Engineering firm issue back in panel
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DONALDSONVILLE — In an effort to straighten out confusion over an engineering contract stemming from the actions of the past, the Ascension Parish Council sent the proposal back to committee on Thursday.
Councilman Adrian Thompson proposed that URS Corp. be paid $54,100 for inspection work on the Hillaryville sewer project.
That motion failed on a 6-4 vote with Thompson, Kent Schexnaydre, George Valentine and Todd Lambert voting to pay URS.
Last fall, the council approved a new master contract with URS, but then-Parish President Ronnie Hughes vetoed it; the council failed to override his veto.
URS was given a task order to inspect the sewer project without a master contract in place and performed the inspection work.
During the council’s meeting Thursday night, Councilmen George Valentine and Randy Clouatre both agreed that URS is entitled to be paid if it did the work.
Council Chairman Pat Bell said he would entertain a motion to send the issue back to committee. Councilman Chris Loar made the motion which was seconded by Councilman Benny Johnson.
Parish President Tommy Martinez said, “Basically, the proper procedure wasn’t followed. URS didn’t have a master contract. Task orders are not the way to do business. It’s ridiculous to give somebody a task order over $40,000.
“My advice is to put a limit on task order contracts. You can hold people accountable with a master contract. Task orders are hard to follow up on,” Martinez said.
The parish president also told the council that the engineering firm of Glenn G. Shaheen & Associates Inc. had agreed not to be paid $51,396 for work on the Ascension Parish Prison sewer project because the firm did not have a formal contract.
“I accept and understand the parish’s policy regarding services rendered to the parish without a formal contract and the significance of these matters toward the successful management of the parish,” Shaheen wrote in a letter to Martinez.
In other business, the council created a utilities department and approved sending all projects costing money to the
Finance Committee for approval before going to the full council.
Also, the council lowered the cost of obtaining copies of parish government documents from $1 per page to 25 cents a page.
Councilman Adrian Thompson proposed that URS Corp. be paid $54,100 for inspection work on the Hillaryville sewer project.
That motion failed on a 6-4 vote with Thompson, Kent Schexnaydre, George Valentine and Todd Lambert voting to pay URS.
Last fall, the council approved a new master contract with URS, but then-Parish President Ronnie Hughes vetoed it; the council failed to override his veto.
URS was given a task order to inspect the sewer project without a master contract in place and performed the inspection work.
During the council’s meeting Thursday night, Councilmen George Valentine and Randy Clouatre both agreed that URS is entitled to be paid if it did the work.
Council Chairman Pat Bell said he would entertain a motion to send the issue back to committee. Councilman Chris Loar made the motion which was seconded by Councilman Benny Johnson.
Parish President Tommy Martinez said, “Basically, the proper procedure wasn’t followed. URS didn’t have a master contract. Task orders are not the way to do business. It’s ridiculous to give somebody a task order over $40,000.
“My advice is to put a limit on task order contracts. You can hold people accountable with a master contract. Task orders are hard to follow up on,” Martinez said.
The parish president also told the council that the engineering firm of Glenn G. Shaheen & Associates Inc. had agreed not to be paid $51,396 for work on the Ascension Parish Prison sewer project because the firm did not have a formal contract.
“I accept and understand the parish’s policy regarding services rendered to the parish without a formal contract and the significance of these matters toward the successful management of the parish,” Shaheen wrote in a letter to Martinez.
In other business, the council created a utilities department and approved sending all projects costing money to the
Finance Committee for approval before going to the full council.
Also, the council lowered the cost of obtaining copies of parish government documents from $1 per page to 25 cents a page.
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