[StBernard] How do you spell stupid?

[Westley Annis]

FEMA rules force Harahan to pay twice the price to clean drains

By Mary Swerczek
Kenner bureau

Harahan Mayor Paul Johnston thought he had found a way to save a lot of
taxpayers money a few months ago. 

The city was looking for a company to clean all its catch basins, and
Johnston wanted Harahan to "piggyback" on an existing $50 million Jefferson
Parish contract, which came in at only $200 per basin. 

After all, Louisiana allows one governmental agency to piggyback on the
contract of another, as long as the original contract was competitively bid,
for the same or a lower price and for the same product or service. 

But the rules for the Federal Emergency Management Agency are different, and
Johnston was told he couldn't use the Jefferson Parish contract to save
money. He eventually signed a $2.9 million contract with Blue Flash, a
Harahan company, the lowest of three bidders, Johnston said. The cost: $425
per drain, or more than twice what Jefferson Parish was paying. 

"I wasn't a happy camper," Johnston said. "The taxpayers had to pay more
money because FEMA wouldn't allow us to piggyback. The people had to pay
more to clean out the drains." 

FEMA public affairs officer Leo Skinner said part of the reason for not
allowing piggybacked contracts is that a community hoping for reimbursement
must show they sought competitive bids. 
No matter that piggybacking on a previously-bid contract is allowed by the
state, "because someone has competitively bid it," said Jenifer Schaye,
general counsel for Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot's office. "We've been
told repeatedly that FEMA won't accept that," Schaye said. 

Skinner said FEMA is reimbursing the Harahan contract, and Jefferson Parish
President Aaron Broussard said FEMA has already paid for most of the
Jefferson contract, despite the vastly different prices. "As long as the
costs are reasonable and approved by the project officer, then we move ahead
with the process," Skinner said. 

He said Harahan's contract meets those requirements. 

"As far as we're concerned, the price is reasonable and we're submitting it
for reimbursement," he said, adding that internally FEMA has signed off on
the cost. "We don't foresee any problems right now." 

A 2002 state Attorney General's opinion says "any governmental entity may
'piggy-back' onto a previously bid and viable contract for the same services
and supplies at the same or lower price and subject to the written consent
of all parties." 

Kenner officials, who didn't try to piggyback after they learned of
Harahan's situation, approved a $4.3 million contract with Compliance
Envirosystems, the lowest of three bids, to clean out catch basins for $425
each - also more than twice what the parish paid. 

Officials at Compliance Envirosystems couldn't be reached, but Phil Ramon,
Kenner's chief of staff, said he inquired with the company about the price
difference. 

He said he was told that Jefferson Parish's price is lower because the
parish contract is on a much larger scale. 

"We were working with the FEMA rep and they told us we had to go out for
bid," Ramon said. 

Jefferson Parish had a pre-existing contract with Insituform Technologies
Inc., to clean out catch basins and drain lines and post-Katrina asked other
companies if they would work on an emergency basis for the same rates,
Broussard said. 

Three additional companies came forward, including Compliance Envirosystems,
which agreed to Jefferson Parish's $200-per-drain price. 

"We got very good rates by doing that," Broussard said, adding that the
total contract equals about $50 million. He wasn't sure to what extent the
work was divvied up between the four firms. 

He said he welcomes municipalities piggybacking on parish contracts and will
even call the vendor to make sure it's OK. 

"We had no problem with the city of Harahan piggybacking on our contract,"
Broussard said, adding that he understands why the city didn't. "The problem
came in with the (federal) reimbursement." 

Johnston said he hopes FEMA will change the regulations in the future. 

"We're a small municipality," he said. "We can't get the deals the parish
can get." 

(Mary Swerczek can be reached at mswerczek at timespicayune.com or (504)
467-1726.)