Firm says Gwinnett contract would waste taxpayer dollars

By David Wickert

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

One of the nation’s largest electrical contractors on Tuesday asked a court to prevent Gwinnett County from awarding work to a competitor, a move the contractor claims will cost taxpayers an extra $1.3 million.

M.C. Dean Inc., a Virginia firm with a regional headquarters in Suwanee, sought an injunction in Gwinnett County Superior Court to prevent the county Board of Commissioners from awarding the contract to competitor Cleveland Electric Company.

In court filings, M.C. Dean Inc. claims it is well qualified to do the work at far less cost to the county. Awarding the job to Cleveland Electric would be “a waste of tax dollars and could substantially undermine the public’s trust in the procurement process,” M.C. Dean Inc. claims.

The company asked the court for a temporary restraining order preventing Gwinnett from awarding the contract for 30 days. It also asked the court to declare M.C. Dean Inc. the most responsive and responsible company among those that want the job.

Commissioners were scheduled to approve the contract Tuesday but postponed action until March 20.

Chairwoman Charlotte Nash declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

“We’ll await the court’s decision,” Nash said.

Cleveland Electric President John Cleveland declined to comment, except to say he hopes Gwinnett County awards his company the contract.

Last August Gwinnett sought proposals from companies interested in building backup generators for the county’s Lake Lanier and Shoal Creek water production facilities. The backup systems would be designed to keep water flowing in the event of severe weather, power grid failure or terrorist attack.

The county received 10 responses to its solicitation and ranked them on various criteria, including experience, understanding of the project and price. The overall price of the work was worth just 20 points on the county’s 100-point scale.

According to court documents, Gwinnett budgeted $15.8 million for the project. Cleveland Electric, the highest-scoring firm, would charge the county about $16.9 million. M.C. Dean claims it can do the work for about $15.6 million.

Mark Tibbetts, general manager of M.C. Dean's regional office, said Gwinnett County found his company is not qualified to do the work, which he disputed. He cited one ranking showing M.C. Dean is the second-largest electrical contractor in the country.

Company promotional materials show M.C. Dean has done electrical and other work for the Pentagon and a variety of other federal and state agencies across the country.

Tibbetts said Cleveland Electric Company is a good firm, but he said the $1.3 million price difference between the companies’ proposals led him to file the court action.

“I’m a taxpayer in this community, too,” he said. “A million (dollars) is something to pay attention to.”