Roughly a week after the city of Gretna sued a Lafayette contractor to recover a $45,000 overpayment for its amphitheater project, Mayor Ronnie Harris said the city has gotten its money back. Harris said that Belltech Group Inc. provided the city with a check for $45,746 on Thursday, in an effort to return an overpayment the city made to...
Roughly a week after the city of Gretna sued a Lafayette contractor to recover a $45,000 overpayment for its amphitheater project, Mayor Ronnie Harris said the city has gotten its money back.
Harris said that Belltech Group Inc. provided the city with a check for $45,746 on Thursday, in an effort to return an overpayment the city made to the contractor in March 2010 for work on the $915,000 project.
After a year of trying to recover the money, Gretna filed suit on March 21 against the firm in 24th Judicial District Court. Court records indicate the suit had not been dismissed late Friday.
Harris questioned why it took so long for the company to correct the error, particularly since Gretna had a good relationship with the contractor prior to the snafu. Belltech was always helpful, which was important since design errors resulted in the need for corrections to the amphitheater project. The mayor said that even after the city filed its lawsuit, Belltech was amenable to helping, although the legal action might have influenced that.
"I'm sure it encouraged him to pay," Harris said.
Belltech officials could not be reached for comment.
Gretna made its final payment for the work Feb. 1, 2010, and then on March 12, 2010 made a payment for the exact same amount. Harris said the mistake happened after a city employee failed to follow his request to wait for final architect approval before paying Belltech's final invoice. Consequently, the company was paid when it submitted its invoice, and then again after the architect review.
Harris said the city is looking at all payments handled by that city employee to make sure that no other overpayments occurred.
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Allen Powell II can be reached at apowell@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3793.