Okay.

We're ready for roll call.

All right, good afternoon, everyone.

We're gonna ask everybody to please take their seats.

Today is Tuesday, April 14th.

This is the committee on public works, sanitation, and the environment.

Uh, I am gonna ask staff to please call the roll.

Roll call.

Councilmember Hughes.

Here council member Willard, Councilmember McCarran.

Here, Councilmember King, Councilmember Green.

Here.

We have four members.

We have a quorum.

Thank you so much.

Um, ladies and gentlemen, just some housekeeping.

If anybody is here for the city planning commission meeting, that meeting will take place at one thirty PM across the street at thirteen forty Pordress on the twenty first floor.

City planning will not take place here.

Um moving on with our agenda.

Agenda item number two adoption of the minutes from the meeting on March tenth, and the joint utilities committee meeting on March eighteenth.

Uh, move by Vice President Willard.

Second by Councilmember McCarron.

Please vote your machines.

No nays, and that's adopted.

Uh next up, agenda item number three sewage and water board presentation.

Monthly operational update.

Members, I'm gonna ask this.

I'm gonna uh ask that we allow sewage and water board to get through their entire presentation, and then the floor will be open for questions.

Mr.

Executive Director.

Yes, good afternoon.

I have with me today, Gray Lewis, the Chief Financial Officer and Caitlin Timmerick, the general superintendent against Sierra Labot, head of our communications.

On the agenda today, we have we're going to discuss the water system, water transmission mains, lead service line replacement.

We'll discuss the sewer system, the Dwyer Canal update.

We'll discuss the drainage system, DPS 15, pipe replacement and canal cleaning.

And we'll also discuss the financial system transition that we're going through.

With that, I will go ahead and hand it over to our general superintendent.

Alright.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Please to present an update on the work related to the repairs to the high priority water mains.

Since our last meeting, we have completed the 30-inch valve replacements at the corner of Spruce and Carrollton and Magnolia and Cades, as well as completed the repairs that were ongoing the last time we spoke at Magnolia and Jackson, as well as Magnolia and Phillip.

Right before Easter, we were able to open some valves along this line that allowed us to boost pressure a bit in the CBD and the French quarter, which was which was great for that area.

And as of today and continuing likely through tomorrow, we will be fully opening the new valves, which will allow us to fully uh return the entire 30-inch water main to service, which has been uh out of service since uh the breaks on Willow Street in uh early mid-March.

So that will be the final the final step there.

Uh we are still doing work in those areas though.

We are have to rebuild the valve vaults for those large valves, which allows us to access them from above the ground in future scenarios.

So the excavations, and there's still contractors will be working in those areas, uh likely over the next couple of weeks for before full restoration is complete in that in those areas, but the repairs have been completed.

We're also really excited to have completed the 20-inch water main repair at the corner of Burgundian Des Lawn in the lower ninth ward.

This had been a long-standing issue.

Our crews were able to do this, and um the re the water main is repaired.

However, the location, uh the street restoration has not been completed.

Uh, we've had to refer that to the contractor uh due to the size of that area, and when I have a timeline for that information, um I'll be able to share that in more detail.

Also, um we are now, of course, turning our turning our attention to the leak at South Claiborne and Third Street.

Uh this is one of those items that we identified as a high priority item.

This is on a 48-inch water main at that location.

And due to the complexity of the situation, which we believe also includes a repair to a drainage box in that canal in that specific location.

Uh the reality is this may take several months to complete uh and realistically would be done over the course of the summer.

However, that is our next priority in terms of large water mains in terms of potential impact of the city.

We'll be uh getting quotes from contractors and moving forward with that as um as soon as we can uh pending completion of the other work.

On the next slide, we have several photos of that work that was completed, just to you know highlight the magnitude and the scale of this work.

Uh so two 30-inch valves there, and then the work at Burgundy and Des Land.

All right.

So, some updates on the immediate action plan, which we shared with you last time we were here.

As you may recall, we have uh a six-step plan that was outlined.

Uh I've spoken a little bit on the first task, which is addressing the urgent transmission mains, uh, turning our attention next to Clayborne and Third as well as a location on Florida AV.

Uh the second task is the condition assessment on the the oldest uh transmission mains.

Uh one of the actions that we have already completed is part of repair part of returning uh that first section of the 30-inch main uh on Magnolia to service.

We conducted a leak detection uh along that line uh to Air Hart, and we'll be doing that on the other section of line that we are returning to service when that is fully pressurized.

Uh the next steps on that task are getting quotes for multiple uh condition assessments for inline technologies, uh free swimming or tethered acoustic tools with the intent to begin the first of that work in mid-May uh as we uh discussed um in a two-month timeline in uh our last meeting, and we'll be focusing on the 48-inch water lines um along Panola.

Number three was to issue an RFI, which again is a request for information for emerging technologies and other um condition assessment and pipe replacement work.

That RFI was issued on March 27th.

It is available on our website at SwebNow.org slash bids, and the SMIDLs for that are due on the 17th of this month.

That would be Friday.

So using that information and using some of the other information that we've gathered, that is when we would move into step four, which would be to develop the near and medium term priorities.

I think we already know that the 30-inch main along Magnolia, uh, the urgent uh sorry, the additional transmission main project we've already spoke about, and the 48-inch water line would be those near near-term priorities in terms of what specifically we can do in the most expedient fashion is what we will be determining.

Number five was to evaluate the hydraulic conditions.

We had mentioned that we had already put out an RFP to evaluate a hydraulic model for uh the Little Woods area actually last year due to some frequent boil water advisories.

We have selected a firm and we'll be awarding that contract to the selected bidder beginning contract negotiations and notice to proceed with that for that specific scope of work.

And certainly last but not least, number six to develop the condition citywide condition assessment.

That RFP will be drafted later in this year as previously presented.

We will be going.

We had talked a little bit about funding, and we will be providing more of that update in our next meeting as requested, which was two months from our last conversation.

Alright, hand it over to Randy.

This is a brief update on the status of the lead service line replacement program.

An additional 66 million dollars in loan is in the closing stage from LDH state revolving fund.

This brings the total allocated to Orleans Parish, the lead service replacement line to 1454 million dollars.

A key need to utilize this funding, utilized funding to its full extent, providing lead service line replacements at no cost to the customers requires a change in law.

This would allow Swibnot to utilize public funds on private property.

Senator DuPlessis has agreed to champion this initiative by sponsoring two bills for us.

Senate Bill 268 allows ordinances to be enacted granting access to private property to replace the lines with at least seven days' notice.

Senate Bill 228 is a constitutional amendment allowing utility access to private property to replace lead service lines with public funding.

On the next slide, we see that CDM Smith was selected by the selection committee by consensus scoring to serve as the program manager.

The larger scale program remains on the optimized rebid schedule.

Part of the winning proposal included a fast track approach to begin construction in 2026.

Next steps include awarding the contracts, contracts and negotiations in detailed design.

Swidnot continues to utilize the funds received for smaller contracts and intends to bid another inspection replacement contract in Q2 of 2026.

Now I also want to note that one way that City Council can help us is to help us educate the public on the steps they can do to protect their health.

We can provide and will provide a one-pager of the topics and talks about lead in general that you can use when you go to your district meetings, and we'll be glad to attend with you if you would like.

Also replace your private service line if possible, and also corrosion control adds extra protection.

With that, I'll hand it back to Caitlin.

Alright, so we spoke about two items related to the water system.

We will move on to our item related to the sewer system.

This is an update on the Dwyer Canal.

As we previously shared, we have been investigating the issues in this area that were brought to our attention regarding sewer discharges into this canal.

We've heard from residents who have reported sewer strong sewer smells in this general area.

And some people have shared with us that this has been ongoing for several years.

Surgeon Waterboard has been again looking at this in December and into January and since then.

And as the complexity of the situation became clearer, we have since engaged a third-party contractor who specializes in this work to assist us with pipe inspections to help identify the locations of subsurface defects in the sewer lines.

And in February, we started collecting samples, water quality samples within the canal itself.

A quick note on the smoke and the dye testing.

This was the next step in our investigation.

We have completed smoke testing on Galahad, Arthur, and Charlene Streets.

We are in progress with that on Citrus, Bonita, and Lurline, and we've completed dye testing on Galahad Street, which has identified seven defects that do need to be corrected.

You can see the map there is simply a location of that area with X's where smoke has been identified through that testing.

And then the photo, which is a little bit difficult to see, but that is CCTV inspection of the sewer line.

And what you see there being grade dye indicates that there is a cross connection there between the sewer line and storm line.

And so this helps us identify this work specifically coupled with CCTV inspection, helps us to identify the look the exact locations of defects so we can go in and swim no crews can go in now and complete those repairs.

We will be proceeding with additional dye testing on other streets, which have been identified as the most persistent with ongoing issues.

Which we were able to do in March.

So that has been good news.

We are seeing improvement from a discharge perspective, but it's clear that there are defects, and now we need to go ahead and find those.

On the testing results, I mentioned that in February we had we began taking samples for water quality, specifically bacteria samples from seven locations along the canal.

As consistent with the consent decree and other permits, we report this data as well as overflows and our findings to DEQ and EPA.

There is no established regulatory limits for these stormwater canals, but our goal is certainly not to have any discharges.

That is not the condition that we want.

We don't find that acceptable.

We need to correct this.

This can, even though there is no, you know, this is our goal, this can occur due to sanitary sewer overflows and leaking or broken sewer force mains.

I think what these what these samples show is that certainly, as we have observed, there have been there have been discharges into the canal.

These range from you know non-detect to nearly 250 uh, these are called coliform units per 100 milliliters.

This is this is the uh the unit that they're sampled in.

Uh for some comparison influent range of a wastewater treatment plant can be between 10,000 and uh and a million of these units.

I would I would note that these discharges have range from small spaghetti thin trickles to something more the size of a larger faucet.

