Pierce County commissioners deadlock on engineering firm for 2026 CDBG, set called meeting

Pierce County commissioners struggled to pick an engineering firm for the county's 2026 Community Development Block Grant during their Jan. 22 meeting, with repeated 2-2 votes leaving the decision unresolved and prompting officials to schedule a called meeting.

County Manager Thomas Sauls recommended Roberts Civil Engineering after a scoring committee tabulation showed Roberts with a score of 20.33, Statewide Engineering at 20 and TR Long at 19. Sauls presented the recommendation during the meeting and the board debated both scoring methods and cost differences.

The discussion centered on two issues: the tabulation form and the cost differences among bidders. Commissioner Graham Raley said the Department of Community Affairs tabulation sheet was "very vague" and that his own scoring produced a different ranking; he said his top two picks were Statewide Engineering and Hofstadter and asked how many CDBG projects each bidder has completed and whether those questions could be added to the scoring.

Commissioner Troy Mattox moved to accept Sauls' recommendation and award services to Roberts Civil Engineering. Chairman Neal Bennett seconded, but the motion failed on a 2-2 vote: Mattox and Bennett voted yes; Raley and Commissioner David Lowman voted no.

A subsequent motion by Commissioner Raley to approve Statewide Engineering, seconded by Lowman, also failed 2-2 (Raley and Lowman yes; Mattox and Bennett no). Commissioners debated whether the chairman could cast a deciding vote; Raley cited the enabling act saying the chairman "may vote," and Chairman Bennett said, "I am exercising my may." County Attorney Adam Craft told the clerk that the chairman could vote in the event of a tie but said he was unsure whether the chairman could vote when there was not a tie.

Cost differences were a repeated point: Chairman Bennett noted Roberts's proposed engineering fee of about $75,000 versus Statewide at $120,000 and Hofstadter estimated between $90,000 and $120,000. Bennett emphasized fiscal stewardship, saying, "We need to be good stewards of the county and taxpayers' money." He also noted Roberts is a local vendor with an office in Blackshear.

Commissioner David Lowman later moved to approve TR Long Engineering; that motion was seconded and again resulted in a 2-2 split. Additional attempts to approve Statewide similarly failed. Because the county must submit documents to the state by Jan. 27, the board scheduled a called meeting for Monday, Jan. 26 at 8:00 a.m. to resolve the selection.

The board did not make a final award during the Jan. 22 meeting. The county plans to revisit the procurement at the Jan. 26 called meeting so the required materials can be submitted to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs by the Jan. 27 deadline.