The Harahan City Council voted 5-0 May 15 to adopt a resolution committing the city to cover any costs above state funding for FP&C project 50-MC1-21-01, a multi-million-dollar overhaul of the city’s sewer collection and treatment system.

Council debate focused on how the city would pay cost overruns. Councilman Jason Chatelaine, who offered the resolution, proposed an amendment to specify that “such cost shall be paid in the city of Harahan sewer fund.” The amendment failed 4 nays to 1 yea. Council then voted to approve the resolution as written, 5 yeas, 0 nays.

Why it matters: The FP&C project represents the largest state-funded sewer effort the city has pursued in recent years; council members said the work is urgent to repair aging lift stations and collection lines. Council discussion frequently returned to how the city will match the state allocation and manage change orders once construction starts.

Council members and staff repeatedly warned that the state required the city’s written commitment as a condition for releasing funds and moving forward with bidding. City Attorney Scott Stansbury explained the legal obligations that follow from a signed construction contract: “if the city signs a construction contract and there are cost overruns and they're approved properly in advance … the city's gotta pay it.”

Councilman Chatelaine said the language the state requested came from the project manager at FP&C (Chris Haftak), and argued that modifying the resolution risked losing the award. “If we don't send it back exactly how they want it, we might as well just go ahead and tell them allocate the $400,000,000 to somebody else,” he said, paraphrasing the state office's expectations.

Councilman Jason Asbille said he was uncomfortable writing a “blank check” from unspecified city funds and moved an amendment to require that any excess be paid from the city sewer fund. He said he sought cost controls and wanted the council to decide later where to draw monies if the sewer fund lacked sufficient balance. “I have a problem with writing a blank check out of the city's budget,” Asbille said. “At a minimum, any of the extra cost … would come from the sewer fund.”

Mayor Gary Baudier and others said the city risks losing the state award if it does not accept the state-specified language now; they urged the council to approve the resolution and use later budget or council action to determine the funding source for any overages. The final vote ratified the resolution as amended earlier by the state’s requested wording (the council had previously approved a separate technical amendment from FP&C).

Action and next steps: The resolution directs the mayor to execute the agreement required by FP&C so the project can proceed to bidding and construction. Councilmembers said they expect additional contract documents and likely future council votes to appropriate matching funds, and that any specific change orders should come back to the council for approval under standard contract administration procedures.

Context: Council members said the overall FP&C program and related grants have been in progress for several years. The council discussed a roughly $4.7 million water-sector grant package elsewhere in the meeting and identified about $1.3–$1.4 million in local matching obligations depending on engineer estimates and final bids. The resolution under discussion covers design and construction cost commitments the state requires before releasing funds.

Ending: Council members asked staff and the finance director to confirm where the local match will come from and to present a midyear budget amendment in July so that the council can address appropriations when more precise construction bids and change-order estimates are available.