Residents press Sulphur council on contractor water use and lease payments; administration asks for formal records requests

During the public-comment period, Joshua (Josh) Baden said his public-records requests returned no data on gallons of water used by the contractor VEXUS or payments since 2024 and asked how the city could hold a contractor accountable without records. He told the council, "my response was 0. We haven't received any amount of gallons of usage," and asked for answers.

City administration responded that the city has no record of VEXUS purchasing water directly and suggested that subcontractors might be obtaining water and not identifying VEXUS on paperwork. Administration asked that Baden submit a specific records request for third-party information to allow staff to investigate further.

Baden also asked for records related to build-out permits and inspection records for the marshal's building, saying he received responses indicating no payments recorded since 2024. Administration clarified the marshal's building lease was pre-negotiated with the owner and that renovations were performed by the owner/contractor; the city pays the owner through a lease arrangement rather than directly paying renovation invoices. Staff said they would provide documents responsive to a records request.

Other members of the public used the period to thank volunteer organizations and to raise local environmental concerns; one speaker said a community sampling program took 12 water samples for microplastics, PFAS and VOCs and cautioned against eating fish from the Calcasieu estuary pending results.

Administration asked citizens to submit specific public-records requests so staff can gather third-party billing or contractor paperwork and provide responsive documents to clarify the VEXUS questions.