So again, not that it's acceptable, but it is not the same as a large sewer force main with a consist with a large volume of discharge.

So what you see looking at these samples is that uh all of the majority of those locations, except for the samples at the Lawrence Canal as well as at Wright, well, I'm sorry, right road, have decreased.

We did see the highest concentrations in the mid-March time frame.

That was also when there was significant rains in the area.

It is common that when there's rains, you have an increase in fecal coliform bacteria just in general.

Um but this is also the time if there is a if there is a defect, which we know that there are, that is when you would see those those higher uh discharges.

So fortunately, we still have some investigation to do at Lawrence Canal.

We believe that's related to defects at Bonita Street, which uh require further work, and we'll be doing that dye and smoke testing on that street as well.

Uh and the others uh read Boulevard and Wright Road samples collected at those locations in the canal remain elevated, and so we continue to review this area and identify other areas where we need to be investigating and other areas where we need to be making corrections.

I will I will note that the you know these these stormwater canals do ultimately go to go to Lake Pontchatrain.

Um the lake the Poncha Train Conservancy does measure the levels of bacteria in the lake on a weekly basis, and at this point we have not been contacted by them regarding any concerns that they have regarding their sample results that they take for the lake.

So again, just to reiterate, we don't consider this to be acceptable.

It has been and it remains our goal to find and correct the sources of the sewer issues in the area and ultimately eliminate this problem.

So, just as a final summary on the things that we've already done here and the things that we will continue to be doing, uh returning the Ceres pump station to service in March.

That was again, I think that was really impactful in being able to keep the sewer levels lower in this area, which we reduced some of that discharge.

We had been using a bypass pump in that area since December and was able to begin to reuse the pump station itself in March.

We have conducted investigations along along the canal to identify what were water discharges.

There are potable leaks in the area, so water discharges versus sewer discharges.

We have collected samples.

We have already corrected defects that we found on Lurline and Bonita streets.

And we have also removed blockages and clean lines as we have been going along.

The the sewer lines in this area do need to be cleaned this year and next year, and so as part of the uh the 10-year cleaning cycle for the consent decree, and so this action will also help us to be able to identify other areas that may need to be corrected.

So again, uh looking forward, we'll be correcting the defects that we found on Galahead Street, or rather underneath the street, uh finished smoke testing and die testing on those five other streets that we consider to be a priority with persistent issues, and I am pleased to report that actually as of yesterday, we were able to post signs uh that look like the um signs that you see here on the screen.

Uh, these have been posted at those seven locations along the canal to help inform uh constituents of uh the discharges in that area.

All right.

Um this is a convenient segue into the topic of canal cleaning in general.

So shifting a little bit to the drainage side of things.

Uh just wanted to to bring some awareness to this item.

We we have 66 miles of open canal.

Uh we've got two two screenshots here uh in the east and um in new uh sorry, the west bank as well.

Um that's where the can open canals are located.

That's represents about 850 acres that needs to be maintained.

Uh we cut the grass for these canals with a combination of contractors and sewage and waterboard staff.

We split that about half in half.

And for awareness with our current funding and without using overtime, we can cut the entire system about three and a half times per year.

Uh so we focus those efforts, of course, during the summer months when uh grass grows quite a bit faster.

Another really important aspect to this though is the vegetation removal.

You can see here in this photo that uh lilies and other vegetation build up in the canals.

This can impede flow into the pump stations.

We maintain this with two methods.

The first being an herbicide spray.

Uh we'll be partnering with the mosquito and termite control board this year to spray these areas while they do similar spraying for mosquitoes.

So there's some cost savings and some efficiencies gained there.

Uh but the reality is we still have to go out and physically remove uh either the live or the or the dead vegetation.

And we also need people to clean the pump station screens as well.

Unfortunately, we are simply just unable to dedicate full-time staff or equipment to vegetation removal, but we really do need to have that for uh the best most efficient system.

So we are looking into some options for mechanical removal with specialized boat equipment.

Uh, this is something that they do in other parishes with other large amounts of open canals with barges and other collection devices, and we are looking at other options and you know are open to suggestions on what other options that may be to fund this effort that would assist us in improving the drainage uh in those areas.

One final thing from me on drainage.

Uh this is an exciting project.

Uh at drainage pump station 15.

Uh, we have been, you can see some photos here of uh the top photo would be the discharge pump, uh, just I'm sorry, the discharge piping from this pump station.

We have been patching this pipe for years.

Uh, our in-house team has been doing an excellent job, but it's just at the point where that's just no longer feasible.

So last year we were able to purchase this uh material for the pipe, and our crews have been installing it themselves.

Uh, you can see on the in the bottom photo the much newer uh much newer pipe.

So not only does this improve our pumping ability, it also helps to protect the integrity of the industrial canal levee system, which this immediately abuts and the leaks there were causing some concern, so there's multiple benefits to us doing that, and uh really proud that our crews were able to do that on our own.

Okay.

I just want to add a comment regarding the canals.

I know we've had a number of water main breaks that has been our focus uh for staff.

That has been our focus uh for staff, but it is important and it's very important, and we take it very seriously that we have to clean the canals.

And so we are looking at funding options and look not trying to think outside the box to get the funding to address that.

We cannot let that just go by unlocked at and replaced and cleaned as it needs to be done.

So let me go on now to the financial system.

We have the uh as part of our technological modernization efforts, we've hired a chief information officer, who I'm proud to say is also has a PhD.

And we hired him last year, and he's one of one of his focuses has been updating our major software system with four major applications being updated through our strategic plan.

The first to go live is our new cloud-based financial system, Oracle, the new system live on February 7th, and we placed a 37-year-old mainframe system as part of a 24-month implementation plan.

Major step for us going forward.

This is SWIPNO's first cloud-based enterprise system.

It marks a fundamental shift on how we manage technology.

The system we replaced, AFIM, AFIN, which served us for over 32 years, and the hardware was aging.

The skills to maintain it were becoming scarce, and it couldn't connect with modern systems.

Six of the seven core modules are now live.

They are general ledger, accounts payable, procurement, projects, cash management, and grants.

Budgeting is scheduled for to go live in June.

Staff are actively processing transactions in the new environment and working closely with our implementation in this 90-day hyper care period.

Our vendors are also transitioning.

The new supplier portal allows them to register and submit invoices electronically, which improves efficiency for everyone.

Four major system upgrades, that's financial, HR payroll, asset management, and billing.

And the last slide, I'd like to say we'd like to take every chance to always remind customers to please report issues as soon as you notice them.

If we address them while those small, we stop them from becoming big problems later.

And so I ask that they contact 504 52 water.

We also have online reporting via website SWIBNO.org/slash customer service slash report and issue.

And also customers who prefer to report drainage issues via phone can continue to call 311.

But again, I encourage everyone if you see something, please call us and let us know, and we'll address it as quickly as we can.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Uh Council Vice President Willard is working on us.

Thank you, Chairman Hughes.

Uh thank you, Susan Waterboard for coming and giving us some updates.

Um, although some of them are pretty troubling.

Uh I want to start with the RFI for emerging technologies.

It looks like that is due at the end of the month.

Um, have you are you getting stuff in?

Yeah, I believe we're getting good interest in that.

Okay.

A lot of a lot of uh vendors are interested in providing the information.

We're looking forward to receiving it.

Okay.

And people are excited about having the chance to participate.

Okay, are the technologies that you're hoping to analyze uh demonstrated or proven, or are we looking to do you know something cutting edge that hasn't been done before?

It's fair to say both.

Both, okay.

Because when we talk about using leak detection, which is is often an audio, that's a new technology.

But we've done some of that here in the past, but the systems, it's like your computer have upgraded over the last couple of years.

And so we're looking for things that are regular in used at this time, but we're also looking encouraging people to bring us things up outside the box.

Okay.

Um to ask about funding for that.

So if you get one technology that you think knocks it out of the park game changer, do you have budget set aside for that, or is that another step of the process where you'd have to go and find the money?

Well, we would have to look at each case individually, and to the extent we had funding, we would go ahead and go forward with it to the extent that we would have to go for additional funding.

We would continue to pursue those.

Okay.

All right.

Um on page five, that's where you're talking about your immediate action plan.

Uh I noticed in March that you had listed the water mains at Fillmore and Cartier, as well as at Dowman and Dwyer as urgent risks, but today they are not included in this list.

Uh I wanted to know why they're not included today, and just some type of explanation on how you're prioritizing what's up next and how you settled on South Claiborne and Third, as well as the location on Florida Avenue.

Sure.

No, uh Philmore and Cardi just simply didn't fit on the map, and I and I am sorry, it is not on the next steps, but that is that is an option.

It is part of it.

Yes, absolutely.

Um it's just off of the the map extent that we had.

Okay.

Um so that is that is um an item um we just need that's more of a matter of scheduling that work at this point.

Um we have the contractor prepared to do that.

Um at this point, the South Claiborne and third um is more of an urgent item for us given uh that location and um just concerns just in general, um, but we may be able to do um both.

We're still looking at that.

Yeah, I I just know personally Fillmore and Cartier has been it has.

I mean, yeah, you know, that's for a while.

For a while.

No, you're you're correct.

So that that remains uh high on on our team's awareness list for sure.

Uh um sorry, Dalman and Dwyer actually we were able to confirm is just a leaking valve.

So that's something we're able to easily repair, or it not even repair is just easily address, and uh the location on Florida again is just a sequencing.

So those those three Claiborne Third, Florida and Philmore and Cartier are the highest um as they're all on 48-inch lines.

Okay, so Philmore and Cartier is kind of next on deck after uh Clayborne.

Yes, we'll be looking at those in conjunction.

Okay.

All right.

Um moving on to page eight, which is where you talk about the uh lead remediation.

Just want to make sure that we're targeting that message because at this point we have a pretty good idea of where those locations are, right?

