Laf. DA: Project OK with bid law

Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant II on Monday said the Lafourche Parish Council did not violate Louisiana’s public bid laws when it simultaneously accepted a low bid for a contract and reduced the price by 10 percent.

Some councilmen expressed concern that the action eschewed state public contract laws to help meet a tight deadline. Morvant, citing dialogue with the state attorney general and two previous opinions of that office, said, “it appears as though as long as the changes are within the scope of the project they are allowable.”

LA Contracting Enterprise was the low bidder for a contract to surface Mockingbird Lane, but the $102,618 quote was $10,618 more than the project budget. So upon accepting the quote, the council also approved a change order reducing the project total to $91,590, a reduction largely accomplished by changing the type of limestone to be used.

Councilmen Jerry Jones, Michael Delatte, Aaron Caillouet, Lindel Toups and Jerry LaFont approved the resolution. Councilmen Joe Fertitta, Phillip Gouaux and Daniel Lorraine opposed the measure.

The change order made three reductions: $6,600 in limestone composition, $3,750 in aggregate surface course drives and shoulder maintenance and $700 in removal of structures and obstructions.

None of the elements altered had been detailed in the bid specifications, Parish Administrator Crystal Chiasson said.

The most recent attorney general opinion provided, from 1995, said public agencies are permitted to execute delete change orders – with no cap on the amount – provided they are within the scope of the original project or bid out separately.

The second opinion, issued in 1993, says the public bid law does not explicitly address the issue, but says as long as specifications are not changed, delete change orders are permitted. If the bid requirements do change, the project must be advertised again.

Fertitta attempted to author a motion from the floor that would request the district attorney’s opinion as to the legality of negotiating with the low bidder to reduce the project cost.

The motion was treated like an amendment to the agenda and did not get each councilman’s consent, so it was not voted on.

State law mandates that amendments to the meeting’s published agenda need unanimous consent to even be debated. The council routinely takes up motions such as the one Fertitta proposed without first securing unanimous consent.

After Fertitta’s failed attempt and prior to the council’s vote on the Mockingbird Lane resolution, Parish President Charlotte Randolph said she would verify the legality with the district attorney, which she did.

The deadline to complete the project is Dec. 31, as outlined in the servitude agreement and as stressed by the administration.

Byron Talbot Contractor, at $114,535, and Phylway Construction, at $125,409, submitted the only other two quotes.

The project itself has been controversial. After years of negotiation, the council approved a servitude agreement with Vernice Morvant Lirette in May, pledging to surface 1,000 feet of what used to be private roads in exchange for a 10-inch electrical pump and access to the Choupic levee system.

Lorraine was critical of the decision. He questioned the legality of paving a road and accepting it into the parish system as part of a servitude agreement and expressed discontent that landowners would leverage access to a flood protection system with an agreement that would get their road paved.

The agreement’s proponents – led by Delatte – said the cost to the parish was negligible when considering the benefits.

The parish has access to a pump and a U.S. Corps of Engineer-permitted levee, he said, which will allow better protection from northeastern threats for Choupic residents.

Cam Morvant