Councilman Jason Woody’s motion to apply for sole source procurement for the OneGeorgia Grant to finish the Toccoa River Park expansion was met with silence by other members of the McCaysville City Council.
During the council’s November 9 meeting, City Clerk Nancy Godfrey informed the council that the city could apply for sole source procurement – a contractor of their choice – due to the lack of bids; however, the city would be required to pay the cost upfront and would be reimbursed by the grant after completion.
To proceed, she would need a letter signed by Mayor Thomas Seabolt.
“We don’t have the money to pay for it,” Seabolt said.
Woody said the city could use money from the city’s certificate of deposit (CD).
Woody told the council he felt the city should take advantage of the $432,600 left in the grant. His plan would be to use the funds out of the city’s CD to pay for the project, and then, the grant reimbursement would go back into the CD. According to Woody, there is about $475,000 in the CD.
“If we get our ducks in a row and get a contract, we could have it done by July of next year,” Woody said. “Worse case, we don’t find any contractors and we lose it anyways.”
Seabolt pointed out that the grant would be up for renewal again in June.
The city is required to resubmit every six months. Councilwoman Gilita Carter stated there may be something that comes up that the city may need to use the CD. “There’s rainy days,” Carter said.
The council did seem to agree that the original plans for the park could be scaled back. Landscaping, adding trees, remodeling the maintenance building and a simplified pavilion were the main projects the various council members would like to see happen.
Seabolt suggested waiting until Spring of 2022 and gradually complete projects. He said that he would like to speak with Jeff Holloway about landscaping the outer perimeter. “He owes us a favor,” Seabolt said.
Then, he’d like to plant a few donated trees and use low-cost lumber to update the maintenance building.
Councilwoman Sue Beavers said she would prefer remodeling the building first and then landscaping, but many council members, including Carter and Councilwoman Susan Kiker, agreed with Seabolt on starting with landscaping.
The city would not be able to use sole source procurement with this strategy. To use the OneGeorgia grant, the city would be required to resubmit for bids or use funds from elsewhere.
City Attorney Cortney Stuart summarized, “If we don’t sign the sole source letter, you are back to bidding or you let the OneGeorgia Grant money go.”
Woody volunteered to spearhead procuring multiple contracts for the different projects, which would then be submitted together for the sole source procurement contract, but the first step was council approval for the mayor to sign the letter for Godfrey to submit for sole source procurement and the knowledge that the city would be reimbursed after completion of the project.
When Woody made the motion for Seabolt to sign the letter to proceed no one seconded. “It’s a dead issue then,” Seabolt said. “For right now.”
The city did receive a contract proposal by Das Haus Studios of Atlanta for the park work that was submitted after the bid process. However, they were not impressed with certain aspects of the proposal, such as paying for the demolition of existing buildings and $500 a paint brush. The contract also did not include landscaping.
Godfrey suggested the council speak with Leslie Riddoch about narrowing the contract down to what the council wants for the park as the contract was based on outdated specifications.