Uh I want to make sure that we're targeting those messages that messaging for households that may actually be dealing with lead in their lines.

Are are we doing anything like to actually target those households?

Because at this point, you I mean you have email addresses and and phone numbers and stuff like that.

I mean, yeah, so uh in October of every year we are required to send out notifications to every homeowner that describe the status of what we know to be the status, I'm sorry, the composition of their lead service line, um, both on the public and the private side.

So that's information that we send out in October.

I have done that for now for two years.

So that information is provided, and we provide uh links to our website, and and this information is is all available there, as well as how to request a picture if you'd like one.

Okay.

And also to share information about the lead.

So we will catch them as we do that.

Okay, I would just encourage, you know, as targeted communication as possible.

I mean, even if you're putting it out on social media, if these are things that people can do to make sure that they're mitigating any type of risk associated with lead in the you know in their in their service lines, uh, I think we cannot over-communicate that.

Right.

We we are um councilman, and we are going to um do a targeted approach with LSLR communications, what you can do now.

We've sent out some information in the past.

We're working on additional information that they can send out.

It is a topic of conversation when we go to community meetings, so we are trying to inform residents as much as possible on this topic.

Okay.

All right, moving on to the canals in New Orleans East.

Um on the slide that says smoke and die testing at Galahad, what are those seven defects that that need to be corrected?

And this is where we're really getting into the I mean the lead stuff is is bad, obviously, but I mean, yeah, you know, we're at our limits with with some of this stuff.

So what are those seven defects that need to be corrected?

Right, so these would all be in the sewer lines themselves.

And so uh breaks in the line, um, and uh so there's you know either a break or a collapse such that it's not you know flowing properly, um, and as well as um potentially there being a um uh a utility board through there.

So it looks like there was there was a specific boring that went through there.

So um we'll we'll have to look at each of those and um make those repairs as needed, probably you know, partial replacement of that section.

Okay.

Uh and just for the record, where are all of these locations located geographically wise in the city?

They are all um in these these streets that um are perpendicular there to the uh Dwyer Canal.

What part of the city is that?

New Orleans East, I'm sorry.

New Orleans East.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um I see you finally got around to posting signage.

I believe we had our first meeting to talk about the issues at the Dwyer Canal in January, and we just put signage up.

That's a problem.

Um as it relates to some of the testing that's been going on.

Do you know what the EPA EPA sets as a health goal for fecal coliforms?

That would depend on the the type of uh you know uh type of use for the water body.

Um and so there's not one for that has been established for these canals.

Um I believe that they when there is an established goal, um it is it is fairly low in the order of hundreds.

Yeah.

Um is it safe to say that anything uh detectable is not safe?

Uh depends on the detection limit.

Um that's kind of a technical thing, but um depends on the detection limit.

But these these are these are levels that we do not find to be acceptable.

This is not uh the condition that we want to be the case.

So uh we we fully recognize this is not where we'd like to be and and have to continue to work um you know with with timeliness and and urgency around this.

This is so part of when you first started speaking about this, Caitlin.

You said that it it was uh reported that residents of the East had smelled the canal for years, and we're just getting around to testing it.

And when I look at the test results across, you know, various dates going from February through April.

Um I'm seeing high ranges of detection pretty much across the board.

How far back does that go?

That could that could have been going on for two years, three years.

Are there any is there any potential of airborne illness associated with fecal coliforms?

Uh I am not sure that I can answer that right now.

Um the mayor keeps talking about a sense of urgency.

Um what are we doing right now to make this right to remediate this problem in New Orleans East?

Yeah, and that's where engaging a specialized contractor uh we realized was the best path forward to do so.

So when do we expect to have you know uh work actively going on to to eliminate this problem?

Sure.

So um the the seven defects um have uh they just they just completed that work on Galahad in the last several days, and so we have that official information now, and we'll be referring that to our to our own crews to to make those repairs.

And we will have to systematically do this.

We're gonna have to go down these five streets that we've identified as the most persistent issues, and if we'll make those corrections, and um if we still see issues based on sampling results, we'll have to keep doing this, and we will continue to do so.

And I just want to tie it together that we have been working on dwires at least since January, and that to get rid of the smell and to I I believe it was in January you said something about not being able to smell it or something.

So I I think when we had that meeting in January, it was on your radar.

I don't know if anything was actually being done.

Just to clarify.

No, no, we went out there.

That's about I think that was about the time that we went out, and a board member went out with us to the site, and we were there.

Um I forget the gentleman's name.

Um, but we were there with uh civic groups that were were concerned about it.

Um it doesn't come down to one individual smelled it or not, there was a problem there.

And uh we began working on it then.

And for us to deal with the testing that we have now, negative testing, so a positive test that we have, it's imperative that we go to the root cause.

And we had to it took time for us to locate it, it takes time to do die testing and all.

We've done that, and now we're at a point where you have the contractors going in and we'll start addressing the root cause and making the repairs that will help to eliminate the problem.

But it takes time.

Are we still doing active monitoring to make sure that there's no new discharge or to make sure that this isn't replicated in other parts of the city?

Yeah, we we will continue to um look at uh continue to collect these samples on the Dwyer Canal and and you know be hoping for improvement as we see these reports, as we see these um sorry, as we correct the deficiencies.

All right, I mean, are there other canals throughout the city that you have a concern this could also happen to?

Um it it certainly is possible, and so if if um anybody is having reports of that, we would we would love to hear that so that we can start to look at those areas as well.

Okay.

Um anything, any parting words you want to leave to to make us feel better?

I'll I'll say this.

We are determined to address the issue at Dwar.

It has been top of mind since January or before, but definitely since January, and like I said, I went out with board members and we met with uh Sage and other community leaders, environmental leaders.

Uh it takes time, that's the thing.

Uh everyone thinks well, you can just snap your fingers and make it happen.

We have to locate where that break is.

That means you have to do a die test.

And then we have to now line them up, prioritize them, and then make sure the contractors are able to go in and address them in a systematic manner.

That's where we are.

We're addressing it.

We have to get that root cause, and that'll allow us to get the fecal matter out, and that also allows us to get the smell to uh dissipate.

And so it is extremely important to us.

We're working on it every day.

Okay.

Thank you, Chairman.

Councilmember McCarron is recognized.

Thank you, Chairman Hughes.

Um, I have a question about um, I know this wasn't in your report, but we talked about fire hydrants a couple months ago.

Um have you all gotten the equipment that you need for these replacements?

I mean, our office is flooded with um calls about leaking fire hydrants that are really becoming a big a big problem.

And so do you have an update on on what that looks like and are you getting the equipment that you need for that?

Yeah, we we did um in the last couple of months get a get a shipment um of uh fire hydrants that we're able to use.

So I I'm sorry, I don't have that specific data in terms of um those in your area, but happy to follow up with you on those.

Okay, and then and and just maybe explain how you all prioritize replacing.

I mean, some of them are are like spewing out water consistently, and we're getting phone calls about it where it's just it's really becoming a problem.

So, how how you all are prioritizing how to make those repairs?

Okay, we can provide that to you as well.

Okay.

And on the equipment, I know that we talked about this, you know, there were a couple issues in district A that had six-inch water main breaks that were um, you know, they were not being repaired due to equipment not being available.

Um how are you addressing that problem?

I I guess well, at first, what was the problem of getting the equipment, and then do you have enough inventory to make all these repairs um across the district and the city that we're seeing you know six-inch water main breaks.

Yeah, we had a high demand um for those uh that equipment for the six-inch uh repairs earlier this year.

Uh we were yeah, we just saw high demand there, and so uh we we have been working closely with our vendors to make sure that we are getting timely shipments.

We do have what we need right now, and we'll be getting uh the materials that we need, clamps, uh taps, other of those things, um, you know, every three to five days as we need to from our vendors.

So you know, uh as Randy mentioned, we've gone through a uh financial system transition um which will help um in terms of being able to process all that information um and those orders, but um we we do admit there was there was a bit of a delay, but we believe we have that under control this time.

And I want to stress too, as you said, we have a new financial system.

Um every system that's new that you start off, there's a little hiccup here and there.

I've met with staff to make sure that we address them, polish it, make sure they're able to go efficiently as quickly as we can, and so I think you're gonna see a speedier reaction to it.

Okay, great.

Um for catch basins.

Um we first of all, you all are responsible for the catch basins, is that correct?

Okay, because we get differing responses from residents that are reporting catch basin issues um to sewage and water board, and I don't know if it's that you all need to do another training session with your staff perhaps on this, but they're getting told to bring it back to DPW.

Um so there's some weird confusion happening there.

But where can maybe for next time, can you all let us know how many catch basins you've um cleaned out year to date?

Um, because we're still getting consistently you know, people reporting in that there's cloud catch basins.

I see them on the street and now I report them.

So um, you know, uh a plan on what the rest of the year looks like for that, and especially as we come into hurricane season coming up in June, um, it would be good to have a solid plan presented to us on how you're going to fix some of these major blockages that people are experiencing.

Sure.

I will I will add that we have a dashboard on our website uh that does track that information on the number of catch basins cleaned by both ourselves and our contractors.

Uh we've actually just re-engaged um uh 663 is our is our number thus far this year.

Um but uh we will we have just re-engaged our contractor to assist us with this.

And uh last year there was a focus effort in the Tremer area.

Uh this this spring will be actually focused effort in the Carrollton area, and uh yeah, happy to provide you with uh with our plan for that.

So also you said a contractor, so do you do you not have in-house staff at all doing this?

Or equipment?

We do we we have two full-time crews.

They're able to do this, one cleaning and the other making uh like the public safety repairs.

So if there's a um a broken or a missing cover um or you know, public safety, things like that, that crew handles that.

So um that's a function of of staff um and equipment.

We are working to uh train up people.

