By Elizabeth Farnsworth
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA - On Wednesday, Cobb School Board members will hear a detailed account of work performed by The Facility Group, the Smyrna firm that has managed the district's special sales-tax projects for years.
The Facility Group; its founder, Robert Moultrie of Smyrna; and two other executives have been indicted in Mississippi on federal conspiracy charges in connection with a failed beef plant.
Some board members say they are not worried about what the audit will show.
"I don't have any anxiety. I really don't anticipate any great revelation," board Chairwoman Betty Gray said Monday afternoon. She said she has not seen the report.
Board member Holli Cash, who represents southeast Cobb, agreed.
"We know everything's going well, and we'll get an excellent report. What happened with the Facility Group had nothing to do with Cobb County and Cobb County schools," Cash said.
Board member Dr. John Abraham called for an independent audit in early April, after news of the company's indictment broke. Marietta-based accounting firm Moore & Cubbedge audits the district's SPLOST program each year, and Gray said she directed Moore & Cubbedge partner Donnie McGrath to include "a greater cross-section of the invoices and payments" between Facility and the district.
The Facility Group has earned nearly $9.2 million for managing SPLOST I projects, and will likely receive $102,000 more for projects that are still pending. That five-year tax collection began in 1999. SPLOST II, which began in 2004, has earned The Facility Group at least $12.8 million.
The Rev. Dr. John Crooks, vice chairman of the board, said he is "interested in breaking off Cobb's relationship with The Facility Group" - although he has seen "nothing to indicate there is a problem" in dealing with the company. But public opinion does matter, he said.
"If this were to escalate to a point where that (public trust) were in jeopardy, that would be prudent," he said.
In other action, on Wednesday the school board is also expected to:
-Receive a quarterly financial report.
-Discuss an application for state and federal vocational-educational financing. The amount allocated for the 2009 fiscal year, which begins July 1, is $581,965, down from $594,617 last year.
-Discuss extending a contract for science supplies and equipment, with various vendors, estimated to cost $475,000 each year.
-Discuss extending a bid for library books. The books are estimated to cost about $1.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year. The district purchases books from multiple vendors.
-Discuss extending bids with food-service companies for the upcoming fiscal year. Royal Food Service, produce and eggs, more than $1.5 million; Sara Lee Food and Beverage Company, bread, $500,000; Advance Food Company, ground-beef processing crumbles, $263,000; Mayfield Dairy Farms, milk and juice drinks, $3.2 million.
-Discuss a bid to relocate or return about 130 portable classrooms to vendors. The district estimates it will spend about $600,000 throughout the summer and fall relocating and returning the trailers.
-Discuss approving a $40,000 loan to pay for band uniforms at Allatoona High School. The school is expected to pay the district back over a five year period, with the final payment coming in May 2013.
-Discuss awarding contracts to Hamby & Aloisio, Inc. and Traveler's to provide property and casualty insurance for the school district. The insurance is expected to cost about $386,856.
-Discuss purchasing an electronic grade-book system for the district.
-Discuss SPLOST II project awards, including a contract for classroom modifications at Brumby Elementary School. The architect estimated the project would cost $184,890; the Facility Group has estimated it will cost $212,169; and $680,985 was budgeted in SPLOST II; and
Science-lab modifications at Sprayberry High School. The architect estimated the project would cost $911,050; the Facility Group estimated $868,800 for the project; and $315,000 was budgeted.
-Discuss SPLOST I project awards. These projects were not on the first priority list for SPLOST I, but are to be completed with money left over from the first SPLOST.
Floor covering at Cheatham Hill Elementary School. The architect estimated the project would cost $540,000; the Facility Group estimated the project would cost $560,000, and SPLOST I budgeted $568,360. The Facility Group will receive $28,411 for managing the Cheatham Hill project;
Re-roofing at Big Shanty and Nicholson Elementaries. The architect estimated the Big Shanty project would cost $784,750; the Facility Group estimated the project at $749,636; and SPLOST I budgeted $792,646 for the project. The Facility Group will receive $26,992 for managing the Big Shanty re-roofing. At Nicholson, the architect estimated the project would cost $771,140; the Facility Group estimated the project would cost $840,000; and SPLOST I budgeted $758,640 for the project. The Facility Group will receive $21,285 for managing the Nicholson project.
