Parish may declare library construction contractor in default

The parish may declare the contract it has with contractor Troy Frick in Lake Charles in default for failure to pay vendors working on the new main library, failure to report on the project’s progress and failure to return telephone calls and emails.
The issue was discussed during a special meeting of the Evangeline Parish Library Board of Control Monday, December 9. Meeting with the board was the president of the Evangeline Parish Police Jury, Bryan Vidrine, and Ronnie Landreneau, consulting engineer to the police jury and the library construction project.
A vendor completing the flooring of the new library also was at the meeting and explained the contractor could not be reached to arrange payment for the work.
Vidrine advised the vendor to send a letter to the police jury explaining the problem, and the police jury’s legal advisor will inform the surety company holding the performance bond about the situation.
During a recent special meeting of the police jury, held in closed, executive session, the jurors gave Vidrine and the police jury’s attorney authority to take whatever action they deemed necessary to ensure the library construction project continues. That came after jurors were told work on the project seemed to have stopped.
After the special police jury meeting, work on the library’s ceiling continued, and Landreneau reported to the library board Monday the drop ceiling in the new library was completed Friday, December 6. He said that project was delayed, causing the floor project to be delayed.
The library had been expected to open this month, but the opening date has been postponed. Landreneau said the contractor had repeatedly failed to return his calls and the contractor’s on-site contact person is no longer employed by the contractor.
Landreneau said “There’s not a lot left to do,” with the construction project, and that the bonding agency ensures the funds for the project are protected.
Once the contract is declared in default, the parish, and not the contractor, is considered the owner of the construction site. At that point, Landreneau said, the final construction work may “move at a fast pace.”