Like an ever-expanding amoeba, more and more questions are being raised about contractors performing work for the City of Shreveport on the mandated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consent decree for the repair of aging water and sewer lines.
Councilmen Nickelson, Grayson Boucher, and James Flurry are to be commended for their vote at Tuesday’s Council meeting against the issuance of additional issuance, at this time, of $108 million bond issuance for further consent decree work.
Due to a 3-3 vote, the issuance of the bonds was delayed.
The city has been pushing hard to comply with a hard fisted timeline set by the consent decree. The performance of the current contracted project manager for the $400 million of work that has been completed has been poor at best. The city is currently negotiating a contract with a new project manager to take over these responsibilities.
At the same time, the city’s IT office is assisting in the implementation of a map-based system to track consent decree work. Additional efforts are being made by the Perkins administration to catch up and corral the ever-spiraling consent decree costs.
The city has ample justifications for a request to the EPA to extend the deadlines for the compliance with the consent decree. These include a new mayor and administration, negotiations with a new project manager, and the implementation of new programs to ensure bond funds are appropriately expended.
Politically, the time for getting an extension from the EPA is ideal. The president is running for re-election and he has relaxed EPA mandates. The state’s two U.S. Senators are Republicans who share the president’s position on EPA mandates.
The necessary haste to meet the EPA deadlines is understandable, although it may have lead to waste by understaffed city departments that have had budget constraints. More time will allow the contract with the new project manager to be executed and then for the manager to assess currently contracts, procedures and safeguards.
John came to Shreveport in January of 1977 when he was transferred to Barksdale AFB.
He’s been active in Shreveport politics since deciding to make Shreveport his home.
John practiced law for 40 years and he now monitors local politics. He regularly attends Shreveport City Council and Caddo Parish Commission meetings.
John is published weekly in The Inquisitor, bi-monthly in The Forum News, and frequently in the Shreveport Times.
He enjoys addressing civic groups on local government issues and elections.