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April 18, 2019
Terrebonne Parish residents will no longer have their trash picked up by the firm which has done the job for the past three years, following the Parish Council’s recommendation that the lowest bid in response to a request for proposal be accepted.
Florida-based Waste Pro has done solid waste pickup in Terrebonne for the past three years. They had filed a lower bid three years ago than Pelican Waste, which had held the contract. In response to a new request for proposal this year, it was Pelican that brought in the lowest bid, knocking Waste Pro out of the running.
Pelican bid $5.2 million and Waste Pro’s was a million dollars more. At Wednesday’s meeting, as at a committee meeting two days before, council members praised Waste Pro for the work it has done for the past three years. But stood firm on their contention that the new contract must go to Pelican because it was lowest.
Representatives from Waste Pro addressed the council, asking that the decision be reconsidered.
“We strive and make every effort to respect the bid process,” Waste Pro spokeswoman Jolene Johnson said. “We request that you reconsider and table this item.”
Johnson noted that her firm’s work has not resulted in complaints from residents, as opposed to prior haulers whose work was questioned on numerous occasions in the past.
Waste Pro president Sean Jennings noted the financial contributions the company has made in Terrebonne. Although the company is Florida-based, Jennings said the firm and its people want to be viable members of the community they serve.
The company, he said, puts more trucks out on the street and more workers, meaning that there is a higher cost. Some of that could change, Jennings said, if a proper negotiation took place.
Parish Attorney Julius Hebert advised the Council that they must stay the course that has now been chosen, and that there could be legal consequences if they do not. Council members appeared to take the attorney’s admonition seriously.
“Three years ago, y’all happened to be fortunate enough,” Hebert told Johnson during her remarks, referring to her company’s replacement of Pelican as the waste hauler. “My advice
to the council is because of a potential legal matter just vote on it and leave it to that tonight. It has already been approved and I don’t think anything is changing.”
Later interviews indicated that, indeed, the parish has the option of allowing an extension to the waste management contract for a current holder. But offering the option is not required. Nonetheless, Waste Pro officials questioned why their company – with a track record of exemplary service, was not given the contract.
One Waste Pro employee who spoke, Nicole Johnson, raised some council eyebrows when she suggested that loss of the contract could lead to unpleasant consequences.
Earlier, council members had noted that Pelican has offered to take on some of the firm’s employees whose jobs would be lost due to the change.
“It doesn’t mean they are going to hire everyone,” the employee, Nicole Johnson, said.
“You will still have people looking for jobs,” Johnson said. “The helpers … young men, it is already a struggle for young men in today’s world. Where that leaves them? If they’re not working that could lead to them breaking in houses, stealing, robbing. So, we have them working, why not keep them working? I really wish you would reconsider.”
Councilman Gerald Michel disagreed with the comments.
“I am sorry, I just find it really hard to believe we are going to take a look at these fine young people there and say we have only got two choices, they only work for one company and if not they will break into peoples’ houses,” Michel said. “I see a lot more class out there and I took offense to that statement.”
