Orleans Shoring was nothing more than their being priced out of the market by charging higher rates than other contractors and not being satisfied with the compensation structure offered from federal funds and channeled through the parish.
Parish President Michel Claudet told the council that when homes were first being elevated under the FEMA program in question there were only a few contractors that were doing elevation work.
“The prices were absolutely astronomical,” Claudet said. “We made a request and now we’re getting more and more contractors and we think that is a good thing.”
Claudet cited a Nov. 10 article from the Times-Picayune that reported that New Orleans was out of control regarding costs associated with the elevating of homes following Hurricane Katrina. In many cases homes were being elevated at a cost significantly more than the assessed value of the home, including one structure valued at $245,000 which was elevated and secured at a cost of $622,773.
“When FEMA comes in they audit these things and they go up to two people. They don’t go up to the contractor. They go after either the parish or the homeowner. Take a guess which one they are going to go after?” he said.
Claudet said the administration in Terrebonne Parish is committed to elevating as many homes as possible and does not want to overcharge the available funds.
Council Vice-Chairman Clayton Voisin said it is important to watch costs while still using quality contractors.
Different parishes in Louisiana do have different procedural structures regarding the use of FEMA funds for the elevating of homes. Basically, Terrebonne Parish requires homeowners to provide at least three bids from licensed companies for elevation projects. The bids must fall into a guidance scale starting at $10 per square foot with the understanding that some circumstances might require exception. For example, no pricing greater than $86 a square foot is accepted unless a house is lifted higher than 15 feet in the air. In addition, the parish has specified that it will not pay a contractor more than 10 percent more than the lowest complete and comparable bid.
Gordon stopped short of accusing Orleans Shoring of price gouging, but did confirm that the company’s basic argument is that other contractors were willing to do the same work for less money.
The council addressed this complaint by sending it to the Community Development and Planning Committee for review.
State Sen. Butch Gautreaux (D-Morgan City) addresses the Terrebonne Parish Council regarding home elevation complaints made by Orleans Shoring. The council is researching elevation costs and pricing comparisons. MIKE NIXON
