Wilson County commissioners on Dec. 23 approved two contracts tied to a new Expo Arena: a standard owner-architect agreement with PBK and a construction-manager-at-risk (CMAR) contract with Spa Glass.

County staff told the court the PBK agreement had been reviewed by the county attorney's office and that PBK's previously approved fee schedule and scope were consistent with project needs. Commissioner King moved to approve the PBK agreement; Commissioner Aiken seconded. Commissioner Martin said he was not familiar enough with the contract language and abstained. The motion passed.

On the construction contract, county staff presented four fee options from Spa Glass and recommended option 1. Staff summarized that option as a preconstruction fee (about $20,000) and a construction fee of roughly 6.75% (about $270,000), for a combined fee near $290,000, and noted the project's anticipated budget was not to exceed $4,000,000.

Commissioner Aiken moved to accept Spa Glass as the CMAR; Commissioner King seconded. Commissioner Martin raised procurement-law concerns, arguing the method and advertising may not have complied with statutory requirements and saying the process had lacked transparency: "I do not believe that this has been procured properly," he said on the record. County staff and counsel replied that the scoring committee had already recommended Spa Glass and that staff sought to ratify the procurement method in light of federal funding timelines and an obligation deadline.

The court voted to approve the Spa Glass CMAR contract; the motion passed with Commissioner Martin recorded as opposing the action. County staff said Spa Glass had agreed to federal procurement and 2 CFR 200 compliance language and that the firm would seek local subcontractors during the sub-bid process.

The court signed the contracts and directed staff to proceed with preconstruction planning and local subcontractor outreach consistent with the approved agreements.