By Steve Visser

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Fulton County Commission on Wednesday delayed authorizing a $167 million bond issue to build eight new libraries and expand two  others because it wouldn't approve a project management team that the county's staff had recommended.

Several commissioners berated Cecil Moore, director of purchasing for the county, John Szabo, director of the Atlanta-Fulton Library System and, County Manager Zachary Williams, for asking them to approve a $3.2 million contract for a team called Jacobs with GMG (Gude Management System) because they said they staff had not done due diligence in recommending the team.

Commissioners Emma Darnell, Robb Pitts, Nancy Boxill and Bill Edwards, vice chair of the commission, said the parent company of the team, Jacobs Engineering Group, was beset by lawsuits involving its performance: the commissioners said the company paid a $35 million settlement to the federal government, and was  sued because of the collapse of an Interstate-35 bridge in Minnesota.

The bridge was built in 1967 by a company that Jacobs Engineering later purchased.  The bridge collapsed Aug. 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145, according to news accounts.  The $35 million settlement with the federal government was in 2000 and involved allegations that the Pasadena, Calif., company had improperly billed the government for environmental clean-up work, according to the Los Angles Business Journal.

The company competes for projects nationwide. In December, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported that Jacobs received a $99 million contract to provide design services for the Federal Aviation Administration. On Tuesday, the company announced that it had began the $246 million  construction project  on Interstate-15 in Nevada on which it was selected to lead the design.

The bond issue was to be phase one of a $275 million total bond issue that was approved by voters in 2008.