Mansura upset by LAWCO rate hike approval

 

Mansura officials had harsh words for Public Service Commission Chairman Clyde Holloway, whom they said did next to nothing to address the town’s interests before the PSC approved a rate increase for Louisiana Water Co. (LAWCO).

 

“The public should thank Clyde Holloway for this rate increase,”  Mayor Kenneth Pickett said at the Town Council’s April 13 meeting. “I am very displeased with the decision of the Public Service Commission. Clyde Holloway did not try to work with the town of Mansura in this matter. I don’t think the rate increase was justified.”

 

Pickett said Holloway had already decided to vote for the rate increase before he came to the council meeting Feb. 9.

 

After that meeting, Holloway called to postpone a decision on LAWCO’s rate increase request until he received results from a test of a bottle of dingy-colored water he was given at the meeting. Prior to allowing the PSC to vote on LAWCO’S request, Holloway called for the company and the town to take water samples and have them tested by a lab. 

 

The samples were found to be of acceptable quality for drinking water.

 

The rate increase is $1.94 for the first 2,000 gallons of water -- from $12.96 to $14.90 -- and affects about 630 customers in Mansura and approximately 34,000 statewide. Holloway said an administrative law judge reviewed all facts in the case and found the requested increase to be reasonable.

 

He said the PSC does not regulate water quality, but does require assurances that a company seeking a rate increase complies with all state quality standards. He said the state Department of Health and Hospitals submitted a letter to the PSC  Nov. 18 stating that LAWCO complied with all DHH standards.

 

Due to concerns expressed by Mansura citizens at the Feb. 9 meeting, “I delayed the Commission vote on the LAWCO rate increase request from the Feb. 26 Commission meeting to the March 26 Commission meeting,” Holloway said. “This delay was given so the parties -- LAWCO and Town of Mansura -- could perform tests and submit results to the Commission.”

 

Holloway said water samples were taken by LAWCO and by representatives of the town on Feb. 16. Those samples were taken at several sites around town “with the purpose of testing the water.”

 

However, Holloway said LAWCO submitted their samples to a lab for tests but the town did not.

 

“Given I was provided no results from town officials or their representatives, I made a second request that they perform their own testing and submit results,” he said. Those samples were taken  March 13 and tested. Those test results were provided to the PSC a few days later. He said test results from all samples “showed compliance.”

 

Holloway sent a letter to all LAWCO customers in Mansura on March 17, explaining what happened and stating that a vote on the rate increase would be held  March 26 at the PSC offices in Baton Rouge.

 

Holloway’s assistant, Karen Haymon, said staff members were told that the letter was going to over 600 people in Mansura and about the citizens’ concern over the rate increase and to expect calls on the matter. She said the office did not receive a single call on the matter and nobody from Mansura attended the March 26 meeting.

 

In another matter, the town took one more “baby step” toward creating its own building permit office. Councilmen still did not commit to the idea, but all comments seemed to be leaning in favor of the town handling all building permits within the corporate limits. The Police Jury’s permit office currently handles that process.

 

James Guillory (no relation to Police Juror James Guillory) once again addressed the Town Council on the issue.

 

Guillory is an architect with his office in Mansura. He is a state-certified building officer, and any government entity issuing permits must have a “CBO” to conduct inspections. He said a builder can choose an inspector to handle their project, but he is asking the town to appoint him as their building officer. In that position, he would conduct all inspections unless the property owner wanted to hire a different inspector.

 

Guillory said he has conducted many inspections under the parish program where the property owner wanted someone other than the parish’s building inspectors to handle the process. He said he would not charge the town to be its building officer. He said he would get paid through the inspection fees “just as I would as a third-party inspector.”

 

Guillory said the town would charge for the permit, usually based on a per-square-foot rate. He would charge an up-front fee to the property owner for the initial review of building plans and usually three site inspections -- when concrete is being poured, an “open-wall” inspection to view plumbing, electrical and ceiling issues, and the final inspection.

 

He said the main advantages of the town operating its own permit office is that the money paid for the permit remains in the town and those seeking the permit have a local entity to deal with.

 

“I think that makes it smoother and easier for people to accept,” Guillory said. “Nobody wants to buy a permit, but if they know the money is staying in town and the town is treating them fairly in the process, it is easier to accept.”

 

Pickett said the council will review the information and will speak with the town attorney before the May council meeting. He said the council will be prepared to vote “yes” or ”no” at that time.