Tallulah’s water system is
officially under a joint state
receivership.
The announcement was
made during last Thursday’s
Tallulah City Council meeting.
Bonton Associates Inc.,
with offices in Shreveport and
Baton Rouge, is the receiver.
The council approved
going into a joint state receivership
in June after the
city did not have enough
money to rehab the water
plant.
Womack and Sons Construction
Group, LLC, based
in Harrisonburg, was the only
company to submit bids to
rehab the water plant. The bid
was for $18,388,340 the first
time and $19,895,729 the second
time.
However, the city only had
$15 million set aside for the
water plant rehab. A total of
$7.8 million would have
cpme from the United States
Department of Agriculture. A
total of $4 million would have
come from loans and the other
$3.8 million would have been
through a grant. Another $5
million would have come
from the Water Sector Development
Program. The rest of
the money would have come
from American Rescue Plan
Act funds.
The vote in June to approve
the joint state receivership
was 3-2. District 1 Council
Member Joe Scott, District 2
Council Member Lisa Houston
and District 4 Council
Member Marjorie Day supported
the receivership. District
3 Council Member Carla
Turner-Harris and District 5 Council Member Toriano
Wells opposed.
At the same meeting in
June, the council voted
against having Sustainability
Partners LLC out of Baton
Rouge building a plant for
$15 million by the same 3-2
margin. Wells and Turner-
Harris were in favor of having
Sustainability Partners
LLC build a new plant while
Scott, Houston and Day opposed.
During last Thursday’s
meeting, City Attorney
Pamela Grady said the
Louisiana Department of
Health filed an application
for a receivership at the end
of September. The case went
to the Sixth Judicial District
Court. Judge Angela Claxton
recused herself from the case
while Judge Laurie Brister
approved the receiver.
“We are under a receivership,”
Grady said. “The receiver
is Bonton Associates
with offices in Shreveport
and Baton Rouge.”
Grady said Bonton Associates
Inc. was notified of
the approval, but she did not
know when the company
would be in Tallulah. She
added she would let city officials
know when she had
more information.
Responding to a query
from Tallulah resident Alvin
Bagby, Grady said the cost
of having a receiver would
be $400,000. The City of
Tallulah will pay $200,000
while the other $200,000
will come from the Governor’s
Office of Homeland
Security and Emergency
Preparedness.
“I’m told that this was not
common and it was an offer
to help the City of Tallulah
with the Governor’s office,”
Grady said.
Grady said the more information
about the case, which
is the Louisiana Department
of Health versus the City of
Tallulah, could be found in
the Clerk of Court’s office in
the Madison Parish Courthouse.
