Carbondale awards $3.37M downtown concert-venue contract to Fager McGee amid diversity concerns

The Carbondale City Council approved a $3,372,000 contract to Fager McGee Commercial Construction (Murfreesboro) to build a Washington Street concert venue, and approved a budget-adjustment ordinance using a 67%/33% split of additional funds between TIF 1 & 2 and the local improvement fund (option 1).

Staff presented the project background, grant history and the DCEO rebuild-downtowns grant award that supports the site. The project was initially budgeted much lower; staff calculated a funding shortfall and offered two options for additional funds. The recommended low bidder was Fager McGee, which reported a 22% minority workforce participation rate on the bid form (below the city’s 25% goal).

Council members and public speakers engaged in an extended discussion about contractor diversity and local hiring. Council member Ry Sanders said the city should hold contractors and trade unions accountable to diversity standards, saying, "We must hold our contractors and trade unions accountable to our standards of diversity, equality, and equity." Other members pointed to procurement rules and the sealed-bid process: as one councilor said, the rules must be set in advance and applied consistently.

A representative of Fager McGee, Darren Fager, told the council the company uses union labor and that unions supply workers from local halls; he described outreach and monthly internal discussions to meet minority participation goals. Community members urged the city to strengthen local-hiring and apprenticeship recruitment and asked for stronger contract language in future project-labor agreements.

The council voted to award the contract to Fager McGee and to approve the budget adjustment option 1. The motion passed on roll call.