Jurors split on new ground, aerial ambulance services for parish; solid waste contract OK’d

CROWLEY - A new, five-year contract for solid waste collection was approved by the Acadia Parish Police Jury here Tuesday night.
But that wasn’t the issue that dominated discussion during the two-hour session. That distinction went to whether or not to permit a second ambulance service in the parish.
Ultimately, the jury voted 4-3 not to grant St. Landry EMS a permit to operate grand ambulances in Acadia Parish.
The Opelousas-based ambulance service had been trying for months to obtain a permit to operate in the parish, arguing that “more is better” when it comes to the number of ambulances servicing a population.
But John DuBose, operations manager for Acadian Ambulance, shot holes in that theory, explaining that, if St. Landry EMS were to be put on the 911 “rotation” for ambulance calls, the closest ambulance to a particular incident may not be the one called out.
According to DuBose, 911 operators have but to push a button to call out Acadian, whose dispatchers, through GPS, know exactly where each unit is at all times.
“In the snap of a finger we know which truck is closest,” he said.
DuBose acknowledge that, while Acadian does not have sta — for example, the northwest area around Iota — “we have ambulances nearby because we’re already in all the surrounding parishes” that can be dispatched.
Robert Guidry’s motion to approve a permit for St. Landry EMS failed by a 4-3 vote.
Voting against were Kerry Kilgore, Jimmie Pellerin, Richard Faul and David Savoy.
Voting for were Guidry, Ronald Fabacher and Chuck Broussard.
Danny Guidry was absent.
In a somewhat related matter, jurors voted 4-3 to grant a permit to AirEvac Lifeteam, also of Opelousas, to operate helicopter ambulance service in the parish even though Brad Andrus, counsel, explained that the jury could not stop the company from flying into the parish because of the 1978 Air Deregulation Act.
But Kirk Coussan of AirEvac said his company was asking for a permit because “fire departments are asking for us when Acadian is busy but they want us to have a permit.”
Coussan said the company does not want to be put on a 911 “rotation” with Acadian because air ambulances typically are called out by the responding ambulance service or by fire departments.
Voting to approve AirEvac’s permit were Fabacher, Broussard, Pellerin and Guidry.
Voting against were Kilgore, Faul and Savoy.
Concerning the solid waste contract, Progressive Waste Solutions of Louisiana, Inc., doing business as Waste Connections, Inc. — the current contractor — had the best of four proposals opened on Aug. 22.
Tim Mader of Mader Engineering, the parish solid waste engineering firm, recommended that the jury approve the contract, pointing out that the parish will realize a savings of over $1 million dollars over five years under the new contract compared to what it is now paying.
He said the savings under the second-lowest proposal was $365,000 less.
The new contract begins in March.
In other action, the police jury:
• Introduced James Simon as the new Acadia Parish Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Simon replaces Lee Hebert, who resigned earlier. Simon also replaces Hebert on the parish Communications District Board.
• Reappointed Dolores Venable to the Acadia Parish Convention and Visitors Commission.
• Authorized Mader Engineering to submit Capital Outlay requests for fiscal year 2018-2019.
• Approved the recommendation of the Airport Committee awarding a construction contract to Elliott Construction in the amount of $314,132.50 for the Terminal Apron Pavement Rehabilitation, contingent on the awarding of a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Approved the recommendation of the Buildings and Grounds Committee authorizing the president to sign a right-of-way agreement with Entergy to install an electrical pole on Industrial Drive.
• Approved Sheriff K.P. Gibson’s request for the use of parish land adjacent to the Acadia Parish Jail to construct a new mechanic shop and shooting range at no cost to the jury.
• Accepted the Legislative Committee’s recommendation authorizing the president to sign an Evacuation Transportation Agreement with STS and the Acadia Parish School Board for the use of school buses during times of emergency needs.
• Authorized the president to sign a Private/Public Partnership Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Crowley and Phoenix Forge, dba Capitol Manufacturing Co., for the repair of the bridge on Northern Avenue at a cost of $138,500.
• Accepted the Solid Waste Committee’s recommendation to award the contract for the Subtitle D Liner for
Phase IV of the Acadia Parish Landfill to Patriot Construction and Industrial, LLC, in the amount of $1,433,000.