The Anson County Board of Commissioners spent the majority of the Sept. 1 meeting — including two closed sessions — arguing over which of three engineering firms should be selected for engineering, funding assistance and project management services for a new water line.
County utilities director Mike Sessions led a committee that did a request for qualifications (RFQ) and interviewed three qualified firms. Of the three — McGill Associates, LaBella Associates and LKC — Sessions and the committee recommended McGill. LaBella was the second choice, and LKC the third.
However, when he announced his recommendation during the open session of the meeting, Commissioner Jim Sims apologized for “asserting his opinion” during the closed session since he wasn’t on the deciding committee. “In my opinion,” he said, “LKC can do this job and I will vote for LKC.”
After his comments, Attorney Scott Forbes asked for a word with Commission Chair Anna Baucom, who then called for a second closed session.
Once the commissioners returned from the second closed session, a motion was made to approve the committee’s recommendation. However, that motion failed by a vote of 3-4.
Commissioner Ross Streater then motioned to approve the committee’s second choice, LaBella, saying, “I think politics have gotten into it.”
Upon discussion, Sessions agreed with Sims that any of the three firms could do the job, but he said, “It’s nothing personal. It’s nothing political. I just wanted the county to have a different engineer from the town of Wadesboro.”
Streater pointed out that both the McGill and LaBella teams had finance managers with them during their presentations, and LKC did not. “This has gotten so political,” he added, “I don’t think the commissioners can make an honest, real decision.”
Baucom suggested that perhaps the commissioners themselves should meet with all three firms before making a decision, but Sims said the county should move forward in order to get the project started.
Streater’s motion for LaBella also failed by a vote of 3-4.
After that vote, Streater complained, “I’ve had people call me and tell me LKC should have it because someone that works there is from here and their daddy supported the ball teams.”
Sturdivant said people had also contacted her, urging her to choose LKC for the same reasons. “Why should we approve the firm that was the third choice of the committee?” she later said.
Commissioner Harold Smith agreed with Streater and Sturdivant, saying to Sessions, “You don’t want the county to have the same firm as the town. Your opinion should be good enough for this board.”
Sims then asked Attorney Forbes if everything had been done legally, to which he replied, “Yes.”
“All three have the qualifications so all three can do the job,” Baucom said.
Sims motioned to approve LKC for the water main project, which passed by a 4-3 vote, with Streater, Sturdivant and Smith opposed.
Commissioners Streater and Smith left the meeting shortly after the vote.