STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL

FIRST CIRCUIT

2021 CA 1383

LMB SERVICES, LLC

VERSUS

IBERVILLE PARISH GOVERNMENT

Judgment Rendered: JUN 0 3 2022

APPEALED FROM THE EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE STATE OF LOUISIANA DOCKET NUMBER 80, 657

HONORABLE ALVIN BATISTE, JR., JUDGE PRESIDING

John I. Hulse, IV Attorneys for Plaintiff A - ppellant Amanda D. Hogue Patriot Construction and Metairie, Louisiana Industrial, LLC

Murphy J. Foster, III Attorneys for Defendant -Appellee Jacob E. Roussel Rigid Constructors, LLC Baton Rouge, Louisiana

A.M. " Tony" Clayton Attorney for Defendant -Appellee Iberville Parish District Attorney Iberville Parish Government Plaquemine, Louisiana

BEFORE: McDONALD, LANIER, AND WOLFE, JJ.

McDONALD, J.

This is an appeal from a ruling that denied a motion to enforce a stipulation.

After review, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This matter arises out of a bid dispute in connection with a public construction

project in Iberville Parish referred to as " Intracoastal Road Emergency Roadside Erosion Repair." Rigid Constructors, LLC ( Rigid) was the lowest bidder, Patriot

Construction and Industrial, LLC (Patriot) was the second lowest bidder, and LMB

Services, LLC (LMB) was the third lowest bidder. LMB filed a protest, maintaining that Rigid and Patriot' s bids were defective, maintaining that it was the lowest responsive bidder, and asking that it be awarded the contract. Iberville Parish

Government ( Iberville Parish) rejected that protest. Iberville Parish awarded the

contract to Rigid on March 23, 2021. Thereafter, on March 30, 2021, LMB filed

suit seeking to enjoin the award of the contract to either Rigid or Patriot, naming Iberville as the sole defendant. LMB also asked that Iberville Parish be directed to

award it the contract. Patriot subsequently intervened.

At a hearing on April 13, 2021, the parties in the suit, Iberville Parish, Patriot, and LMB, entered into a stipulation that Patriot would receive the project ( instead

of Rigid). At the time the stipulation was reached, Rigid, the lowest bidder, was not

a party to or involved in the suit.' Thereafter, Rigid filed a petition to intervene,

maintaining that it was an indispensable party. Rigid then filed exceptions urging that the suit was moot and/ or untimely because it was not commenced prior to Iberville Parish awarding Rigid the contract.

On April 28, 2021, LMB and Patriot filed a motion to enforce the stipulation.

On May 13, 2021, the trial court, finding that the suit was not commenced timely,

Iberville Parish later indicated that it had been erroneously led to believe that Rigid had been notified of the proceedings, but chose not to participate and defend its contract.

signed a judgment dismissing all of the claims asserted by LMB and Patriot with prejudice. Patriot and LMB appealed that judgment. On appeal, this court ruled that

even as an intervenor, Patriot was entitled to due process notice and service of the

proceeding, which produced a final judgment dismissing its claims. Thus, this court

vacated the trial courtjudgment and remanded the matter to the trial court for further

proceedings. LMB Services LLC v. Iberville Parish Government, 2021- 0980

La. App. 1 Cir. 3/ 16/ 22), _ So. 3d _, 2022 WL 7954485 * 3.

On August 26, 2021, the trial court heard the motion to enforce the stipulation,

and at the close of the hearing, denied the motion. A judgment denying the motion to enforce the stipulation was signed on September 23, 2021. Patriot appealed that

judgment.2 The trial court found numerous reasons for denying the motion to enforce the stipulation, including that the proceedings lacked a party required to be joined under La. C. C.P. art. 641 as Rigid was not included.

Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 641 provides that a party shall be joined in an action when ( 1) in his absence complete relief cannot be accorded those

already parties; ( 2) he claims an interest relating to the subject matter of the action and is so situated that the adjudication of the action in his absence may either: ( a) as

a practical matter, impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, or (b) leave any of the persons already parties subject to a substantial risk of incurring multiple or inconsistent obligations. In this case, Rigid is a party that was needed for complete adjudication of the matter. Rigid had an interest in the subject matter of

the actions, considering that the subject matter was a bid dispute over the contract that had already been awarded by Iberville Parish to Rigid. Further, Rigid' s absence

Z The trial court certified that the judgment was final and appealable. While Patriot and LMB filed an order of appeal, only Patriot filed appellate briefs in this matter. from the proceedings would impair or impede Rigid' s interest in protecting its contract.

Thus, we find that the trial court was correct in ruling that it could not enforce the stipulation that was entered into without an indispensable party.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the trial court judgment is affirmed. Costs of the

appeal are assessed against Patriot Construction and Industrial, LLC.

AFFIRMED.