June 30
June 30, 2009
Elsie Rhodes Theriot Andrews
July 2, 2009Terrebonne will have a new contractor to supply mosquito control services after the parish council’s Public Services Committee voted to grant the annual $838,000, five-year contract to Cajun Mosquito Control of Franklin.
Mosquito spraying in Terrebonne had been handled by Mosquito Control Inc. for the past 10 years, but Cajun’s offer was $174,000 less, said Parish Manager Al Levron.
The contract was not subject to public bid laws, Levron said, and was solicited as a request for proposal.
The mosquito-spraying contract ended in December and has been performed by Mosquito Control Inc. on a month-to-month basis since then.
Cajun, formed in 2004, was asked to spray 40,000 acres, Levron said. If more area needs to be covered, an extra per-acre amount will be charged. A .20 cent-per-square-foot larvicide surcharge is also in the contract.
Three members of a committee composed of Levron, parish Purchasing Manager Angela Guidry, Public Works Department Operations Manager Perry Blanchard and Vegetation Superintendent David Luke concluded that Cajun would provide the same level of service as Mosquito Control Inc. Parish President Michel Claudet said the new contract was awarded because Cajun could provide the service for less money.
Councilman Clayton Voisin offered a failed motion to delay the vote for two weeks. “I have a concern we can get the job done like we’ve done for 10 years,” he said.
Voisin said a smaller amount of acreage could be sprayed and mentioned the additional larvicide charge in the contract.
“The same services are being provided for less by the current contractor,” he said. “We know these guys (Mosquito Control Inc.) can do the whole parish for less.”
Cajun Mosquito Control owner Jessie Boudreaux said the original proposal called for 50,000 to 70,000 acres to be sprayed but his company was asked to meet the budget.
Also at the meeting, engineer Joseph Suhayda, one of the engineers hired to appeal the elevation requirements on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps issued for Terrebonne, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not take into account roadways in the parish acting as flood barriers.
“Barriers can be roads and act like a wall that stops water from flowing,” Suhayda said.
Loucien Cutrera with the Shaw Coastal engineering firm said FEMA did not include Thompson Road in Houma as a barrier.
“There are changes in the road system taking place,” Suhayda said. “We will accurately identify barriers and will revise the output to show what the correct Base Flood Elevation is.”
After they are adopted, the maps can be changed to reflect improvements in flood protection that are made, he said.
The appeal period lasts from June 24 to Sept. 21.
At the Community Development and Planning Committee meeting last week, Houma-Terrebonne Regional Planning Commission member Alex Ostheimer recommended that no changes be made to a parish ordinance prohibiting tow trucks from parking at homes in zoned areas.
At a parish council meeting in April, Berry Rodrigue, owner of Berry’s Towing and Recovery in Gray, and Abel Cantrelle with Advantage Collision Center in Houma, requested that they be allowed to park tow trucks at home to more quickly respond to emergency calls from police.
At the April meeting, Rodrigue said he first has to drive to his office to pick up tow trucks when police calls are received, wasting valuable time.
Ostheimer said state law may need to be changed.
At the Policy, Procedure, and Legal Committee meeting, parish Utilities Director Tom Bourg said that providing closed captioning service for parish council meetings on TPTV would cost $50,000 a year.
The process is not automated and is completed in three to five days, he said.
Councilwoman Teri Cavalier suggested applying for a federal grant to pay for the service.
