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Council presses administration on road bond priorities as bids come in over estimates
Summary
Council members raised complaints about changing priority lists and lack of resident notice as bids for the road bond program returned higher than expected; parish staff said some roads were removed due to cost and recommended bonding additional money for later rounds.
Multiple council members on Nov. 12 pressed parish administration for clearer prioritization and better resident notification around the road bond program after several roads were removed from the initial list when bids returned above estimates.
Council members said residents were "blindsided" when roads in their districts were closed or removed from the priority list without direct notice. One councilman asked the administration to provide a spreadsheet of road priorities so members could explain the changes to constituents. The parish president and staff explained that unusually high bid prices forced the engineering team to reprioritize and that two bids were reviewed for the first rounds; the parish may bond additional money to cover remaining roads.
Key project figures shared by the parish: Phase 1A of the road bond program carries a construction contract of $4,470,000 (engineer Baylord Habits & Associates; contractor Lehi Leger Construction) and Phase 1C of the road bond program is estimated at $7,910,000 (engineer GEC; contractor Elliot Construction). Notices to proceed were expected in the coming weeks, with some work projected to begin after the sugarcane season or in January.
Council members asked staff for clearer metrics on why a given road was de-prioritized (length, cost, constructability) and requested that data be shared with council members and the public. The administration agreed to provide the supporting priority and cost information on request.
Source quotes: Council and staff discussion on priority changes and costs were recorded during the council member announcements and parish president reports.
