City Reaches Settlement In Lawsuit Over Sidewalk Project

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — The city of Sandy Springs has reached a settlement agreement with the Fulton Perimeter Community Improvement District, CH2M HILL, Inc., AECOM Technical Services and Lowe Engineers over assessments it was forced to pay due to paperwork errors by PCID related to a federal streetscape project.

As part of the settlement agreement, which results in no loss of funding for the city, the PCID will immediately pay the Georgia Department of Transportation a little more than $2 million, which is the dollar amount of Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant funds Sandy Springs agreed to forgo from GDOT for fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020. Sandy Springs will receive a payment of $698,773.83, which is the dollar amount of LMIG funds the city did not receive in fiscal year 2017.

“The city is please this matter has been concluded in favor of the city,” Mayor Rusty Paul said.

The dispute involves a sidewalk and streetscape project along Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, performed between 2008 and 2009. The PCID used federal grant money provided through GDOT, with Sandy Springs acting as a fiscal agent, which was required under the grant policy.

An audit of the grant in 2014 found “non-compliance” in the project paperwork, resulting in the federal government requiring a payback of the $2.8 million in grant money by GDOT, which in turn demanded the reimbursement from the city, solely as the local government sponsor of the project. When the PCID refused to reimburse the city, the City Council authorized legal action against the PCID and CH2M Hill.

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