Terrebonne gives UtiliQuest the boot

In a surprise move at Monday’s Public Services Committee meeting, Terrebonne Parish’s One-Call utilities locating services contract was switched from UtiliQuest LLC to Unibar Damage Prevention Group LLC.

One-Call services are used by residents and contractors looking for clearance to dig on their property to make sure that there are no gas, water or electrical lines in their way.

Although UtiliQuest was a long-time contractor for the parish, they backed out of a contract that was already approved by the parish council because they no longer wanted to accept full liability if their information proved faulty.

“The reason for rejecting the contract with UtiliQuest was because UtiliQuest could not meet the parish’s standard indemnification and liability provisions,” said Council Clerk Paul Labat.

According to Labat, the contract stipulation had been in place for years, but this was the first year UtiliQuest refused to accept it.

If the contract had been allowed to go through and UtiliQuest made a mistake, the parish would be held liable for any damages over $1,000, said Parish Manager Al Levron. “We want them to be responsible for the services they provide,” he said.

Approval for the contract was switched to Charlotte-based Unibar Damage Prevention group, who would accept the parish’s requirement.

In other parish council committee activity, a slew of contract bids had to be rejected because the attorney general has started holding all bids for maintenance contracts to the same standards as public works bids.

As a result, any bid missing any information of any sort, or any fields left blank, rather than typing “n/a” or 0, have to be rejected. In the Budget and Finance Committee, all bids for the 2010 Annual Utilities Maintenance Contract were rejected based on the new restriction, and bids for flood protection equipment met a similar fate. The Public Services Committee had to reject all bids for a levee wetlands mitigation project as well.

“We don’t have any choice in the matter, but it’s created a scenario that’s just a mess,” said Councilman Kevin Voisin, acting chairmen of the Budget and Finance Committee. “Sometimes the lowest bid gets thrown out, and we ended up paying $60,000 extra. It hurts when that happens.”

According to Levron, this same contract has been used for at least 10 years for all public works bids, but maintenance companies are having a hard time adjusting to the new requirements.

Although the bids had to be thrown out, the current contractor for the utilities maintenance contract and the lowest bidder has proposed extending the current contract, said Levron. “We don’t expect any interruption of services,” he said.

Voisin, in the meantime, said that the increased scrutiny will eventually result in better service.

“I understand where this is coming from,” he said. “You’d rather do this right than have things end up a mess in the other direction.”