From The Crowley Post-Signal
By a 5-1 vote, the Acadia Parish Police Jury decided Tuesday night to seek proposals for a new mosquito control contract.
“If we don’t go through the RFP (request for proposals) process, then, if we have an emergency, we won’t get any reimbursement from FEMA,” Jury President Chance Henry explained.
Add to that is the fact that some jurors are not satisfied with the job the current contractos, Mosquito Control Services, LLC, is doing.
“We want to see more dead mosquitoes,” Gordon “G-Ray” Morgan, chairman of the jury’s Mosquito Control Committee, said at last week’s meeting.
Henry added that the action of requesting proposals does not force the jury into accepting changing anything with its current contract.
“We don’t have to accept any bids,” he said. “Our contract with MCS is service-based. If they don’t spray, we don’t pay them.”
The jury can “order” MCS to increase spraying in the parish, but it would run the risk of outspending the budget allocation.
Pat Daigle, who cast the lone vote in opposition, explained after the meeting that he was not so much opposed to the idea of seeking RFPs, but questioned the very action by the jury.
“This item was not on the agenda I received at 4:30 (Monday) afternoon,” Daigle said, adding that it would take a unanimous vote of jurors to add an item to the agenda during the meeting. “One ‘no’ vote would have killed it.”
Bryan Borill, secretary-treasurer, explained that the item, which had been discussed during committee meetings a week prior, was inserted into the agenda Monday afternoon in the place of a proposal to adopt a speed limit on a parish road in the Morse area.
“We realized that, in order to adopt an ordinance setting a speed limit, we had to hold a public hearing first. And with the current coronavirus regulations in place, we couldn’t do that,” he said.
Borill added that the revised agenda had been posted on the front door of the parish courthouse and in front of the administrative office Monday afternoon, more than 24 hours before the meeting.
“If we have to bring it back up in June, then that’s what we’ll do,” he said.
Jurors voting in favor of requesting RFPs included Henry, Gordon Morgan, Walter Andrus, Jeffery “Red Dog” Morgan and Steve Comeaux.
Jurors A.J. “Jay” Credeur and Jimmie Pellerin were absent.