Consultant says parish will save $9 million by continuing to use its own landfill; River Birch study found it will save parish $50 million over 25 years
The Jefferson Parish Council plans to hold a special meeting March 16 seeking to reconcile contradictory studies about the financial viability of the parish's controversial $160 million garbage-disposal contract with the River Birch landfill.
River Birch landfillMeanwhile, a court hearing scheduled for this week in the parish's lawsuit to terminate Waste Management's contract to run the parish dump has been postponed, buying the parish time to determine whether and how to proceed with the case.
Former Parish President Aaron Broussard's administration initiated the suit so it could implement the 25-year River Birch contract, which is under federal investigation and would require the parish to close its dump.
The parish began exploring options for canceling the River Birch deal last month after a consultant's concluded the parish could save at least $9 million by continuing to use its own dump. River Birch released a study that found its contract would save the parish about $50 million over 25 years.
A special council meeting to try to reconcile the conflicting studies will be held after the council's regular March 16 meeting in Gretna, Chairman Tom Capella said.
He said details about the River Birch meeting's format have not been finalized.
"It's still up in the air," Capella said. "Both sides will probably get 30 minutes or so to make their presentations, and we will take comments from the public."
Attending the meeting will be representatives from the Baton Rouge accounting firm Postlethwaite & Netterville and Providence Engineering, which teamed up to prepare the parish-commissioned study, as well as officials from Loren C. Scott and Associates, the Baton Rouge economic consulting firm that compiled River Birch's study.
The council had initially planned to hold the meeting earlier this month, but scheduling conflicts caused it to be pushed back.
U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle granted the parish's request to postpone until March 16 a hearing scheduled for Wednesday in the Waste Management suit.
It was the second postponement granted after the parish's attorneys filed a motion saying "recent developments may render moot some or all of the issues" to be discussed at the hearing, an apparent reference to the release of the parish's study.
Parish President John Young has said the parish is seeking a "timeout" in the suit to avoid racking up legal fees as it weighs its options. Filed in 2009, the suit has cost the parish about $120,000.
The council unanimously approved the River Birch deal in June 2009 after Broussard's administration estimated it would save the parish $19 million to $23 million.
A federal grand jury subpoenaed documents about the contract last winter after the revelation that Dawn Whitmer, the wife of Broussard's former top aide, Tim Whitmer, had a health insurance contract with River Birch.
Broussard and Tim Whitmer, who played a key role in setting up the River Birch deal, resigned in January 2010. Former Parish Attorney Tom Wilkinson, who negotiated the contract, resigned in March.
River Birch contends a federal raid of its Gretna offices in September exceeded the scope of a search warrant because documents were allegedly seized from six other businesses located in the building.
U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan, who toured the offices Feb. 4 to help evaluate that claim, has issued an order calling for more information from both sides.
She ordered River Birch to provide a floor plan for the third-floor offices and to explain why filing cabinets with River Birch labels were in the former law offices of Peter Butler during her visit.
Berrigan is requiring the government to provide an inventory of seized items and why it believed they were related to River Birch.