FERRIDAY — The Town of Ferriday has until Jan. 5 to work out a deal with a company the town owes approximately $125,000, but Mayor Gene Allen said the town simply cannot pay the debt.

Crescent Chemical LLC won a lawsuit in October against the town, entitling it to about $112,000, plus two years of interest.

The company previously provided chemicals to treat the town’s drinking water, but was not paid for its services.

Interest has been building since 2013 when the company first pursued the matter. The company’s bill has been outstanding since the previous mayoral administration, Oakes said.

Jan. 5 is the court’s deadline for the Oct. 5 judgment to be paid before the issue will go back before the court to consider whether attorney’s fees will be added to the amount, which can be as much as 30 percent.

The Ferriday Board of Aldermen declined to hear Crescent Chemical owner Mark Andel at its Tuesday meeting, because he was not on the agenda.

After the Oct. 5 judgment, Crescent Chemical’s attorney Blake Oakes said he recommended Andel appear before the Ferriday Board of Aldermen.

“We sent a letter to the council by certified mail, which was delivered Thursday at 9 a.m., asking to put us on the agenda,” Oakes said. “I never heard back, but I got an email from (Town Attorney Myisha Davis) telling me to call (Mayor Allen) directly.”

Allen said he is aware only of a letter from Oakes that notified them of the judgment, not one requesting Andel be added to the agenda.

“I would have put him on the agenda if I had received a letter,” Allen said.

Oakes said he hopes to have Andel added to the next meeting’s agenda so negotiations could proceed.

Oakes said the company did not originally desire to bring the issue to court.

“(My client) attempted to get paid, but didn’t find cooperation, so he filed a lawsuit,” Oakes said.

Davis said the town offered $85,000 as a settlement before the trial.

“We’re willing to work something out with them if they’re willing to work it out with us,” Davis said after the meeting Tuesday.

Andel said after the meeting he would not accept $85,000.

“We’re willing to work with you, but we’re not willing to accept almost half the money we were owed,” Andel said.

The company offered to accept approximately $100,000 as a settlement on the day of the trial, but Allen said he refused the offer.

“We just don’t have the money,” Allen said Tuesday.

The company is not able to seize public assets to satisfy the judgment, Oakes said.

“It’s not like we can just start seizing cop cars and things that are in use to make the city run,” Oakes said. “But we are examining every possibility for satisfying this judgment.”

That may include a payment plan through which the town could make payments over time.

“We said we’d be happy to work out a consent judgment with (the town) and pay it monthly,” Oakes said. “On the full balance, not on a reduced amount.”

 

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