-Review the tentative 2009 fiscal year budget.
Comment on this Story
Posted Comments
The Facility Group's non-indicted players surely are not going to go down with the ship!? The Corporation page of the GA Secretary of State website will help in keeping tabs on this group. If CCSD is truly going to part ways with The Facility Group they need to make sure they do not try to fool the public by attempting to put lipstick on a pig! NEW COMPANY headed up by some of the SAME Players is NOT "breaking off Cobb's relationship with The Facility Group"!
To Dr Crooks if the Facilities Group were a street gang, out robbing and drug dealing, you and the other members of the board would be running away from them as fast as you can,putting as much distance between you and them as possible, but no they are a so called legal organization, that bribes public officials’, build poor facilities and then find any excuse to shut them down leaving the people of the area holding the bag. They (the Facilities Group) with the help of the Cobb County Board draw up the planes to build schools and other projects in the county and are allowed to bid on them leaving other bidders out in the cold, you know Dr Crooks you are right the public trust in the school board at this point is getting in the very low to none side. We know that the Board has an audit of this company coming up soon but base on the past we have seen and read the “junk” your paid auditors sometimes produce. I mean, how can you pay someone to audit you and think it is going to be fair remember “you are paying them “ they are not going to say anything bad about you so that is just public money wasted. Look you folks just need to get your act together, the children of Cobb County deserve better so give them better.
Moore and Cubbedge is about as independent about The Facility Group as the school board members that take fat checks, gifts and treats from The Facility Group. Does anyone really believe Moore and Cubbedge is going to come back and report, "Ooops, we missed this the first 4 times you paid us to audit SPLOST"?
The fix is in, folks.
Will Moore and Cubbedge bring it to the Board's attention that Allatoona HS and Pickett's Mill ES are currently MILLIONS over budget? Probably not since according to the CCSD school board The Facility Group always comes in "under budget" and "on time"!
A school board member stated that no great revelations will come out of the audit of the Facilities Group. Are you able to see the future that clearly? I think you should get a second opinion before you get started; I mean look around, schools coming in over budge, more and more trailers on NEW School Grounds with no end in sight, the county school board doing business with a company under federal indictment and you think everything is going to be alright. Lady many of us attended school and did learn to think, we can see all of the things that this company did to Cobb County, both good and bad, with the help of the Cobb County School Board. Look you may be right in that this County needs the SPLOST in order to give children a real education, but do we need a company like this? Do we tell our children that this is the way to do business?
As mentioned in an earlier comment I read, a previous temporary Superintendent (who ended up in Fulton Co.) went to work with the Facility GRoup after he retired from Cobb Schools. I bet he got a great salary since he was over the construction and SPLOST area and brought in all the needed inside information to be sure they did what was neeed to get bonuses. I am sure the higher ups in the construction and project management areas get some kind of kick back now
Glad to see so many open minds here. Not. Ignorant of the facts, ignorant of the processes. I guess all of you can just join Omar and "draw up the planes" for submitting a bid yourselves. Then you can sit back and listen to all the whiners and complainers who don't know a thing about you or what you do. Sad, yet laughable and entertaining at the same time!
Why in the heck did Ms. Gray and the School Board Members hire an auditor that is in cohots with Facility Group? Come on Cobb County Schools - you are going to have major difficulty passing the new SPLOST
The Facilitating Corruption Group. . . .
Farley, Some of the people commenting know more than you think. Keep watching the stories that come out of this.
Farley is a Gloverite who gets paid well to move from BLOG to BLOG.
are any of you Cobb Countians requesting an outside Auditor - not connected with school or Facility Group, for your SPLOST. That is a lot of money. Also, did Dr. Salmon work for Cobb County Schools?