New firm will bid for Cobb school projects

The Cobb school system has $800 million worth of construction projects planned, but the Facility Group —- whose top executives recently pleaded guilty to illegal campaign finance and related charges in Mississippi —- won’t get the work.

Officials with Lawrenceville’s Garrard Construction Group said Monday they bought the Smyrna-based engineering and construction firm’s education division and intend to compete for Cobb’s next round of taxpayer-financed school construction work.

“We would like to continue working for Cobb County. No bones about it,” said Danny Jardine, a Garrard official who recently worked for the Facility Group. “But we are not working behind the scenes to have that given to us. We do not mind competing.”

Jardine was an assistant superintendent for Cobb schools prior to joining the Facility Group in 1996.

Garrard’s staff of 45 will add 16 people, including Jardine, former executive vice president for the Facility Group. No sale price was given.

Included in the sale to Garrard is the Facility Group’s contract with Cobb schools to manage construction of the current sales tax program.

Garrard Construction plans to bid for Cobb schools’ next building program, which is expected to be worth about $11 million. Cobb school officials expect to solicit bids this week.

Cobb schools was one of the Facility Group’s most notable clients. The firm earned $21 million managing the district’s construction projects the past decade.

The school board will have to approve the transfer of the existing contract, said attorney Clem Doyle, who represents the school system.

The board may choose to vote on transferring the contract at its Dec. 11 meeting, or delay a vote until January —- when four new members take office.

“I’ve been very pleased with the work the Facility Group did,” said outgoing board member Lindsey Tippins. “Overall, when you look at the product and the price we got it for, we have delivered to the taxpayers good value for the dollars.”

Indictments against the Facility Group’s top three executives last March prompted the school board to ask for an additional audit of earlier construction projects.

Late last month, the Facility Group returned nearly $350,000 to the school system, money owed, according to school and company attorneys, because some projects came in under budget.

Facility Group President Robert Moultrie, Chief Operating Officer Nixon Cawood and Executive Vice President Charles K. Morehead were charged with conspiracy to “influence and reward” a politician, later determined to be then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Moultrie admitted making illegal campaign contributions to Musgrove’s campaign.

The men eventually pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Under a plea agreement, felony charges against the Facility Group will be dropped allowing, most likely, the company to bid again on government work.

In 1986, when Cobb County’s Moultrie started the Facility Group with a staff of five, revenues reached $10 million, according to its Web site.

The company’s 450 employees recently tallied $440 million in billings —- double their 2006 amount. In addition to building schools, the privately held company manages the construction of factories, jails, courthouses, bakeries and distribution centers worldwide.

Garrard is completing a 50,000-square-foot medical building for Pinnacle Orthopaedics in Austell. North Point Community Church in Alpharetta was also a Garrard project.

—- Dan Chapman contributed to this report.