Swan Screen Swoops Under the Radar

“Today is the first I’ve heard of it”

At the January 24th Blue Ridge City Council Workshop, Parks Commissioner Michael Eaton announced the city received only one bid for the replacement of the screen at the Swan Theatre. According to Eaton, the project was bid out on December 20th and the single bid returned on January 19th, from Selby Products. Selby’s quote includes the installed screen with covered towers at a cost of $266,400. Eaton said the city’s insurance policy covers the price of the screen and installation and that none of the cost will be passed on to taxpayers. The insurance covers $300,000, Eaton said.

During the workshop, though, the news came as a surprise to Street Commissioner and Council Member Rhonda Thomas. Later, Thomas commented,

“Today is the first I’ve heard of it…I didn’t know we were sending out bids, much less opening them. There wasn’t a quorum present…Nothing has been voted on by the council on this matter.”

According to Thomas, the decision was made during a meeting excluding, Thomas, Mayor Donna Whitener, and Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Huffman, where only one of the three media outlets was notified. In an email to FYN yesterday Eaton explained the situation.

“It was my understanding,” he noted “that unless any further action was to be taken, a quorum was not required but only the paper to authenticate the bid as soon as it was opened.”

Further he said that he

“approached the council and received the support of the majority to begin the bid process,” adding, “I was under (the) impression (and still looking into this) that the bid process only requires a vote to accept a bid, not to simply request them.”

According to Eaton’s email, like Thomas, Mayor Whitener did not know about the bids. Thomas said, the council, as a unified body or quorum did not call the meeting. According to Georgia’s Sunshine Laws,

“Whenever a quorum of the members of an agency (again, broadly defined) meets for the discussion or presentation of official business or policy or takes an official action, the meeting must be open to the public.”

Based on the responses from Eaton, Thomas, and the Mayor, the meeting was not public. FYN did not receive notification of the meeting.

According to the Georgia Public Works Act, any public works construction costing over $100,000 must be put out to bid. In an email to FYN today, GMA (Georgia Municipal Association) Public Information Manager Amy Henderson noted a repair to an existing structure (like the Swan screen) is not covered under the Public Works Act and that the city must refer to its charter. Blue Ridge City Attorney David Syfan told FYN that the City of Blue Ridge does not have self-imposed bidding mandates, leaving it bound to the state law. Syfan said that typically when a project is put out to bid, the council approves the project. He added that, although doing otherwise may not be illegal, such a move is not good PR (public relations).

Additionally, one critic of the move suggested that neglect to notify all media outlets violated other aspects of the Sunshine Laws.

Later in the workshop, the issue of the Swan lease came up. Thomas said she has contacted GMA and the GMA said that the current lease is not valid. The councilwoman asserted that she wanted to scrap everything they have on the issue and start from scratch. She suggested moving the lease-drafting responsibilities from council members, like Eaton, to Mayor Whitener and City Manager Bill Sowers.

“We want (owner of the drive-in) Mr. Setser to be successful, but we also want to protect the city,”

Thomas said. The council agreed to shelf the topic until the next workshop.