Uh that just does take time and it takes uh equipment, which we're you know working on getting and repairing some of that, but it it's it's our goal to to have more of an in-house uh presence, but we do have uh two crews who are on it uh dedicated at this point.

Okay, so two crews in-house plus additional outside contractors.

Okay, yeah, thank you.

Councilmember King is working on us.

Thank you, Chair Hughes.

Can we get an update on French Quarter Street projects?

No, see which one is it in this group?

Yeah.

Just one second, please.

Take time.

It's the email.

I think it's right there.

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

One second.

Yeah.

Okay.

I apologize.

I feel like I'm in law school.

I have a ton of papers.

But uh as far as the status, we have the 600 block of St.

Peter's, the intersection of St.

Peter's and Chartris is open for pedestrian only.

Entergy electric and delta utility work on the intersection of Royal and St.

Peter is now complete.

Restoration crews will return to this block after the restoration is completed on uh 1100 block.

Work on sidewalks and asphalt are on hold until all underground utilities are complete.

We are redirecting crews to ensure all underground work is complete prior to the possibility of a higher river event.

The street closure at Chartres and Toulouse is uh typically open until after French quarterfest to help alleviate congestion while crews are not at that intersection.

Uh the street closure is lifted, but parking is still enforced regardless if signs are torn down.

We are having cars ticketed and told from the area immediately.

Uh so please be cautious on no parking streets with a signs are placed.

Due to the excessive number of cars moving barricades on Wilkinson and Chartris, we will be putting up a gate at the intersection to prevent any vehicle from driving down the street.

This will be a chain-link gate with no mesh covering, and we'll be supporting supported by bright orange barriers.

This is just the gate and not the fencing.

Okay, when we look at the 900 block of Decatur, uh, this will be the final block to begin construction.

This block will begin immediately after French quarterfest.

The 1000 block of Decatur.

Uh, the water line on this block is complete.

The line is currently in testing phase and will be tied into the system once all testing is complete.

There will be a service disruption once the line is tied into the system on the 1100 block of Decatur.

Ruby on crews have completed two of the three concrete pores on this block.

The final segment is the sec is the in intersection of uh Governor Nichols and Decatur.

This uh intersection is slated to be poured as soon as as late next week or weekend.

This will all depend on the weather over the weekend period.

Once roadway is poured and cured, uh we will remove fencing from this block and we will keep a gate at Governor Nichols and uh Decatur at all three crossings ensure vehicles uh to attempt to drive down the well to stop vehicles to try to drive down the block.

This will be open for pedestrians only.

Work on sidewalks and asphalt or on hold until all underground utilities are complete.

We are redirecting crews to ensure all underground work is complete prior to the possibility of a high river event.

One second, I guess that's great.

So uh a lot of work has been done in the French quarter.

I actually went down and met with our staff and with the business some of the business civic leaders that were walking through to take a look at it.

And I think overall they were pleased with where we are at this time and understanding that we're still doing some work.

I wish everything was completed, but we're still doing some work.

But I the tone was that they were pleased with what we did, and we're looking forward to having a wonderful French quarterfest.

So we were all good as much as possible for French Quarts.

I'll say question again.

Everything looks as good as it can.

That's correct.

For French Quarter Fest.

That's correct.

Okay.

Um we still on the same timeline, which is late this year, fourth quarter this year.

That's correct.

Yes, sir.

All right.

All right, thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Councilmember King.

Uh the board is clear.

Let me uh go back to Dwyer Canal since I'm actually the only council member that lives in that community uh and spend an awful amount of time on um a daily basis interacting with residents.

So um it's my understanding that um sewage and water board has produced a report um of findings regarding the Dwar Canal.

Uh who exactly was that report disseminated to we have provided that to um to your to your staff and to the community members who've been engaged.

Okay.

Uh has that report formally been submitted to your board?

Has that report formally been submitted to this committee?

Not to the full committee, uh, but more members have seen it.

Okay.

Are you prepared to formally submit uh that report to your board for the record?

And are you prepared to formally submit that to the city council for the record?

Absolutely.

Okay.

Uh we'll look forward to um receiving that, and we'll ask my staff and CURO to follow up on that.

Uh so let's talk about the findings.

I I really want to understand what these findings means in plain English.

Uh specifically, I want to know what levels reflected in this report are considered safe, what levels are considered dangerous, which contaminants when found should be of greatest concern.

Yeah, so uh we have collected samples for these two bacteria, which are the most um common um to be measured in for sewer discharges as well as wastewater treatment plant.

Um and these I know I don't consider them to be uh acceptable.

Uh I do want to clarify there's there's not a regulatory limit for this, just for these for these canals specifically, but again, that doesn't mean that um we consider this to be acceptable.

Okay.

I I uh I I hear you consistently using the term acceptable, but for the public, the public wants to know what is actually safe and what is actually dangerous.

So can you tell us what what have you found that you consider to be safe and what have you found that you consider to be dangerous?

Sure.

We uh with levels um at this point, you know, above several hundred, we we would not want uh residents to be um in get you know contacting that water in the canal.

Okay.

Um are there any findings in this report that should trigger immediate public concern or follow-up?

That is the the intent of the um the signs that we have put up.

Uh we don't want um folks to be uh contacting uh the water in the canal, and again, um so that's the purpose of the signs to let folks know.

Um again, we wish we had been able to put those out earlier, but they are there now having this conversation, and um we will continue to be monitoring and until the results um are much more favorable.

Okay, going forward, are you prepared to provide findings in a format that clearly explains what was tested, what was found, what is safe, what is unsafe, and whether the public should take any action.

Absolutely.

Okay.

Uh what is your current standard protocol for sharing reports like this with elected officials, the committee, and the public?

I think primarily this has been our format.

So if there's a different um feedback uh or of interest from the committee, we'd be happy to hear that from you.

Yeah.

Um I I guess what frightens me about that, um, you know, technically this committee doesn't have direct jurisdiction over sewage and water board uh outside of billing.

Uh we've been using these meetings um since this council has been sworn in uh to get answers since we haven't been getting them anywhere else, and so uh if for some reason I chose to stop holding these committee meetings, uh then the the public would probably struggle to get uh any uh transparent answers.

So I guess my uh what hope would be for sewage and water board to be more transparent and proactive by any means necessary, whether that's press releases, pub social media, uh to to to proactively get this information out to the public.

Had my office not sounded the alarm on this, um it probably would not have gotten much attention, and I certainly want to thank the residents and and advocates uh for bringing this uh to to the forefront.

Uh let me shift a little bit uh talking about funding.

I know uh sewage and water board has been in the news a lot lately about governance and and and Baton Rouge.

Uh for the record, uh, has sewage and water board retained its own separate lobbyists, or what what lobbyists is sewage and waterboard using?

Uh we use Paul Rainwater.

Okay.

And I want to make a statement about lobbyists.

Recently we had a board meeting, and a general question was asked about lobbyists and the information we get.

And I made a statement, a general academic statement.

Which was possibly there are times we would benefit from having our own lobbyists.

I was asked by the reporter, did I mean a specific bill that he pointed to?

I said no.

I'm talking in general.

There are times that we may have our own lobbyists.

I'm a lawyer.

It's just like the times individuals in a dispute might have their own lawyers.

And I've been in water for over 21 years as a general counsel and as a CEO.

There were times we had our own lobbyists separate from other entities that we interact on given issues.

You may not have a different lobbyist for everything, you may have a different lobbyist for one or two issues.

But I want to be very clear that when it came to Bill 573, I did not promote having our own lobbyists, and no one on the board directed me to pursue having a lobbyist.

Our lobbyist has been Paul Rainwater, and that's who we work with.

And so any story that tries to put me in front of saying that we have to have our own lobbyists is a false narrative.

Thank you very much.

Um my final um uh question, I'm gonna shift now to interruption and service due to various repairs.

Um obviously over the weekend uh I got uh a few uh emails from residents who uh were not notified.

Uh I will state on the record I did hear from uh sewage and waterboard via email regarding the interruption and service that took place over the weekend in the Premrose uh current area, unfortunately, uh like sewage and waterboard, my entire staff was furloughed on Friday.

Um so I I was a team of one.

And and and so um I guess I would encourage sewage and water board to um you know, as I looked at social media pages, I didn't see anything about the interruption and service uh published there.

So I would ask us to take it a step further.

And then I want to uh I want to understand because several residents stated uh via email that they did not receive a written notification piece of paper.

And so it's my understanding that part of your protocol, somebody, I don't know who that is, is supposed to go door to door.

So question one is who does that door-to-door leaf letting, and number two, where do they actually place those flyers?

So it's typically the crews or the contractors.

So if it's sewage and waterboard crews, our crews will do it.

If it's the contractor, the contractors will do it, and they are unable to place it in the mail, so they'll put it on the door, they will tape it to the door, they will do door hangers, um, that is that is the way that they are supposed to do it door to door, right?

Um for the notifications that we are aware of, we place it on next door, we place it in our customer portal.

We also notify the council district just in case they get calls about it and communicate about it as well.

Yeah.

So, you know, I I will say this uh while many residents may be on next door, the reality is um for for everybody that's on next door, um, not every resident is getting a real-time alert every time something is posted on next door.

Yes.

Um, and then um, like do you have do you all have any any proof?

Because it's one thing to hear a complaint here and the complaint there, but when I get a uh a large number of people telling me that they never received a physical notice, uh, I have to wonder if these notices are actually being placed.

So after these notices are being placed, do you get any type of photographic evidence from whoever is allegedly placing the notices?

We can we can get that.

We can ask for that.

I do know that when we do it through the customer portal, we get that delivery for those customers who are registered, so we know how many customers that we've reached and where it's bounced back.

Um that does take a little bit, but okay.

I I just want to, you know, I I keep reminding people, I I don't know how many people actually spend a significant amount of time in New Orleans, East and the Lower Ninth Ward.

