LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / June 17, 2000

HAHNVILLE – Three members of the St. Charles Parish Council acted tosettle the administrative contracts mess, but even that couldn’t be accomplished without some controversy and harsh words.

A pair of St. Charles Parish council members tipped over a hornet’s nest atthe May 1 council meeting when they questioned the propriety of administrative engineering contracts going to only a few firms.

Councilman Clayton “Snookie” Faucheux, after publicly announcing his intention to offer amended rules regarding this procedure, was upstaged by three other council members with their own ordinance.

Questions were raised at a May 1 council meeting by Councilwoman Darnell “Dee” Abadie as to why the score of firms which once was on the notification list for such contracts were, without notice to these firms, dumped from the list.

Administrative contracts, as defined in an April 1998 ordinance approved unanimously by the Parish Council, are architectural or engineering contracts of $20,000 or less which shall be handled by the administration, without review by the parish’s Qualification Based Selection board, established in 1993 by the previous administration.

“These are for jobs that need to get done right away,” said Parish President Albert Laque’s spokesman Steve Sirmon. Sirmon said it is felt that delays inadvertising requests for proposals delay such necessary and not-costly work in an unnecessary manner.

At that May 1 meeting, District 3 Councilwoman Darnell “Dee” Abadie and Councilman-at-Large G. “Ram” Ramchandran wondered how the notificationlist of firms called to handle these contracts was slashed from nearly two dozen to five firms.

Abadie asked why it was only two firms submitted proposals for the St. Roselibrary and for a project manager job for subdivisions to the parish’s QBS panel, designed to review proposals and forward recommendations to parish administration and council.

She said she was told the list of firms was slashed by new public works director Steven Fall, who was doing his job properly by keeping only those firms who had paid the $25 mailing fee levied, by ordinance, to cover administrative costs of these mailings.

Abadie also suggested the mailing list overhaul was done improperly and added last week, “I stand behind what I said.”Fall, who was not present at that May 1 meeting, said later, “I can assure that all St. Charles Parish laws and procedures were followed,” and added,”We don’t solicit firms to get or stay on the list for practical and ethical reasons.”Ramchandran commented: “I think the administration is giving out contracts under $20,000 like popcorn. About 10 contractors got different contractsto do parish work. It is high time whether we keep the QBS and follow the lawin this parish, or kick the law out and have a winner take all type of arrangement.”Ramchandran continued, “I like to see what is happening up front so that when the budget time comes around we can support the administration or else I’m sharpening my knife.”Fall continued, “My favorite engineers are the ones who can get the job done and put 10 pounds of work in a 5-pound bag.”A response from Laque’s office, through Sirmon, denied any circumventing of the law and emphasized that Fall had properly followed parish law.

An accounting updated to May 19 provided by the Laque administration detailed nine contracts for Hartman Engineering. Three are not to exceed$20,000 each. The remainder are lump-sum contracts totaling $18,000.That same accounting listed 12 contracts for Shread-Kuyrkendall, all not-to- exceed contracts. One additional firm, Carubba Engineering, has a $13,800lump sum contract.

This accounting was updated on May 25 and listed an additional eight firms, each with not-to-exceed $20,000 contracts. The total of all the 2000contracts is $509,607.86.”It is a lot of money, but these projects have to get done,” Sirmon said, adding a lot of previously delayed projects are finally getting off the ground.

“The council knows it because people are telling them things are getting done.”Faucheux agreed, and said, “More visible work is getting done now than ever before. As long as things are getting done fairly and legally, then I don’t haveany problem with it.”This total, for a four-month period, was also compared by the Laque administration to the list of administrative contracts issued by the Tregre administration during 1999, totaling $572,553, but to 17 different firms.

Abadie said some projects were not properly ascribed to the right list, pointing out by way of example the Ormond Boulevard floodgate project, listed on the Tregre list to Badeaux Engineering for $11,300 but never signed. That same project is on the Laque list to Carubba Engineering for$13,800.

Abadie is also asserting several contracts have been yanked from Shread- Kuyrkendall after her questioning of these contracts began. She alsoreceived a letter from Fall dated May 4, which explained that only three firms had paid their fee for 2000. “I personally take offense by your slanderousstatements at the Council meeting on Monday, May 1, 2000. that there waswrong doing on my part or the part of any of my staff. You have demandedan explanation for actions on my part which meet the St. Charles ParishCode. There is no explanation needed.”Sirmon’s comment was, “Steven Fall, the director of public works/wastewater, is a good and honest man, both personally and professionally, and is undeserving of the accusations made at the May 1 meeting. The administration feels he deserves an apology.”Abadie commented, “I didn’t do it to them; they did it to themselves.”Fall concluded, “If the council wants to modify the code, I’ll do whatever it takes to make them happy.”All this prompted Faucheux to offer an ordinance at the June 5 meeting asking for monthly updates on the administrative contracts.

However, that got torpedoed when Ramchandran, Terry Authement and Barry Minnich offered their own version of Faucheux’s ordinance, without telling Faucheux.

“Am I stupid, or what?” Faucheux bristled. “I thought I came prepared butapparently, I was unprepared. I feel blindsided.”Nonetheless, the replacement ordinance was approved unanimously.

Approval was delayed, however, on a contract with Shread-Kuyrkendall and Associates to provide subdivision proposal engineering reviews when Ramchandran pointed to language in the ordinance which gives Laque ultimate authority to continue such contracts beyond the contract’s time limit without council review. “There is a provision here to circumvent the council,”he announced during discussion. “That’s what I don’t want!”A motion by Ramchandran to “correct” that language failed in a 6-3 vote, with only himself, Abadie and April Black supporting it.

Fall and acting Planning and Zoning Director Bob Lambert pushed for passage of this ordinance, as the parish code requires outside engineering review of any new subdivision proposal.

Abadie argued, “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to have a staff engineer instead of Shread-Kuyrkendall?” Lambert responded, “This is in addition to, not instead of, in-house review.” Faucheux pushed for an amendment to require that the Parish Council has the option to renew the contract. This was approved unanimously.The amended ordinance approving the contract narrowly passed with a 5-4 vote. Ramchandran, Authement, Minnich and Abadie voted against it.

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