Submitted by Tom Barrett, District Attorney

The Parish wrapped up the dispute over the improvements to the Grand Lake Barn Road on Monday, July 7, by executing the settlement agreement with Roy Bailey Construction. The settlement agreement reimburses the Parish for the alleged over billing for dirt on this project.

While the contractor, Roy Bailey Construction, disagreed with the Parish’s position, it agreed to reimburse the full amount of the claim rather than engage in years of litigation. A police juror, Danny Myers, was the subcontractor on this project and Shane Manuel was the Superintendent for the Parish who was responsible for the project. It was not illegal or unethical for Mr. Myers to work on the project but it did create some practical conflicts. An allegation of overbilling led to an investigation but due to the contradicting reports of the engineers, it was uncertain exactly how much dirt was delivered to the project.

This uncertainty was in part created as a result of mistakes made by Mr. Manuel which made it difficult to audit the amount of dirt invoiced. As a result of the mistakes, Mr. Manuel accepted a demotion and later resigned. Mr. Myers has also resigned from his position as police juror.