Um, but you know, I don't have an influx of of tech savvy college students.

Uh my residents tend to skew very older, and so um those physical notifications are very, very critical uh to members of my community.

And uh there needs to be a layer of accountability ensuring that if we're gonna have service interruptions, we get it.

You're gonna have to do service interruptions.

Uh but we need to make sure that folks that are actually tasked to um deliver physical notices are actually doing that.

Absolutely understood.

I just want to add, I'm concerned because you're concerned and you've heard things from your constituents.

So we need to take a look at it and and and guarantee that things are working properly.

So we will investigate and make sure and make any adjustments we need to make sure that the residents receive the what they're supposed to receive, the written copy.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Uh, Councilman King, did you have something else?

All right, thank you.

Uh the board is clear.

Uh we do have one public comment card from Liz Shepard.

Okay.

Uh so with that, thank you all very much for being here.

Oh, we got a sign up.

Uh, thank you very much.

At this time, we are going to go to agenda item 4A.

Uh, amendment number one to the professional services agreement between the city of New Orleans and Ivy Waste LLC for sanitation services and service area five, uh French quarter and downtown development district to extend the term and increase the maximum amount payable.

Um, out of deference to the council member whose district is largely impacted um by this particular item.

Uh I am gonna yield the gavel for item four A to my colleague, the distinguished councilman from District C, uh, the honorable Freddie King.

Thank you, Chair Hughes.

Mr.

Torrey, can have a seat, please.

Tori, make your presentation.

No, it's not on there.

I didn't.

I didn't know that's Mr.

Torrey's gonna send me his presentation, so I can pull it.

Should we go to item four B?

Would that be okay?

What are we doing?

The presentation is not loaded.

No, we didn't receive the presentation, so I'm gonna pull it up now, but in the while I'm all right.

Why don't we do this?

Let's go to um item 4B.

Amendment number six to the professional services agreement between the city and Mop McDonald LLC for engineering design and construction administration services for roadway improvements on Cantas Street uh to extend the term.

This is also district C.

So we'll just let uh you, Councilman King uh preside over uh both items under number four.

All right.

Announce yourself and you can start the presentation.

All right.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is Mohan Abdulfada.

I'm a project management supervisor with Department of Public Works.

And I have here Chief Engineer.

Amendment number six.

It's hard to hard to hear.

So yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and present the amendment number six.

Um we have the uh contract with Mom McDonald for uh design of DPW 661.

The original contract expired on uh September eighth of twenty twenty.

Uh it was there was several amendments to extend the contract, and the latest one was amendment number five that extended it to September eighth of twenty twenty-five, and the current request is to extend it with amendment number six for one more year.

Um this is in order to just allow for them to bill for services that was submitted on October of September of last year, which was past the expiration date, and that was for this final submittal of the design.

Um, and after that is extended, we'll be able to pay them for the twenty-three thousand dollars and some change that we owe them for final design, and that project will be complete and closed.

All right.

Um, days, the online comments.

I don't I don't see any uh any comments in the audience.

None.

All right, make a motion to adopt.

Second by council member Hughes.

Four years, no nays.

Thank you.

That's it.

Right, thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

If not, uh ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna stand at ease temporarily.

Okay.

All right, ladies and gentlemen.

We will uh reconvene.

Uh Councilman King subjust the absence of a quorum.

We'll ask for a roll call.

Roll call council member Hughes.

Here council member Willard, Councilmember McCarran here.

Councilmember King.

Here.

Council Member Green.

We have four members.

We have a quorum.

Thank you, Councilman King.

Thank you.

Mr.

Torr, Director of Sanitations.

You the floor is yours.

Well uh good afternoon, Council members.

Apologies for the delay.

Thank you for uh bearing with us.

I'm here today to uh present an update on service area five sanitation services amendment one.

Uh area five uh is the area that encompasses the French quarter and D D D.

As you all may recall, the city entered into a six-month contract at the end of 2025 with IV waste.

That contract ran from December 23rd through this June 22nd.

Included three six month extensions in it.

With amendment number one, the city is seeking to execute those three six month extensions, which would extend the duration of the contract from its current six months to 24 months, so we would extend by 18 months.

And the new end date would be December 22nd 2027.

Aside from the standard annual consumer price index adjustment, which would take effect in 2027, there are no changes to the service fees associated with this contract.

Wanted to provide just some information on the actual cost as a refresher.

So here you'll see the current annual service cost summary for Area 5.

City currently is paying $738,000 for solid waste and recycling collection services, $4.9 million for enhanced sanitation services and $375,000 for special event services for a total annual cost of a little over $6 million.

Following slides will provide greater detail on those service line items.

Happy to come back and speak to any one of these in greater detail for any council member who's seeking clarity, but you'll see here the solid waste and recycling collection services, the monthly enhanced sanitation services broken down by service feature ranging from public trash receptacle servicing to pressure washing, mechanical street sweeping and flushing, manual litter collection removal, orphan bag removal, organic waste and graffiti and sticker removal.

As we all are aware, the French Quarter is a very unique environment based uh based on the clientele and the daily volume of people that are there, and it requires a significantly different level of service as other areas of the city, hence the enhanced services.

We do provide monthly special event uh support uh to direct deal with surge crowds that uh uh participate and enjoy themselves in the French Quarter in DDD, so you see those services here.

I also wanted to walk through there were two uh items in the actual amendment that uh seemed to uh generate some discussion, some confusion around uh what those were referring to.

So, in uh our standard contract amendments, we commonly refer to the expenditures to date.

So these are the amount of funds that we've paid to the contractor to date at the time we're routing the amendment.

So at the time we were routing this amendment, the expenditure summary to date, the amount we actually had paid to IV was $616,000.

So this was comprised of four invoices.

It was the partial December invoice, which ran December 23rd through December 31st, the two special event invoices for New Year's Day and post-New Year's Day support, and then the January 2026 Sanitation Services invoice.

You see that January 2026 Sanitation Services invoice of 471,000.

That is our reoccurring monthly sanitation services invoice here.

Um the contract amendment also referenced uh a contract maximum, which is different both from the contract amount that we'll pay to the vendor and our current expenditure amount.

So I wanted to make sure there was a clear clarity on that.

Here you'll see our year one um cost summary, which I went through previously, um which was that six uh million dollar amount.

You'll also see the year two amount there, which accounts for the estimated CPI increase, which is scheduled to take effect in December or January of 2027.

So while we don't know what that CPI increase will be until that time, we can ask we've currently estimated it to be 4%.

For the sake of that estimating, you'll see here that equates to an annual increase of 240,000 dollars in 27, 2027 for this contract.

You see the total service amount there, and then below that you see a line item for contingency of 10%.

So in all of our sanitation services contract, we include a contingency line item.

This line item allows us in the event of an unplanned uh event that happens in the service area to uh request via work order services from our contractor on a time and material basis.

Doesn't obligate us in any way to pay the contractor that amount, but it does reserve the funds should we need them.

I can give you several examples uh during this contract recently where we've had to use that contingency amount following the uh Bourbon Street Terror attack.

Uh we had to uh activate IV waste to provide sanitation services to remove organic waste on Bourbon Street.

Uh we also uh activated IV waste during the winter snowstorm uh via work order to remove snow and ice from the right-of-way in area five um to allow uh commerce and traffic to resume there.

So there are things that we can't plan for in the contracts.

That is what the contingency is there for, but again, I want to reiterate in no way is the city obligated to spend that contingency, it is just there as a safeguard.

With that, I'm here and happy to answer any questions you all have.

All right.

You can you explain exactly what a CPI stand for and what does that stand for, CPI?

CPI is consumer price index.

This is a you know a federal measure that uh gauges inflation over a period of time.

The city uh generally inserts a CPI adjustment into their contracts to account for inflation, so as uh contracts run over time, increases are afforded to the contractors to account for things like increases in gas, the cost of materials, supplies, equipment, and so on.

So well, are those CPI increases in other contracts for trash pickup in the city?

Yes, we have those in all of our contracts for areas one uh through five.

So since 2022, we've been executing those annual CPI adjustments.

As I mentioned, the actual amount ranges depending on what that actual value is at that time.

I can tell you over the past three years we've seen you know adjustments in a range of 4.2 to 6.7 percent, depending on just what C inflation was doing at that point of time.

And do other contracts outside of sanitation have a CPI adjustment?

Yes, it's common uh for city contracts to have CPI adjustments.

And I asked because we've been told that only this contract is receiving an increase, and people want to know why, but so thank you for clarifying that.

Um, based off of as a director of sanitations, um what would you say is Ivy's work product?

How has their work product been since they've taken over based off of your opinion and what you've heard from French Quarter stakeholders?

Well, I can tell you from uh the Department of Sanitation's perspective, uh, you know, we believe that Ivy Waste has provided exceptional service uh in Area 5 for the French order and DDD.

Um, we view this as a value-based contract to the city and the service level has been outstanding.

Uh we receive almost no complaints from stakeholders, um, and we do receive many uh compliments and accolades from both um stakeholder groups uh as well as residents and visitors.

So it's not uncommon for us to receive emails from folks that are visiting the city, you know, uh complimenting us on the current state of the French Quarter that they experienced during their visit.

All right.

Length of contract, there's been some discussion about this contract the length being increased per six months or from six months to 18 months.

Can you explain why why that's the case and under what administration initially had the the increase?

So this contract again was procured via uh RFP at the end of 2025 at the end of the Cantrell administration.

The initial six-month duration was intended to be a bridge into whatever that the next administration would be, and we're now uh in the Marino administration, um, and to give them time to assess the performance of Ivy Waste and make a decision as to what they wanted to do, whether to do a new procurement or extend, and that's why the three six-month extensions were included in there.

Obviously, as I've mentioned, I mean, uh we are extremely uh pleased with the work that Ivy Waste has performed.

It's been exceptional.

