By Leonard Gray / L’Observateur / January 19, 1998

LAPLACE – Bay Star Enterprises president Marvin Harvey may be lookingfor a new place to live at the end of the month, and Bay Star may also belooking at a lawsuit from the Port of South Louisiana.

An hour-long executive session by the South Louisiana Port CommissionWednesday ended as Commissioner Gregory Lier moved to notify Bay Starthe Globalplex management company is in default of its contract. Themotion was approved 6-1.

Lier said the company failed to comply with requests for certaindocuments necessary for an audit in progress by Ellis-Apple and Co.At the same time, Bay Star’s contract ends in January and, if the port andBay Star do not come to an agreement, the company will be evicted andHarvey may have to leave the on-site residence which came with themanagement contract.

Commissioner E.J. Martin was the sole vote on behalf of Bay Star.Meanwhile, the audit of Bay Star will continue and the commissionapproved increasing the audit budget from $15,000 to $25,000.

“Is there a cap to this?” Commissioner Louis Joseph asked. “This iscosting a fortune already.”

In other matters, a bid was accepted to demolish the remaining Godchaux-Henderson Sugar Refinery buildings, the low bid of Demco Inc. getting thenod from the commission out of five bidders.

Demco had bid $286,000, including $80,000 to take down the silos.

Executive Director Gary LaGrange said this total is “astoundingly low,” asthe port’s engineer and staff thought the bid could go as high as a milliondollars.

However, Commissioner Brent Tregre suggested taking the low bid for thesilo takedown of $12,500 by D.H. Griffin as a separate item to save evenmore money.

LaGrange said he could explore that possibility with Demco and D.H.Griffin.

Also, Schubert’s Marine earned the contract for dry-dock repairs for thePort’s “Rescue Runner” with its low bid of $100,254.30.

Operations Director Mitch Smith said the original budget for this projectwas $40,000, but additional necessary upgrades and repairs wereidentified. The replacement value of the boat is $600,000.

The additional work includes rewiring, improved windows, a new rub rail,sandblasting and painting, removal and replacement of the engine beds andincreasing the current shafts to support the torque of the engines.The work should be completed within four months, Smith said.

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