Over the years, the relocation of the pump station went out to bid three times, but the results were always either over budget or not within the grant programs guidelines.
The lowest bid the city received was for $966,546 in July of 2024, Whitaker said. This price tag was still over budget, but the city was primed to receive additional grant funds to make the project a reality, given that they committed an additional $26,655. The city had already committed to a $95,000 match, according to previous reporting from The Post and Courier.
The additional commitment of more than $26,000 was never made. A letter from Whitaker to Lake City’s council said “the commitment letter for the City’s share was not submitted before the bids expired, and the lowest bidder declined to extend their price.”
Whitaker was not employed by the city at the time of the bid. Robinson said she was not made aware that the city needed to, and failed to, put forth the $26,655.
“I can’t account for the things that happened before me, I can just react to them. But that, to me, we should’ve been able to do that,” Whitaker said about the match of $26,655.
Whitaker plans to implement a grant management tracking system to prevent something similar from happening in the future. The system would monitor deadlines, match requirements and approvals.
“Getting grants is easy, managing grants is the skill,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker will also be “prioritizing clearer internal communication and accountability, so required documents are submitted on time,” according to his letter to council.
“I think with a lot of change overs in administration and staff itself, its kind of put us in a bad position when others had to assume those responsibilities, it was kind of hard,” Robinson said.
