Backchannel communications by companies bidding for a $89 million Chatham emergency operations contract caused the chairman to shut down all bids and restart the process to build the much-delayed facility last fall.
But earlier this month, as county officials finalized the list of qualified companies allowed to bid on the major contract, all four of the same companies from the last failed bidding were approved to bid on the project again, despite the procurement violations.
On Friday, Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis dismissed concerns about the process, speaking to The Current. He touted his actions as a warning shot for companies and commissioners to not break the rules.
“We also put in place steps so that we could keep up with it more,” Ellis said, “The (county) manager now has more control … so that in the procurement process, we don’t step outside the lines anymore.”
The 83,000-square-foot “Multi-Agency Public Safety Facility” (MAPSF) has been on the county’s wishlist more than a decade. With funding, design and project management in place, delays grew as the county tried to find a builder. Since March 2024, the county has undergone two rounds of vetting companies to bid and two rounds of bidding, all of which were rejected.
After The Current reported on rising costs and delays last month, Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis disclosed the reason for the latest snag from November, when Ellis and the county manager denied offers from all four prequalified bidders and restarted the solicitation process.
“We had interference — outside interference — from contractors, and so that’s what our hold up was,” Ellis said on Friday.
“We had some who were calling and wanted to talk to them privately,” he continued. “So I had to have a meeting with the commissioners to tell them that’s off limits.”
Ellis declined to go into specifics about which companies contacted which commissioners.
Procurement policy forbids sidebar communication with officials outside of the purchasing director’s purview. All communication has to be done in writing so each bidding company gets the same information, the policy says.
The four pre-qualified bidders who were rejected from November due to the procurement violations, included CPPI of Georgia, LLC, of Savannah; TQ Constructors, Inc., of Metter; Samet Corporation, of Savannah; and Eastern Contractors Corporation, of Suwanee. The Current reached out to all four companies. Representatives from Samet and Eastern both declined to comment, while the other two companies did not respond.
On Feb. 14, the county posted a list of the seven companies prequalified to bid on the major project.
All four of the companies from the last failed solicitation were included on the new list as well as three new companies: Carrol Daniel Construction, of Gainesville; Johnson-Laux Construction, of Savannah; and Reeves Young, of Sugar Hill.
County commissioners approved a $71,000 change order last month — its sixth change order since 2018 — to tweak the design schematics for the emergency center. Once that’s done, the project will go out to bid again to the seven pre-qualified companies.
“I can say that I know the chairman is really trying to make sure we’re doing things by the books,” said District 6 Commissioner Aaron “Adot” Whitely.
“Things that might have been acceptable in the past when it comes to procurement,” Whitely said, “We want to nip that in the bud.”
County leaders hope the new facility will be a boon to Chatham County. The county’s rapid growth and needs has outpaced its existing public safety infrastructure.
Currently, storms stronger than a Category 3 can cripple the county’s emergency operations facility, forcing county leaders and 911 dispatchers to evacuate.
Additionally, the current 911 center’s small size and outdated equipment, along with “toxic” leadership, were cited as primary reasons for staffing issues and abandoned calls in a recent dispatcher survey. Both the 911 director and chairman have said the new center will solve problems with dispatcher morale and equipment.
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