LAPLACE — Changes may soon be coming in the way some contracts are evaluated and awarded by St. John the Baptist Parish Government, that is if the Parish Council gets its wish.

Members appear to be rallying around Councilman Larry Snyder’s idea to have the Parish administration present the top bidders for Requests for Qualifications. Currently, the administration ranks RFQs on a points system that takes into account a number of specific qualifications, and then passes on the top company to the council for approval.

“I think we are intelligent enough to decide what is going on once the administration does their job and we can do our job to decide what contracts we want to put out there,” Snyder said. “We can make our decision as a Board on exactly who we want to do work.”

Councilman Marvin Perrilloux voiced his opposition to the points system during the Council meeting this week and renewed his belief that local contracts and businesses certified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (mainly those owned by women, a minority, the disabled or a veteran) are not receiving enough work.

“I say give me the top five (bidders),” Perrilloux said.

However, Parish President Natalie Robottom said via email two days after the meeting she was surprised by the Council’s action, saying her office employs a fair and competitive process that is also transparent, which is a best practice for government accountability. She added the process follows the requirements for federal and state funded projects. She explained public bid law dictates the process for soliciting and awarding bids.

When procuring professional services, Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and RFQs the process allows for the parish to accept and review all of the proposals and make a selection not wholly based on pricing.

“This process has been discussed previously, and we thought it was clear that we were following guidelines,” Robottom said of the process that has been in place since she took office in 2010. “A scoring system is the only objective manner of evaluating the merits of each proposal based on previously established criteria.”

Robottom added an evaluation requires the scorer to read the proposal and evaluate it based on its technical merits. Once the proposals are scored by a committee, the Council is provided a list of the proposals with their rankings based on their score.

Although the administration recommends the firm or business to be awarded, Robottom said the top three proposals are easily identifiable.

Council members also appeared to agree that establishing an auditing process to monitor if Disadvantaged Business Enterprises are being treated equally is necessary. Administration officials said guidelines protecting those Enterprises are in place, including resolutions adopted in 2009 and as late as Nov. 22.

Robottom said the November resolution includes a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Minority Business Enterprise component with specific requirements to solicit DBE/MBE participation.

“Saying it and doing it are two different things,” Councilman Kurt Becnel said.

Councilwoman Julia Remondet agreed that the DBEs and local businesses should be encouraged to submit bids or RFQs but also warned, “what we always have to keep in mind is the one thing we are here for is to protect the money and the liability to this parish. We need to make sure (all businesses) have the insurance required and they are capable of doing the job.”

Robottom pointed out one example where rejecting the administration’s recommendation jeopardized a large project. During the council’s March 28 meeting, members rejected the administration’s recommendation of approving Principal Engineering for the West Bank WWTPs Tank Rehabilitation Project that is receiving federal funds.

Rather, the Council voted to award the $68,745 contract to C&S Consultants of New Orleans, which was ranked third in the process and considerably lower than Principal Engineering, which has several offices in south Louisiana and many others scattered throughout the south.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which must sign off on all the contractors, rejected the Council’s recommendation, thus placing it in jeopardy for federal funding.

“(The EPA) had reviewed and approved the firm that had the highest score,” Robottom noted. “Their funding is attached to their approval. When we are accepting funds from federal agencies, they set the guidelines as to how you make the selection.”

According to the Principal Engineering website, former St. John Parish Director of Public Works and Utilities director Henry DiFranco Jr. is listed as the firm’s president.

Records show Principal Engineering received a point total of 209, elevated because of work previously performed in the parish, including the recently completed Fairway Drive bridge project. NY Associates, Inc. received a score of 162 and C&S Consultants 158.

“Because the firm recommended for the award was pre-approved by the EPA the grant funds were placed in jeopardy,” Robottom said in her email, adding that in a letter sent to her office, the agency indicated Principal Engineering was the “most qualified engineering service” per the bid criteria. Robottom said the project is now halted and the EPA’s letter has been sent to legal counsel.

In other council news, Public Utilities director Brian Nunes said his office has been notified that plans for Phase II of drainage improvements in Reserve are in the final stages of review by FEMA and GOSEP and that within 30 to 45 days the project should be able to go out for bid.

“And they will be paying 100 percent,” Nunes said.

Several streets slated for improvement are located between Railroad Avenue and Louisiana 44.

— By Richard Meek