DeKalb County officials have deemed alleged irregularities in the bidding process for a $61 million sewer contract to be simple clerical errors that did not impact their final recommendation on which companies should be awarded the work.
Commissioners will likely vote on the contract award next month.
In late April and early May, representatives from a Tucker-based firm that unsuccessfully bid on the contract to repair and replace sewer pipes sent a pair of letters to DeKalb officials that raised questions about how winning businesses were selected.
The letters from Granite Inliner Inc. suggested that the county kept shoddy records or failed to verify basic information about subcontractors listed in the bids.
The county addressed one of the claims late last week, admitting that the incorrect address for one subcontractor had been listed on a commission agenda item. But officials said the error only occurred in the one document, which was printed after the bidding process was complete, and was not a factor in the county’s selection process.
In a new response sent to Granite Inliner on Tuesday, and subsequently obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DeKalb’s interim chief purchasing officer addressed additional allegations.
Cathryn Horner wrote that those too were unfounded.
Granite Inliner had asked the county to investigate the business address for a subcontractor tied to The Renee Group Inc., one of the primary contractors recommended for the award. The complaint suggested that Waals Enterprise used a Stone Mountain address to register with the county’s Local Small Business Enterprise program but actually did business out of Newton or Rockdale County.
DeKalb's LSBE program, which has been a home for mismanagement and controversy for years, is aimed at helping small businesses get their share of lucrative government contracts. In some instances, contractors that include DeKalb-based small businesses are given more preference on bids than if they used subcontractors from other parts of metro Atlanta.
In her response letter to the complaint, Horner wrote that the county had verified Waals Enterprise’s Stone Mountain-area business address when it registered as an LSBE firm last June. She said the county received copies of business licenses and a lease agreement between Waals and another firm that operates out of the Stone Mountain warehouse.
The county also conducted a site visit, Horner wrote.
A Newton County address referenced in the complaint is the home address of Waals Enterprise’s owner, officials said. A separate Rockdale County address listed for Waals Enterprises in an agenda item was provided erroneously by The Renee Group, the county said.
In a Thursday morning phone interview, Waals owner Willie Smith said the Rockdale address was actually that of one of his employees. He said the address was listed on documents related to that employee’s certification and must have “gotten mixed up in the pile some kind of way.”
Smith said he’s been doing business out of DeKalb since he got into sewer work several years ago.
“I am glad to have this behind me,” he said. “We’re ready to go to work.”
DeKalb officials also said that, even if the snafu had happened during the actual bidding process, it would not have been a factor in their final recommendation. Because of the way the contract was bid, there was no weight given to the locations of LSBE subcontractors.
“With all factors considered, the recommendation of award stands,” Horner wrote.
Representatives from Granite Inliner did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
At the request of the county, DeKalb commissioners have twice delayed a vote on the contract. Now, they will likely address the item during their next meeting on June 9.
The work associated with the contract — which appears destined to land with primary contractors The Renee Group, Inland Pipe Rehabilitation and Kemi Construction — involves rehabbing or replacing gravity sewer lines in 14 areas where sewage spills have frequently occurred. The work is directly tied to DeKalb's 2010 consent decree with state and federal environmental regulators and is vital to the county's compliance with the Clean Water Act.
The county will not meet the original consent decree deadline, which hits June 20, by a long shot. But it is currently negotiating an extension, with an update expected by next week.
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