Demonstrators calling themselves the Dump Veolia Coalition showed up again at the monthly meeting Feb. 20 of the St. Louis Board of Estimate and Apportionment to protest the city’s possible $250,000 consulting contract with Veolia Inc.

But their protest did not cause the three-member board to reject a commitment to the French company with global operations. Instead, the board postponed a decision, possibly until its meeting on April 17.

“The E&A board did not take any action because the contract was not on the agenda,” said John Zakibe, deputy controller.

The three-member board is made up of Mayor Francis Slay; Lewis Reed, president of the Board of Alderman, and Comptroller Dalene Green.

Slay and Green want to wait until after a public hearing, Zakibe said. A hearing date before the Public Utilities Committee chaired by Second Ward Alderman Dionne Flowers has not been set.

A&E meetings are once a month, Zakibe said, unless a special meeting is called.

The issue seems to be tangled up in the Democratic mayoral primary on March 5. Slay, seeking his fourth term, is being challenged by Reed who said last Wednesday he favors blocking the contract.

With no Republican opposition in the April 2 general election, whoever wins the Democratic primary is expected to become mayor.

Two groups of demonstrators are objecting to the city possibly committing to the French firm to have it study the city’s water operations.

One is the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, which objects to Veolia’s operations in the West Bank.

The other group includes the Coalition for the Environment and the local chapter of the Sierra Club. They object to Veolia’s environmental record and what some say is the possibility, based on experience in other cities, of turning the city’s water system into a profit-making operation probably run by Veolia.