Community Corner
Oconee County Put On Hold Awarding Of Contract For Design Of New Roadway Opposite Epps Bridge Centre
County Attorney Daniel Haygood is reviewing plans before a decision on Parkway Boulevard extension comes back to the Board of Commissioners.
Oconee County’s plans to begin design work on a road being sought by Atlanta developer Frank Bishop are on hold while County Attorney Daniel Haygood looks into the bids and the bidding process.
At the request of Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, the awarding of the design contract to ABE Consulting, 2410 Hog Mountain Road, was removed from the consent agenda at the Sept. 2 meeting of the Commission.
Davis said it was necessary “to check a couple of things on the contracts,” and County Administrative Office Jeff Benko told me in an email message on Sept. 3 that Haygood “was reviewing a few items.”
Benko said “we intend to place” the awarding of the contract on the Sept. 30 agenda.
ABE Consulting, owned by Abe Abouhamdan, chairman of the county Land Use and Transportation Planning Committee, had submitted the low bid of $96,925. Williams and Associates, 2470 Daniells Bridge Road, had the next low bid of $98,980.
The roadway, an extension of Parkway Boulevard to connect to the Oconee Connector across from Epps Bridge Centre, came before the BOC on Aug. 26 without earlier public discussion. At that meeting, the commissioners gave tentative approval to ABE Consulting’s bid.
For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.
Pictured: Site of future roadway and development opposite Epps Bridge Centre.