Correction on May 14 at 1:50 p.m: A previous version of this article misidentified the lowest bidder for the project. Eastern Contractors Corporation, of Pooler, offered the lowest bid, while CPPI of Georgia, LLC, had the second-lowest bid.
The process to build the long-awaited Chatham emergency operations center continues to raise transparency and fiscal concerns after Chairman Chester Ellis quietly shelved a vote on a $78 million contract last week.
Ellis nixed the vote for the Multi-Agency Public Safety Facility (MAPSF) with little fanfare the night before the Friday county commission meeting. After the meeting, consulting firms hired by Chatham County gave a non-scheduled presentation to commissioners pushing them to vote for a contractor that was not the lowest or a local bidder.
The presentation was not included in any public agenda, packet or video of the meeting.
The presentation by AECOM and H.J. Russell, the Atlanta-based firms contracted to manage the project, struck some commissioners as odd, including District 4 Commissioner Pat Farrell.
“In my 20 years of service, this is a first for the county,” Farrell told The Current. The presentation asked commissioners to consider “best value” rather than lowest cost in selecting a contractor. Farrell said every other county project has focused on selecting the most qualified contractor with the best savings for taxpayers.
On Thursday — before the agenda item was removed — Ellis and County Manager Michael Kaigler recommended commissioners award the MAPSF contract to Sugar Hill-based firm Reeves Young, LLC. The company is best known in Georgia for contracting to build the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, otherwise known as “Cop City.”
The approximately $78 million dollar bid by Reeves Young was $7 million more expensive than the lowest bidder, Eastern Contractors Corporation, which is a Pooler-based construction company. The county agenda said Reeves Young was evaluated as the “best value” for the project.
“Best value contracting transcends the traditional focus on the lowest price and considers a broader spectrum of factors that contribute to the overall success and long-term value of a project,” the agenda previously said.
“The item was pulled from the agenda because several commissioners expressed that they needed more time to review the recommendation,” according to Will Peebles, a spokesman for Chatham County.
Peebles was unable to provide any information about the presentation and non-agenda meeting. Presentations are typically included during a public meeting or in a separate workshop meeting, but this one was not.
AECOM and H.J. Russell, the project management firms that gave the presentation, did not respond to a request for comment. Reeves Young did not respond to requests for comment. The county attorney’s office said it is working to send the presentation slides to The Current.
The MAPSF project has been rife with contracting and transparency issues, as commissioners try to execute a much-needed and expensive public safety improvement for the county.
In May 2024, Ellis and Kaigler hosted a celebratory ground-breaking ceremony for the project, despite not selecting a contractor to build it. Ellis, who was facing reelection last year, later insisted that the ceremony was necessary in order to lock in federal funds for the project.
Last November, the county rejected all proposals to build the emergency center and had to re-bid the project for the second time. That’s because of “outside interference” from contractors trying to influence the project, according to Ellis. Despite those reported issues, all of the same companies were allowed to bid again. Ellis would not explain the specifics of the backchannel.
The Current has sent multiple public records requests to the county about the alleged violation. All the requests turned up empty.
Reeves Young and ‘Cop City’
According to the Thursday agenda, Reeves Young’s proposal would cost $78,862,493. Ellis placed the company on the agenda for a yes-or-no vote, after six total bids were received and scored this past month.
The Sugar Hill-based company became known statewide for its involvement in the Cop City project. The company’s offices and the CEO’s home became the sites of protests by anti-Cop City activists according to StopReevesYoung.com. Activists claimed the company backed out of the project in April 2022 due to the pressure, while Atlanta officials said Reeves Young completed its work.
The process to design and build Chatham County’s 83,000-square-foot Multi-Agency Public Safety Facility (MAPSF) has faced hurdles and rising costs, amid growing urgency for the county to upgrade its facilities.
The current 911 and emergency center is overly cramped, in poor shape and bad for morale, officials and employees have said. The building is not able to withstand storms that are category 3 or higher, forcing the county’s emergency leaders to relocate during a disaster. The influx of people, stemming from tourism as well as economic activity from the Hyundai Metaplant and the Savannah port, have only exacerbated the county’s public safety needs.
Best value, explained
The bid by Reeves Young, selected by the chairman and Kaigler, was not the least expensive of the six options, nor was it a local firm — both of which are the usual criteria for selecting contractors for government projects.
The county said it selected Reeves Young using a “best value” evaluation method.
“Our primary objective was to secure the most beneficial outcome for this Chatham County project, which encompasses quality, efficiency, local (minority and women-owned business) participation and risk mitigation,” the county wrote in its since-removed agenda.
Farrell said he was not swayed by this, especially since all six of the bids the county received went through a pre-qualification process.
“I would award a contract of this magnitude to the lowest qualified bidder. The lowest qualified bidder in this particular instance also happens to be located in Pooler, Georgia, (in) Chatham County, which is a plus for local business,” he said.
Reeves Young estimates it will employ 12 firms that are minority and women-owned businesses, which will make up around 31% of the total work, the county said. Less than half of those firms will be located in Chatham County.
Farrell said that those represent projections and not requirements.
Past transparency, conflict questions
Atlanta-based firms AECOM and H.J. Russell, as well as RG Media Affiliates, were responsible for evaluating and scoring Reeves Young the highest, according to the removed agenda. The three companies hold a $3.6 million project management contract with Chatham County to oversee capital projects in general and the MAPSF in specific.
The CEO of RG Media Affiliates is Robert Gould, who also served as Chester Ellis’ campaign manager in the last two elections. Commissioners called out a potential conflict of interest during an August 2023 meeting, but Ellis denied any issues.
Gould did not return a request for comment on Monday.
Additionally, H.J. Russell and its executives donated $5,800 to Ellis’ campaigns in 2020 and 2024, according to records.
A representative for Russell did not return a request for comment.
The county stated that construction will take roughly two years to complete and estimated more expenses would be necessary.
“The package for non-construction costs (technology, furniture, fixtures, and equipment) will be coordinated through future procurements,” the county wrote in the removed agenda.
Peebles, the county spokesman, said the county manager intends to have a vote to award the contract in the next commission meeting on May 23, “unless there is expressed unreadiness.”
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