Uh we uh believe that this is a value-based contract, uh, the rates are favorable, and uh we would like to see Ivy continue that work in Area 5, and I know that we've heard that from stakeholder groups as well, hence why we're seeking to execute the three six-month extensions at this time.

All right.

Cost.

That's that's been I think Councilmember Hughes mentioned next door neighbors, all kind of stuff on our next door neighbor that's factually incorrect.

So the cost, where is this coming from?

The the uh the pay this contract.

Yep.

So all sanitation contracts are funded from the general fund.

So this contract was and will continue to be funded via the general fund.

Of course, as a an fee input to the revenue fund is the sanitation service fee, which all eligible households pay, but I know we're all aware that we're currently running a deficit and an ongoing uh effort is under underway to kind of look at that deficit and see if we can help uh bridge that gap.

And my last question before we move on is uh this wasn't put out for a bid.

People saying, hey, this should have been put out to a bid, why has it?

Can you explain why this wasn't necessary?

Well bid wasn't necessary in this situation.

Yeah, I mean, the this contract was per competitively procured via an RFP selection committee, scored the contract, and IB waste was the clear winner uh in December of 2025.

Um hence we awarded the contract again.

The initial duration of the contract was short term to allow uh for the transition to a new administration and for them to assess um how they believe the performance of the contract um has been under IB waste.

I think there's uh a very consistent uh opinion and agreement that IB waste has provided exceptional service, and we're confident that they would continue to provide that over the 18 months that we're seeking to extend this contract for.

I think comments from the Div, anyone?

All right.

We have uh handful of online comments.

The first one, um not online, in-person comment.

The initials are O live on Apple Street.

Kind of difficult.

Okay, gentlemen of the bag.

Sorry, I couldn't make it out.

Hello.

Um second here.

I was about to write a public comment.

Well, I appreciate IV uh Ivy Waste's interest uh in extending the contract.

I believe there should be more public and official scrutiny in what is the most cost-effective and equitable use of public dollars from either the independent city from either an independent city official or a third party.

Because the city is in austerity, as a community, we should review agreements with strict scrutiny.

Uh the city consistently furloughs its employees, cuts funding from departments, but can find the money, time, and logistical effort to prioritize contracts with businesses that get preferential treatment without analyzing the terms to discern whether or not its current issues and disparities have been addressed.

Over the span of five months, Ivy Waste contract has ballooned from the initial value that was already inflated considering the curbside recycling uh has not has only been serviced at the rate of 42% to a value that surpasses what the company with what with the company uh with what the company is currently spending um is much less than the maximum value of the contract.

As I speak now, the value is six hundred and sixteen thousand dollars from uh out of the three point four four million proposed for the maximum possible value, there's no veritable justificate justification for the proposed maximum of the contract value being over quadruple what is currently being spent by the contractor given the current state of variable costs like gas uh and other costs associated with um garbage collection.

Thank you.

Torre, can you again?

I think the slide up speaks uh to maybe some of the confusion around the legal terms in the amendment, but again, this con while the contract value has increased with the duration, we're increasing the duration from six months to 24 months, so we're extending adding 18 months.

Of course, the contract value is increasing proportionally.

There is no change to the service costs associated with this contract aside from the estimated 4% CPI that I mentioned.

So in 2027, again, we're estimating that CPI increase to be 240,000.

I think there seems to be some confusion around again what the expenditure value referenced in the amendment is and the contract maximum amount actually represents.

Hopefully this slide clarifies that for anybody who wants to look at it.

Thank you.

Any follow-up?

None, Mr.

Lang, Chris Lang.

Chris Lang.

I live at 2500 Dauphin Street.

For clarifying the some of the confusion in the amendment.

Um so I guess I'm curious why that number was even thrown in there to begin with.

The current aggregate expenditure number of 619,000, given A, it's not accurate in terms of the current amount to date, and B, it feels like it's just it's confusing, and I actually haven't really seen that in amendments.

Normally they reference either the maximum value that was there, but um that's a question I have.

Um the other question I have is that first of all, the contract amendment that you're voting on today is not the exact same contract amendment that was submitted on March 26th.

And so that might be a logistical issue or a legal issue, but I feel like is it even allowed for you guys to vote on a contract that is different from the one that was presented to you on March 26th that you approved then.

And there are many differences to that contract, specifically the contract expenditure.

Uh the total aggregate expenditure went from 479 to 616 uh in terms of thousands, but it also removed the recycling cart provision clause that was in the March 26th amendment version, and now we're on version two, which got uh deleted.

So, I mean, I guess it's uh as as I'm also speaking about this, so I would love to hear any clarity on that, but also in terms of for the public, because we are in a severe budget deficit.

We all deserve, as OSA was mentioning, um transparency scrutiny specifically around the largest vendors that the city's paying for, and that like sanitation is some of the highest vendors in terms of cost.

I think we spend over five million dollars a month on sanitation-related fees across the city.

So for the public's interest, given on March 26th, when you alluded to certain contracts, but then you don't provide the links to those contracts, then it it makes us as the public to have to do public records requests.

I don't want to have to spend $30 $30 every time to just get contracts that should be publicly available.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, yeah, sure.

And I certainly appreciate feedback and and folks' interest in this.

So the city originally communicated this uh contract amendment on March 26th.

Uh Mr.

Lying pointed out that he's correct that it did include a different amount as the current expenditure summary.

I believe it was missing the December 2025 payment of 136,000, which you see we we added and updated the current expenditure amount for the version that was communicated on April 9th, and you and that you have before you.

So this is the actual amount that we've actually paid to Ivy.

Remember, the city's currently paying on net 45 days' payment terms, so we are delayed in what we're paying.

Um so this does represent at the time that this was communicated the amount that we actually had paid, as in the check had been sent to Ivy Waste.

Now the difference is between those two versions.

Um Mr.

Lang is correct.

The original amendment did include some provisions around recycling.

We have received uh an offer from Ivy Waste and Waste Pro to help the city defray some of the cost associated with the curbside recycling program for the city.

Uh currently, while our contractors are responsible for paying for the cost of solid waste uh trash carts uh for residents, uh the city bears the burden of buying recycling carts, distributed them, distributing them to residents, and maintaining them as far as repairs and returns.

Both Ivy and Waste Pro in an effort to help defray some of the costs associated with that had offered uh to take on those responsibilities, not only buying the carts, but also potentially maintaining the carts.

We included that language in the original amendment that was sent to you all that would have saved the city uh approximately two to three hundred thousand dollars in cart purchases per year.

Uh what we realized after communicating it to you all that that there may be uh a better way to go about accomplishing that goal.

So in the subsequent revised amendment that you received, that recycling cart language has been removed.

But we are continuing to explore solutions on how to accomplish that goal of saving that cost.

Uh so we're currently looking at uh an active donation, potentially with both companies, which would allow them to buy carts and donate them to the city again to help us save that uh capital cost that we expend every year of around two to three hundred thousand dollars.

So uh we appreciate that offer from vendors in our time of uh financial need.

We certainly will continue to explore the best way to maximize the benefit to the city, the department of sanitation, and residents.

Um, but we just didn't feel like the way the language was originally was included in amendment one uh was the best way after if they're looking at it again, hence why we recommunicated the revised version last meeting, and that's the version you have in front of you at today's committee meeting.

Thank you, Mr.

Torre.

Ms.

Liz Shepard.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Got uh a lot to do today.

Always get to see good people, and there's nothing I'd love more than for Sydney Tours to be recycling king.

Um maybe one day we're gonna get there.

Um I think this isn't a conversation about is Sydney Torres good at his job.

I think everyone knows the French quarter is incredibly clean.

This is a question about transparency.

For Matt to say we're so grateful for our waste haulers for offering to buy recycling bins when these waste haulers have been vocally against a grant that would offer the city free bins, feels like gaslighting.

I would also just say that, you know, I think it's a best practice in cities everywhere.

That we're transparent about the biggest budgets we spend.

I'm fine with a bigger budget.

He's gonna clean up the city, that's great.

Let's give him a bigger budget.

But let's be really specific on what is enhanced sanitation services.

I don't know what that means.

Public doesn't know what that means.

We need to be very clear and transparent about our largest budgets.

What is every line item going to, especially in a budget deficit?

For Matt to say there's been some confusion, we have some confusion.

Well, if there's confusion, there's no need to rush.

So give us time.

It is a best practice everywhere.

For cities to be fully transparent, we're not being transparent today.

Um I uh again, I guess I'll just say that you know, this is this is not about um, this is not about recycling or trash, this is about transparency and good and good business and good governance.

So I just really would ask the council to really be uh, you know, make sure this process is transparent.

I've been in this work for a long time.

And we can reduce corruption, we can reduce um increase transparency and build public trust in the time when the public doesn't have as much trust by being really clear about this process.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Torrey, um, can you explain what is enhanced services?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So I mean, I'll first start off by saying that the RFPs that were issued, and there have been multiple RFPs that have been issued over the past two years for the French Quarter DDD Service Area 5, include immense detail on what the enhanced services are, and those documents are publicly available documents.

I know we've been here many times to talk about the various procurements that we've done and talk about the enhanced services.

So anybody that wishes to learn more in detail about those can easily read the RFPs and see in detail.

But I did provide a summary that's included in this presentation here.

Happy to go through the enhanced services.

So in area five, again, based on the increased volume of people and visitors and activity in that area, there's an enhanced level of service.

So the contractor for Area 5 provides daily services.

So for public trash receptacles, obviously, those receptacles are being filled multiple times a day in the French Quarter, requires contractor to be monitoring those public trash receptacles, pulling the bags, replacing the bags, cleaning the receptacle, ensuring that they're in good working condition.

We also have a graffiti uh sticker removal abatement services, so our contractor is doing that as well, uh making sure that the cans are in good condition, removing graffiti, even touching them up with paint as needed.

