County Administration Claims Comparisons Invalid
Greenville County Council allowed Councilman Willis Meadows to present his case to the full Council and the public Tuesday, April 15th, despite the reluctance of several members of Council to do so. Two Democrats on Council objected to accepting the recommendations, proposed by Meadows at the conclusion of his presentation and the meeting was abruptly adjourned after County Administrator Joe Kernell made a brief counter presentation.
Several members of the Council, including the chairman, during a previous meeting had voted to deny Meadows an opportunity to make the presentation, however they were in the voting minority and the presentation was scheduled for the next meeting.
Meadows used 86 visual aids to support his claim that:
“Greenville County is paying more per mile for repaving than Spartanburg County.
“Greenville County management fees have cost the county $2,641,532 too much over three years.
“The contractor owes Green-ville County $968,443.
“Extra asphalt on roads cost $746,000 too much.
“According to the workshop too much was charged for bituminous liquid.
“The 2006-07 and 2007-08 Roads for Progress contract is not legal.
“The construction manager cannot also be the General Contractor of the project.”
Ashmore Brothers is the contractor currently doing all Greenville County road paving.
Kernell argued that the data presented by Meadows was not valid. He insisted that it is not possible to compare the cost of paving Ashmore Brothers does for Greenville County and paving accomplished for other customers, unless they compared the exact same number of roads and the roads must be the same exact length.
Following his presentation that lasted almost 90 minutes, Meadows proposed a motion to the Council members meeting as a committee of the whole.
Meadows proposed that the Council “determine the true cost for the management of Greenville County’s Roads for Progress Program.” That they “advertise for a program manager to perform all the duties listed in the county administrator’s letter of August 17, 2007.” The duties include, but are not limited to, program management, design engineering, sampling, testing, and inspection.
After going through a prescribed bidding and selection process, “approve the top bidder only if there is a significant savings (25%) to the county.”
Meadows concluded that “if it is not financially advantageous to the county to choose any of the bidders,” the county could continue with the present design/build program.
Cort Flynt quickly objected to voting on the Meadows proposal, saying there was not sufficient time, because people were waiting for the next meeting in the council chambers next door. Judy Gilstrap said she did not understand the presentation by Meadows and needed more time to study it.
Richard Ashmore, CEO of Ashmore Brothers, the General Contractor for paving Greenville County roads currently is also the construction manager, according to Meadows, who received a ruling from Joyce Thurber, Program Coordinator for the Contractors Licensing Board that “A construction manager is hired and paid specifically by the owner to oversee the entire project. He cannot also be the General Contractor, builder of the project.”
Mark Tollison, County Attorney, has been reluctant to rule on some of the questions raised by Meadows. In fact, the so-called procurement experts at the state level can’t agree on the meaning of some of the procurement regulations.
Greenville County designed a unique road construction program unlike any other and contends that state procurement rules don’t apply to Greenville County.
Meadows is becoming frustrated with the changing rules and “shifting sands” surrounding the Greenville County road program. “It just appears that none of the rules apply any more,” Meadows said.
Willis Meadows has spent months digging through reams of records and following laws and regulations and when he reaches a conclusion, someone in the county administration comes up with a statement that it doesn’t apply to Greenville County or “you are comparing apples and oranges.”
There are no predictions of whether Meadows will have enough support on Council to get the answers he is seeking in a future meeting.
Joe Kernell insists that all that matters is the bottom line and all components that contribute to the bottom line are meaningless. Willis Meadows is not yet willing to accept that answer. He asks: “How do you know that you have the best deal on paving Greenville County roads if you can’t compare what you are spending to anything else?”
The answer to the question may be determined by public interest. Is the public paying attention to the conduct of business at County Square? Do Greenville County taxpayers really care how their county road paving contracts are awarded and administered?
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