KENNER, LA (AP) — Kenner has taken the initial steps to create a city sewer department.
The New Orleans Advocate’s Chad Calder reports sewer services are currently provided by private contractor Veolia Water North America. But Mayor Mike Yenni says the city charter allows the city to create any department it deems necessary, and an ordinance introduced last week by the city council does just that.
Ordinances brought up for introduction are not discussed at meetings, and Yenni said there are many aspects of the issue he is not ready to discuss.
But he said that even if the city decides to continue to outsource the contract, having the scope of services and responsibilities spelled out in a city ordinance is the right way to go.
"I think it needs to be created by ordinance, whether it's run by an outside firm or whether we bring it in house," Yenni said.
Yenni said a sewer department would provide greater oversight for a system that was plagued by leaks and backups and was cited by the state several times since 2004 by the Department of Environmental Quality.
The city's public works department spends a significant amount of time dealing with sewer-related issues even without being officially tasked with the job, he said.
"It needs more oversight," Yenni said. "I need accountability on something as sensitive as sewerage."
Yenni said Veolia has stepped up its efforts in recent years, assigning a technical adviser in its efforts to address the issues that got the city cited by the state. Since then, Kenner has embarked on an $80 million overhaul of its sewer infrastructure, consolidating treatment plants, rebuilding lift stations and replacing lines.
The current contract is up for renegotiation next summer and will cost the city roughly $5.6 million this year.
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune’s Ben Myers reports Veolia's 20-year contract will end in July 2015. The contract was originally inked in 1995 for five years but it was scrapped and revised as a 20-year contract dating to the original execution date in 1999 under Mayor Louis Congemi.
Veolia's contract includes four five-year renewal periods, and written notification is required 120 days in advance if either party does not wish to renew. That means the city will have to decide its intentions with Veolia by April, the newspaper reported.