Um so that's happening ongoing from 4 a.m.

to midnight, 20 hours per day in the French quarter, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

In the DDD, we provide twice daily trash collection of the public litter receptacles in the DDD, once in the morning and once in the evening.

And the DDD clean team is pulling bags in the DDD throughout the day as needed, but uh but a much less uh volume of debris there.

Pressure washing happens on a daily basis as well in the French Quarter Area 5.

So in the French Quarter commercial zone, um you have daily uh pressure washing that's happening on all rights of way in the residential area in the back of the French Quarter, we have monthly uh pressure washing.

We also have monthly um detailed service cleaning, which is the disk cleaning, which uh folks may have seen, which actually removes a thin layer of grime on all the surfaces to make it look as if the concrete is new.

Uh we our contractors have on-demand pressure washing available for the 20 hours a day, 4 a.m.

to midnight that they're working in the French Quarter.

So if there's a spill, if there's an accident, there's uh waste that somehow gets deposited on the right-of-way, that on-demand pressure washing unit uh can attend to that promptly.

And we see that happening on a daily basis.

Mechanical street tuping and flushing happens uh daily as well in the French Quarter, every day at the conclusion of the cleaning services in the morning, you'll see those uh flusher trucks with the lemon scent as well as the mechanical street sweepers working in the French Quarter to clean the streets.

Uh in the DDD, we provide this enhanced service as well on uh set streets, and that cadence occurs either three times a week or one time a week on the designated streets.

Happy to share those with anybody who's interested.

The uh crews on the ground in the French Quarter, you have folks doing manual litter removal, so these are what you would most commonly see with a broom uh buggy rate shovel, removing litter from the ground throughout throughout the French Quarter.

We have a significant issue with what we refer to as orphan bags.

So these are bags that are the that are placed on the right-of-way from households in the French Quarter.

So you might have a uh high-rise building where someone walks out with their kitchen white garbage bag and drops it on the curb.

Those need to be picked up.

Um they will uh quickly accumulate in the French quarter, as anybody who's been down there will see it's important that they're removed quickly, and Ivy does that on a daily basis as well.

Organic waste removal is something unfortunately that we deal with um throughout the city, but even in higher quantities in the French quarter.

This can be both human and animal waste.

It's important from a sanitary perspective that it's removed and properly cleaned with that on-demand pressure washer.

So you we have uh equipment on staff to do that, and as I mentioned, we have graffiti and sticker removal from public right-of-way and assets to do that.

And uh, I would say that the French Quarter remains probably one of the least tagged areas, at least on a continuous basis, because it's constantly being cleaned when you're walking through there uh on a daily basis.

Special events services again, you see here a summary of the special events that we provide, uh additional support and resources to deal with the surge crowds.

This is extremely important.

Anybody uh that's been in the French Quarter knows that when people come to New Orleans for events, they inevitably go and visit the French Quarter as well.

If they're here for Jazz Fest at the fairgrounds, they go to the French Quarter at night.

If they're here for Halloween and their own Frenchman Street, they eventually make their way to the French Quarter.

There needs to be additional resources on the ground to deal with the surge crowds, and that's what our contractor does uh on a routine basis.

So again, this is just a summary of the enhanced services.

Happy to speak in more detail and and make the underlying RFP documents available to anybody that wants to use them.

Thank you.

You mentioned uh surge of crowd, just want to remind everyone.

This is French Quarter Test weekend in the French quarter.

In about four to eight hours, we see uh roughly a million people uh in the uh on the streets of the French quarter from Cadell Street to uh Esplanade, so it would be a jam-packed area.

Just to want to give people an idea of some context, the amount of people that the French quarter see.

Uh Mr.

Troy Henry Good afternoon, Council.

Um I'm in representative Hughes' district that elderly statement kind of heard a little bit there, but I guess I'm one of those now.

Um I represent uh Henry Consulting uh Rich's disposal team.

Um as you may know, we won the long-term sanitation contract for Area 5, but the council did not sign our contract uh because of uh a varied number of reasons that they thought were valid.

Um I just wanted to kind of make a couple things clear.

This case and our our contract remains in litigation, and the reason that this was structured as six months contracts and six months increments is to allow the court to process to prevail.

And so that's why this actually occurred, not for some otherwise, it would have been a six-month, and then when administration got on board and they would have done another 18 months like you're trying to do now.

But there was a respect of the will of the court, as you know, our position has prevailed um in the lower court, and now it's being appealed by the council.

So we believe that this is nothing more than uh an opportunity to circumvent uh the judicial process.

Now, I know you guys have all made statements about how we support the courts, but I think it's also important that we respect the process that if the courts prevail, and we prevail as we believe we will, that we give an opportunity for us to perform and respect the will of the the judicial branch.

Um on behalf of my my brother Mr.

Richards, he made it clear he'd never he's not aware of any of his contracts having a six-month adjustment for CPI.

Um he's only been he's been on the job and been performing uh sanitation services throughout the city for quite a while, and no one gets an adjustment for CPI at a six-month interval.

And so I know in this fiscal austere period of time, I think it's important that we make sure that if we're gonna uh uh give some raises out, let's do them across the board on all of the sanitation providers and not thank you, Mr.

Henry.

Can I I just clarify?

So just to clarify, the CPI adjustment is one year on an annual basis, same as all the other contracts.

It's not a it's not a six-month CPI adjustment, it's an annual CPI adjustment at one year.

It would take effect in January of 2027, which is one year after the start of this contract.

So Mr.

Henry's correct, no no contract and sanitation receives six months CPI adjustments.

Thank you.

Mr.

City Torres.

Council, thank you for allowing me to speak.

Thank you for all the kind words of uh even the ones who are opposing that are have issues with the grant that was canceled.

Um they I'm glad they think we do a great job.

Um this to Mr.

Henry saying about the fact it has gone to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has ruled, and that's why we're here today.

So the legal system will go through a process, and it will at the end go to the Supreme Court because that's where it'll end up, and what happens there will happen there.

Whatever happens and we prevail or he prevails, whatever happens will happen.

But that's a long time away.

We will continue to do the same work that we're doing.

We will continue to give the great service.

And I want to be clear, nothing has changed on the price.

The price is gonna stay the same every month.

I didn't even know there was a 4% increase in 2020 and 27.

Um, it's in all my other waste contracts.

I also have it in contracts in St.

Bernard and other areas that we have contracts in Harrahan.

We do have CPI increases.

Fuel went up 50% in the last few weeks.

So I mean, you have to have that clause in there.

Um so we we look forward to continue the level of service that we're giving.

Um the equipment that we provide is totally different than what's in the RFP.

It's enhanced equipment that we custom build, and that's why you see the results.

The team that we have out there have been doing this for years.

They did it before when we had the contract under my old company, and they know what they're doing, and they're doing a great job, and I'm very proud of them.

We look forward to receiving your vote.

I'm very um thankful that you're allowing me to come up here and speak, and hopefully uh we can continue over the next 18 months.

Thank you.

Mr.

Pearson.

Good afternoon, counsel.

It's been a long time since I've been here.

Uh I'm a police officer and I do a lot of work in the downtown development district.

And I I have to say that everybody who I'll come across says Ivy does a great job.

You know, the streets look amazing.

You know, there's no more poopoo smell in the French quarter, as we used to say, is all gone.

All you smell is lemons, not like drinking lemonade.

Uh myself, you know, I hope that we can continue the level of service that we get because it makes my job easier when I'm down doing a detail downtown and the public comes to me and says, Wow, look at the great job y'all have done with the the contract, the cleaning up the city.

Just as Mardi Gras had a group of people from uh Atlanta, they came down and they was watching the cleanup crew from Martigras, and they were amazed at how well the company picked up all the trash in the streets.

They brought out the cell phones and they brought out everything.

They they they videotaped the lemon truck coming through, the street sleepers, they were just amazing, and they were like, we wish that we had this level of service in Atlanta that you guys have down here.

So I just hope that we can continue this right now because I know Mr.

Torres, he he does a lot.

He gives back to the community as well.

I've seen him do it before.

You know, so if we can do this, I think it'd help the city maintain the level that we've been useful for a while.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just want to remind everyone to give you your name, address, and are you a paid actor?

Just to keep it level across the board.

Um Sam Bailey.

Sam Bailey, one seven East Point Court in New Orleans, Louisiana.

I've been working with I'm the DVE on the recycling company for Mr.

Torres.

Zone one, two, and five.

I handle all the recycling.

You're not gonna find a more passionate guy that does his job like this gentleman here.

You know, I give example.

One day we ride in a car, dropping him off.

You see a piece of paper on the street, stop me to pick up the trash off the street.

You're not gonna see that from anybody that I know, because I probably wouldn't have stopped.

But so we want to keep Ivy on the job.

I don't want to seem like I'm biased because I am the DBE contractor on the French water contract.

So I'm the recycling person in case you guys didn't know who I was.

I'm the one who handles all your recycling.

Also, um, I heard a little earlier they alluded to um squashing some kind of grant or something like that.

Um grant, I think the only thing that the city may have gotten out of that was um uh recycling carts out of that.

But the problem with that was at the end when the grant money was gone, three, four million dollars, you guys would have had to maintain the courts.

And I think the proposal that the waste handlers came up with now, I think it'll be better off doing it their way rather than mess with the grant.

That's all I have to say.

Thank y'all.

Thank you, Mr.

Gladby.

Thanks very much.

Good afternoon.

My name's Glade Bilby.

I live at Esplanade and Charters.

I'm a longtime resident of the French Quarter, and during those years for decades, I've seen maintenance change, enforcement change, the amount of police change, everything is has a cycle.

In the past 10 years, we've doubled the amount of tourists that come to the quarter, the visitors in the quarter to some say 19 plus million people.

Do you think that those tourists know who cleans up the street?

Do they know who has the contract?

