Sandy Springs settles suit over $2.8M federal grant
The state will get more than $2 million and Sandy Springs, nearly $700,000, in the settlement of a lawsuit between the city and the Fulton Perimeter Community Improvement District over a paperwork snafu involving a federal grant.
The CID will pay the Georgia Department of Transportation $2.09 million, the dollar amount of Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant funds the city had agreed to forego for fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020; while Sandy Springs will get $698,773, the local maintenance funds it did not receive in 2017, according to an announcement by the city.
The settlement will result in no loss of funding for Sandy Springs, officials said.
Sandy Springs sued the community improvement district and consultants CH2M Hill Inc., AECOM Technical Services and Lowe Engineers in June. The suit resulted after the federal government demanded repayment of a $2.8 million grant for a CID project to improve Peachtree-Dunwoody Road. A federal audit of project documents had found information missing.
The CID had used federal grant money provided through the state, with Sandy Springs acting as the local government sponsor. GDOT returned the money and sought reimbursement from Sandy Springs; the city gave up its share of Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant funds. Sandy Springs sued after the community improvement district refused to reimburse the city.
