Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Coastal Engineering seeks to dislodge Adams Engineering, which won a county contract for the Sunshine Grove Road design.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 18, 2002
BROOKSVILLE -- Coastal Engineering has turned to the courts in its continuing effort to force a narrow definition of the term "local firm" on Hernando County government.
The firm has asked Judge Curtis Neal to order Hernando County not to complete a contract with Adams Engineering for the design of an expanded Sunshine Grove Road, and instead to seek new bids for the project.
Coastal lawyer Tom Hogan Jr. says the reason is simple: Adams no longer deserves to be rated as a local company because it sold to Clearwater-based TBE Group earlier this year. Yet county commissioners ranked Adams as local and chose Adams for the job.
"You can't get around the local rule by forming a vague connection with a local firm," Hogan argued, challenging the idea that Adams Engineering as a division of TBE Group should qualify for the same points as Coastal, which has its headquarters in Brooksville. "We are asking the court to tell the county to follow its own rules. . . . They missed the big point that Jim Adams Engineering did not bid this job. TBE did."
Truly local firms deserve preference, as intended in the rule, he said, because they contribute more directly to Hernando County's economy.
Kurt Hitzemann, assistant county attorney, countered that the commission acted properly when it decided in April that its consultant selection policy allowed the local points for a "primary or main" office within the county. Commissioners also asked the legal staff to clarify the language for future selections, which has not happened yet.
"Basically, what we are going to argue is, the county gets to interpret its own rules and ordinances," Hitzemann said. "There's nothing wrong with this (policy). What they're complaining about is how it's been interpreted."
The sides had expected to face off Thursday afternoon. But lawyers for Adams asked to step into the case as an interested party, as the company stands to lose or gain based on the outcome.
Adams' lawyer, Darryl Johnston, has contended that the company's Brooksville office, though not TBE's headquarters, is a primary office under the county's ordinance. The commission can revise the rule later, he has said, but it should not penalize Adams for seeking contracts properly under the existing language.
Hogan said Coastal did not object to the delay, because all parties should be heard.
"We're not trying to win by ambush," he said.
The case is rescheduled for June 4. Hitzemann said he expected the judge to act immediately on the request for a temporary injunction.
If Coastal wins, he said, the Sunshine Grove Road project would be delayed as the county figures out its next course of action, which likely would be a rebidding of the job. If the county wins, he said, the county would negotiate its contract with Adams and begin the work.
Coastal might continue to challenge the decision, Hitzemann added, but it could not stop the selected bidder from doing the job after the contract is entered. It could seek financial damages, he said, if the company believes it lost money because it was wrongly denied the contract.
-- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Hernando County government and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com.