Do they know how often it gets cleaned?

Do they know if it's pressure washed in the middle of the night or one time a week?

They do know when it's dirty, they do know when it smells bad, they do know when they see trash on the street, and they also know when it smells good, when it looks good, and I think that's what we need to focus on.

One of the things that we have going for is it never looked better.

The current contractor is doing a great job.

As you've seen from the support of the community, and even your own Matt Tory has said something about that.

In all of these things, it's a question of the product and a question of the cost.

The cost is one thing.

Last year, the French quarter alone and geographic area delivered 158 million dollars to the city and the state.

So I think there's money there that we generate ourselves to keep the shine on the jewel of the quarter and to make the residential experience better and the visitor experience better.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Mr.

Adam Grimm.

Hi, thank you.

Uh my name's Adam Grimmy on 909 Lafayette Street.

I'm just here.

Um I would echo all the other accolades that are already been said.

I'm here in support to continue and extend uh the contract for Ivy Waste.

That's pretty much it.

Thank you.

Evangelists in ballot.

Uh in ballot, uh 2330, uh Dolphin.

Uh I'm just gonna echo basically what they said too.

But as we go out on the street and administer and do the work and feed in different neighborhoods, we go to many different communities, and as we go to these communities, we can see and we know and we talk to these people on a yearly basis, and time as over the time and it is recently that the work has been way better with the with Ivy Waste than what they had prior.

So now, seeing all those different statements about Ivy waste and seeing it myself from being, you know, doing ministry in the S on Esplaning in the quarters, whatever guy sent us that, we go out as a team and we feed people in different areas.

But most of all is I growed up in the Ivorville project.

So Bourbon Street was like my backyard.

So I went to Bourbon for any little reason.

But every time I went to bourbon, it had a certain smell.

The spell always bothered me.

But then after a while, I got used to it.

But now since I waste came, I don't smell that smell no more.

And I was surprised one time I went back there, I went out there with one night, and I was like, man, I'm looking, I'm looking forward to smell.

And I didn't smell it.

And I ain't never, you know, so I gotta say something because that's what I'm talking about 20 years.

Smelling that smell, smelling that smell.

But now, like you say, you know, there's not no, the proof is in the pudding.

You can't make this up.

It smelled good out there, it looked good out there.

So I just I'm with him, I'm supporting that he stay.

Thank you, Mr.

Michael Orthal.

Michael.

My name is Michael Lowenthal.

I'm a 13-year resident of the quarter.

I just wanted to uh say that I've enjoyed Ivy Waste and everything that they provided over the last few years.

It's definitely made a difference.

And I think if we want to focus on something else, there are a lot of quality of life issues other than sanitation that need to be addressed.

Um, but I really do appreciate everything, and I appreciate you echoing the voting members of your district, and um echoing our wishes to keep the sanitation that Ivy waste has provided over the last few years.

Thank you.

Mr.

Joey De Fada.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Joey DeFata 1113 Bourbon Street.

And as the gentleman said, his backyard was bourbon.

My front yard is bourbon street.

So I just want y'all to know that.

Obviously, I'm here representing myself, but I'm also president of the patio planners of View Corre.

We have 601 members as of today, about 400 of our members live in the French Quarter.

If you recall several months back, we went through a process where you saw keep IV waste signs all over the French quarter, and even went into Lakeview and all the rest of the city.

It was our folks in our group that put the dollars together to make those signs come out.

I think it speaks volumes for the folks who live in the French Quarter.

This is what they want.

I can understand some folks are looking at this as the financial side of it.

I'm sure the council and the administration will take care of that.

You're gonna make sure that the contract you sign will be the best contract for the people of the city of New Orleans.

So you're gonna handle that.

But we want you to understand, we want you to handle our business for us.

Keep the streets the way they are currently, keep IV, keep them in the French quarter and wherever else you can put them because they'll do a great job there, also.

So just to let you know, we are behind this group 100%.

If there's anything else we can do to help make this continue, let us know because we have the force of the people who live in the French quarter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Frank Skriller.

Hi there, uh Frank Skrlock, 936 North Rampart.

Um, you know, at the end of the day, we're about finances, it all ends up over here in numbers, and it's very sad to have the competing person that was up here talk about he's taking pride in litigating this.

So indirectly, he's costing the city money instead of making the city money.

You know, we all know there's been a radical change since Mr.

Torres took it over.

You know, now we can proudly at least walk down the French quarter and smell wonderful lemons instead of urine.

I mean, we have a long way to go.

I think Sydney knows that.

I know that.

If it was up to me, my magic wishes have all the oyster shells that have bacteria and everything go away from the restaurants every night.

I run in every day when I walk, countless numbers of trash cans left on the street.

He developed the app for the French Quarter.

He could have an app that once the trash cans are put out, they could be zoomed away and taken right off the street so we can have better quality of life.

And at the end of the day, going back to the city and the economics.

I mean, let's think about this.

We might be talking about sanitation today, but let's be reality.

We have a whole regime change that we got, right?

We're called the big easy for some reason.

Maybe we need to change that and have it the little hard because what Sydney's done and all the departments, every single department in the city needs to be shaken upside down.

We know what happened.

Thank goodness the state came in and kicked in and did it what it did.

We got a long way to go.

And we've the administration, the new council has done, I think, an amazing job.

I'm proud to call New Once home.

But I do think at the end of the day, you know, just from the aspect of Mr.

Dear Henry, you know, let's be reality.

I'm an amusement guy.

I worked on Six Flags.

He got six flags.

He's asking y'all for 50 million dollars just to build his park.

So please consider the track record where they are, and maybe that can help quash all this big legal nightmare we have coming.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Jaquez Williams.

Pastor Jacques Williams, 10320 Morrison Road, New Orleans East Resident.

Great job, uh current um and new administrator, uh, District E.

Um, I'm the community liaison with chief and Kirkpatrick of NOPD.

And as a result of that assignment, I had the responsibility to be on Bourbon Street, January 1, 2025.

315 a.m.

The carnage that I saw was the most horrific thing I've ever experienced in my life.

And you're listening to a six-year Marine Corvette, who, to be honest with you, I was just a basic secretary, but I had so many reports that came across my desk that pretty much detailed what takes place in wartime.

And to see that from 315 until 8 p.m.

that night as we're going from the street of bourbon to charity hospital and all the other places where the victims were bought, including the officers that were injured.

Um and then the very next day have the responsibility as clergy, as a pastor, as a community leader and spiritual advisor to the city to be able to walk down Bourbon Street and experience it like I never experienced it before.

Now let me make sure I'm clear on something.

I'm a lifelong New Orleans resident.

I went out for college, marine corps on and so forth.

When I came back home, I steered away from Bourbon Street and the French quarters because of the yellow substance that caused the street to stink.

And walking down on Bourbon Street that day and experiencing something fresh, it made it revitalized my intent to visit the core of my city.

Well, long story short, as I'm leaving bourbon that day, I run into Sydney Torres, and Sidney Torres says to me, we have to do something about what took place, and he establishes Ivy Relief Fund 2025, which paid for the funerals of those people who were killed.

And you continue that service beyond this.

Thank you, Pastor Williams.

Hello, I'm here to tell you I've been a full-time resident for 11 years.

My address is 702 Governor Nichols, and I am so thrilled to have Ivy Waste after living with different companies before they were hired.

Ivy Waste is so much better.

And I have to tell you, I'm a little angry that I'm here today because we shouldn't be having to do this.

We've got an excellent company, excellent service.

Everyone around our neighborhood loves Ivy Waste.

So please, please listen to the residents and keep Ivy Waste.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jean Broom.

My name is Jean Broom.

I'm at 908 St.

Peter's.

I've been a residence uh since 2012.

I originally lived on St.

Anne's, and now I live on St.

Peter, both streets.

One is the entrance to the French Quarter, the other one is the exit.

So heavy traffic things go through our area.

I will tell you for when I first moved here and had to deal with trash.

My trash would be left on the corner for several days.

It was torn apart, ripped apart, and things like that.

Since I to be waste has taken over, all this stuff is cleaned over, has been cleaned up, and I agree with Debbie.

It is such a shame that we have to come down here and beg for a renewal of a contract of a fantastic service.

I have never lived in a city, and I've lived in many cities, both domestically and internationally over the course of my life, and I never met a city that said they truly love their garbage men.

This is the first time I've ever heard that, and we should be impressed by that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Al Latham.

I appreciate you guys being here.

I know how important it is.

Being on your committee is the same one in Denver I was.

It's hard to you know sort out these things.

But my biggest thing on lately is we live across the street from Verdy Mart, which is a great store that's open 24 hours a day, and it's great place.

But before we had this new service, it was horrible most of the days you get up in the all the stuff over our streets and down our streets was so hard to deal with.

But I just think everybody here that said something today really should you guys understand it's really just a great place to live.

Uh understand that at one time there was like 11,000 people lived in the French quarter personally.

Uh but now there's down to 1900.

Let's try and keep more people living here and doing this really helps a lot.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And our last public comment will be.

Uh make out the handwriting initials are S D and from the Sanya Dewey.

Lakeshore Property Owners Association.

Thank you.

My name is Sonia Dewey, and I live at 7364 Barrow Street.

I don't live in the French quarter.

I live by Lake Poncha Train.

My folks in our neighborhood, we actually are those native tourists who go there.

And all we hear are is about the wonderful French quarter and the cleanliness now under Ivy Waste.

The Lakeshore Property Association is some seven hundred homes in the Lake Shore area.

And we are serviced by Ivy Waste.

When I tell you, I have never heard one complaint.

They are clean, their people are professional.

So we ask you to please continue to support Ivy Waste throughout the city.

Let's keep in this city what's working.

Let's keep IB waste rolling.

Thank you for your time.

Second by Councilmember Hughes.

Thank you very much.

Without objection, we stand adjourned.

Thank you all.