MARIETTA - The Facility Group - a Smyrna-based architecture, engineering and construction management firm - has a long-standing history of managing projects in Cobb.

The firm has recently faced controversy when The Facility Group chairman and CEO Robert Moultrie and two other executives were indicted on federal felony charges of conspiracy and fraud by a Mississippi grand jury. A trial is scheduled for Aug. 25 in Oxford, Miss.

The group has been the project manager on the Cobb School Board's past two Special Purpose Local Option Sale Tax programs.

They are also involved in two of Cobb County's SPLOST projects.

According to minutes from Cobb Board of Commissioners meetings, the board unanimously approved a $5.6 million contract with The Facility Group in August 2006 for the jail expansion and a $250,000 contract with the firm in November for the proposed new superior court building.

The court building, to be located in downtown Marietta, and the jail expansion are both being funded by the county's SPLOST, which was approved by voters in 2005.

The Cobb School Board awarded the firm two bids to manage their SPLOST I and SPLOST II programs. When SPLOST II ends Dec. 31, 2008, the group is expected to take in more than $20 million for their work on both programs.

Cobb Chairman Sam Olens said both county projects were competitively bid, and The Facility Group was the lowest bidder and most qualified. The recommendation to approve The Facility Group was made by county staff, Olens said.

"While the indictment is of concern, to date, all the projects they have done for the county have been under budget, on time and a great result for us," Olens said. "To date, both projects are on budget and on time."

In August, the county broke ground on the $110 million expansion for the Cobb County Adult Detention Center in Marietta. The project will add 1,152 beds, boosting jail capacity to more than 3,000 inmates. Construction is expected to take two years.

The contract with The Facility Group for the jail expansion is for the group to provide architectural and engineering services.

For the court building, the contract with The Facility Group is for the firm to provide a needs analysis and recommendations concerning the location and square footage of the building.

Olens said the board would consider project managers for the design and construction of the court building in the fall.

Robert Quigley, county spokesman, said an exact location for the court building has not been determined. But The Facility Group is expected to bring some recommendations to the Board of Commissioners at a work session in June.

"They are looking at best location, security tie in to other judicial facilities and parking impact," Quigley said.

When the SPLOST was approved, county officials expected to spend $55 million of the funds to build an annex to the existing Cobb Superior Court building. The current facility is more than 30 years old.

The 2005 SPLOST is expected to generate an estimated $825 million for transportation and public safety improvements over six years. The county has been collecting a penny on the dollar sales tax for the last two years and four months.

The majority of the SPLOST, about $634 million, is going toward transportation improvements across the county including widening of roads to reduce congestion, addition of turn lanes and widening of bridges.

The Facility Group is not involved with the transportation projects. Atlanta-based PBS&J is the project manager for the county's DOT project.

ahungerford@mdjonline.com

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