Atlanta City Council approves $5 million contracts for Watershed work
Atlanta City Council on Monday supported a package of Watershed Management contracts worth $5 million, despite some concerns raised by members of the council.
The Department of Watershed Management wants to hire 13 companies to address the need for more architectural, engineering, design and construction management services to support Atlanta’s Capital Improvement Program, according to the resolution. The council voted 11 - 2 to authorize Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ office to put the contracts into effect going forward.
Councilman Dustin Hillis said he opposed the resolution because it involves the Arcadis engineering firm and the Jacobs Project Management Company.
Jerry Jones, a former Arcadis vice president, was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2019. Jones allegedly committed a fake invoice scheme raking in $250,000 in Alabama, where a local water works board was also investigated for corruption.
“I don’t think waiting a few more months for a new fresh clean procurement that’s free of all this controversy and issues would be a bad thing,” Hillis said.
Martin Clarke, Atlanta’s interim chief procurement officer, defended the selection of Arcadis by saying the indictment was not against the Arcadis firm. He also said there was nothing in the applications submitted by the selected companies that would allow the city to disqualify them from Watershed work.
Councilman Michael Bond voted for the contracts, but he stressed the city could have handled the procedure better. He criticized how the city “bundled” all of the company bids for the work because he was concerned that the “glaring problems” with Arcadis could hold up project goals for the other companies involved.
Clarke told the council the city bundled the contracts to have enough “ready and able entities” available to perform the work as a team. He also said bundling the solicitation provided cost savings to the city.
“The architectural, engineering services are absolutely mission critical to the city,” Clarke said.
About the Author
Wilborn P. Nobles III covers Atlanta City Hall for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He began covering DeKalb County Schools for The AJC in November 2020. He previously covered Baltimore County for The Baltimore Sun and education for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. He interned at the Washington Post. He graduated from Louisiana State University.
