Approval of a deal between Ascension Parish and Ascension Sewer, a new company created by Baton Rouge-based Bernhard Capital Partners, has been pushed back until at least November.
The deal, if approved, would create a public-private partnership, under which the Bernhard company would develop a new sewer system for the rapidly growing parish and manage it for 30 years. The parish would continue to maintain ownership of the infrastructure and the customers.
Though Ascension Parish Infrastructure Division Director William Daniel, who helped broker the deal, and Bernhard officials had hoped to bring a final contract to the parish council in September, Daniel says it will now be at least November. That’s because the council voted earlier this month to hire financial advisors E&Y to independently review the Bernhard proposal.
“The council wants to make sure the proposal is financially sound and that (Bernhard) won’t have to run back for a rate increase,” Daniel says. “It was always part of our plan to hire a financial advisor. It just took us longer than we originally planned to get it done.”
Bernhard officials say they welcome the additional scrutiny and oversight E&Y will bring to the process.
“We always intended for them to get outside advisors to look at it,” says Ascension Sewer’s Jeff Baudier. “They want to make sure they understand it and get it right. We are confident they will be wrapping it up very soon.”
Under the terms of the deal, Ascension Sewer will invest some $225 million developing the first phase of the system alone, which will consist of a new sewer treatment plant on the Mississippi River as well as the buildout of a network of sewer lines along state highways 73 and 42.
Phase one will serve more than 16,000 households in the northern part of Ascension Parish, though under the plan, Ascension Sewer would ultimately provide service to the entire parish.
The deal also anticipates a gradual rate increase of some 4% a year for the next 10 years.
While parish council members have not been vocal in their concerns about the deal, it’s worth noting that half of the 12-member council will be replaced in January, either because they were not reelected earlier this month or are term-limited out of office. It’s not clear if a lame-duck council is anxious to make the deal work before leaving office, though Daniel and Baudier say they are optimistic.
The potential deal with Ascension Sewer represents a new line of services for BCP, which has been aggressively growing its portfolio of companies in the industrial, energy and utilities sectors since its founding in 2013.
