HANCOCK COUNTY — An Alabama contractor who hauled a model jail cell to Greenfield on a semitrailer last week says he will no longer pursue bids on the county jail project.
Heath Claborn, vice president of business development for Cornerstone Construction, previously said he doesn’t think the bidding process for much of the proposed Hancock County jail project, which could cost up to $43 million, has enough competition of subcontractors. He called the process a “rigged-up deal.”
Last week, Claborn and a few of his associates showed off the type of cell he would install in the proposed new county jail — if allowed to bid — to county elected officials and representatives with the architecture firm in charge of designing the jail, RQAW, and the construction manager, Garmong Construction Services.
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“After reviewing the procurement process for this project, I don’t feel comfortable being involved with this project moving forward,” Claborn wrote in a letter to Hancock County officials. “If the job is over budget and put out for re-bid we might consider looking at the project in the future. However, we will not be doing business with Garmong Construction Services. It is a travesty what is taking place on this project.”
Claborn wrote that Cornerstone has “never presented our product in a similar fashion to any owner, architect or general contractor and not had our product or our vendor’s products approved for bidding.”
Paul Okeson, executive vice president of Garmong, said Cornerstone didn’t meet the specifications of the project. If a subcontractor that isn’t prequalified for the project submits a bid, Okeson said Garmong would immediately reject the proposal. Only one subcontractor was prequalified for the cell installation.
John Jessup, president of the Hancock County Board of Commissioners, called the Cornerstone cells “inferior” to the type of cell that county officials and project consultants prefer.
Subcontractor bids were due to Garmong Thursday afternoon.
