The engineer who was able to spot problems at DeKalb County’s troubled sewer plant project just by eyeballing the site will now have oversight authority for the entire $1.35 billion water/sewer overhaul.
The task belongs to Charles McKinney, an assistant director in the county’s Watershed department. That quality-assurance duty will turn a man known as a Chicken Little for trying to draw attention to concerns into a rooster, encouraged to crow as loudly as he can, interim county CEO Lee May said after Tuesday’s announcement.
“A bulldog, a rooster, whatever you want to call him, he’s going to make sure we get what we expect and what we pay for,” May said.
County officials admit they failed in oversight when approving a $7.7 million contract in 2012 for Desmear Systems to excavate and grade land next to the Snapfinger wastewater treatment plant for a $250 million expansion.
May ordered the Tucker firm pulled from the job Sept. 20, after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution began asking questions about the project and company, which was named in a special grand report looking into corruption in county contracts.
The county has since taken steps toward firing the company while trying to sort out how it missed quality problems that include water quality violations and an unsound retaining wall.
McKinney spotted drainage problems with the concrete and soil wall, meant to protect the plant expansion and nearby homes, shortly after walking on the site as part of an internal review of the grand jury report.
Those problems mean the wall could collapse in heavy rain, such as was frequent this summer. That wasn’t the “gift” expected when Desmear said it could do the work for $4.8 million less than the county estimated. “We don’t want that gift,” McKinney said. “We want someone who can actually perform the contract. We want to make sure we are delivering the best that we can for the citizens of DeKalb County.”
Several county employees said McKinney is known for holding that sort of high standard and has been known for finding and fixing problems since coming to DeKalb in 1995.
Before that, he served more than 20 years as a federal contract officer with the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps. – earning the rank of Commander – and held management jobs with the Savannah River Company and Federal Aviation Administration.
That background and an engineering degree from Georgia Tech make him the ideal person to look at the technical, financial and other elements that could prevent any would-be contractor from completing a project properly, said Morris Williams, the county’s public works chief.
In the meantime, Williams, county chief operating officer Zachary Williams and newly named capital improvements director Kenneth Saunders are still determining how DeKalb can fix the Snapfinger project.
Design engineers are examining how to roll unfinished work into the construction phase of the expansion, expected to begin next spring, Saunders said. The staffers also are working with county attorney to determine what DeKalb may need to do to formally terminate the Desmear contract – and how to try to get back the $5 million already spent on the shoddy work.
“We have to make sure we have an eye on these projects, because we don’t want to be in this place again,” said Commissioner Stan Watson, who oversees the board’s public works committee.
McKinney will continue to earn $116,000 as assistant director in the new role and be expected to provide oversight on any public works project in addition to his regular duties. But his focus will be on the 83 projects that make up the $650 million of water and sewer upgrades and $700 million of federally mandated repairs that stem from DeKalb violating the federal Clean Water Act.
Few of those projects have been successfully bid, so McKinney has a clear goal of finding the potential pitfalls, he said.
“That discipline will bleed into everything we do in DeKalb County,” McKinney said. “We will ensure the oversight happens.”
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