[StBernard] Jefferson Parish Council moves to cancel contract for Terrytown gym

[Westley Annis]

By Paul Rioux, The Times-Picayune
<http://connect.nola.com/user/prioux/index.html>  


April 28, 2010, 4:34PM

Jefferson Parish is moving to cancel a Kenner construction company's $5
million contract
<http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/03/jefferson_parish_council_to_
co.html>  to build a gym at the Terrytown Playground two months after the
firm's president was arrested for allegedly failing to pay subcontractors,
who have walked off the job.



Jan Buras, president of JaRoy Construction
<http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/02/head_of_kenner_construction_fi.
html> , was booked in February with misapplication of about $500,000 in
payments to subcontractors on more than 20 construction jobs throughout the
New Orleans area, including nearly $400,000 for the Terrytown gym.

Work has halted on the gym, which was supposed to be finished last fall and
is about 85 percent complete, parish officials said.

The Parish Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday authorizing
administrators to cancel the gym contract in seven days unless JaRoy's
bonding company steps in and gets subcontractors back on the job.

Councilman Chris Roberts said the bond company, Ohio Casualty, requested the
seven-day grace period because once the contract is canceled, the
subcontractors no longer have to honor terms of deals they signed with
JaRoy.

He said Ohio Casualty has agreed to start paying the subcontractors but
doesn't want to pay higher rates than what JaRoy had negotiated.

The council, which passed the resolution after discussing the case in a
closed executive session, rejected JaRoy attorney Sara Johnson's request for
a public hearing on the matter.

"It's just a shame," Johnson said. "JaRoy would welcome the opportunity to
address these issues. Unfortunately, I fear our first opportunity to do so
will be in court."

Roberts said the company has had more than enough time to respond to the
parish's concerns and get the project back on track.

"What I think is a true shame is that we've had thousands of young athletes
in the Terrytown community that have had to wait so long for a gym," he
said. 

Last month, the council cited JaRoy's "unsatisfactory performance" on the
gym project in rescinding a $100,000 painting and wallpapering contract
awarded to JaRoy a month before Buras' arrest.

The state attorney general's office began investigating JaRoy last summer
after numerous subcontractors complained they were not being paid for work
on public construction projects throughout the New Orleans area.

According to an arrest warrant, investigators are also looking into
allegations that JaRoy rigged public bids with other contractors and then
employed the losing bidders as subcontractors.

An attorney for Buras has characterized the charges against Buras as
business disputes, not criminal acts.

Paul Rioux  may be reached at prioux at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3785.