Abbeville to follow Police Jury in opening bids for debris pickup

The sides of Abbeville streets are now telling of the damage caused by this past weekend’s historic flooding.
Piles of furniture, carpet, flooring and other debris line several streets in the city.
“We were one of the hardest hit cities for flooding,” Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza said during Tuesday’s regular City Council meeting. “I know there are a lot in the parish.
“People are starting to put things by the road.”
City officials are trying to formulate the best plan to have those items picked up. The likely scenario is to work closely with the Vermilion Parish Police Jury.
“The Police Jury authorized a request from debris contractors at its meeting on Monday,” City Engineer Todd Vincent of Sellers & Associates told the council Tuesday evening.
Vincent said Police Jury Officials were scheduled to have a conference call Wednesday morning with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and FEMA.
“We are going to iron out all of the procedures to move forward,” Vincent said. “The plan is to issue a request for quotations from qualified contractors for the unincorporated portions of the parish. I think the Police Jury is going to extend an opportunity to the municipalities to join that contract if they desire to do so.”
The council voted to allow Sellers and Associates to draft a request for proposal for a contractor that will fall in line with what the Police Jury is doing to take care of the debris.
Piazza pointed out that the Police Jury made the decision that it will not accept any storm debris at the parish landfill.
“Even if we attempted to pick it up ourselves,” Piazza said, “we would have no where to bring it.”
Piazza said he knows this is a tough situation, but it is one that has to be conducted properly.
“We are going to ask the public’s patience with this process,” Piazza said. “FEMA requires that the city not pick up anything, that we go out for bid. We have to hire a contractor to get it picked up and get it disposed of properly.
“If we don’t follow that procedure, FEMA is not going to repay us.”
Picking the debris up too early could also affect the homeowner.
“FEMA has to send in a representative to go look at each house that is going to file a claim,” Piazza explained. “If the debris is gone, they’re not going to be able to file a claim.
“Pictures are one thing, but the FEMA people want to see the debris.”
Councilman Francis Touchet Jr., District B, asked how the Police Jury will handle areas of the city that were not affected by flooding. Police Juror Wayne Touchet, who attended the council meeting, said those areas will be picked up on their regular schedule.
“We are going to be rolling normal in those areas,” Juror Touchet said. “They will be tell the difference what is regular garbage and storm debris.”
Piazza let the council know that in bidding for a contractor, there will be a cost sharing of 25 percent. This does allow a more timely pick up.
“We could just let the parish do the whole thing,” Piazza said. “But if we want it picked up as quickly as possible, there’s no guarantee that they start in Abbeville first. If we do the bid ourselves, and piggyback on the parish, to where we are all using the same specs, then we can require the contractor to start at the same time as the parish.
“We will have to pay the 25 percent, but that is why we have a FEMA account, in my opinion.”
Councilman-at-Large Francis Plaisance agreed.
“I think we should do it,” Plaisance said. “We don’t want the city to get so bad.”