The Athens-Clarke Commission is putting a lucrative construction contract to expand the county jail out for bid again after a contractor alleged that the low bidder isn't qualified to do the job.

Last month, county officials recommended hiring Augusta-based McKnight Construction Co., the low bidder out of seven at $47,171,123. Hunt Construction Group of Orlando, FL, was second-lowest at $47,251,500, although when two $50,000 add-ons are included, as officials also recommended, McKnight's bid is $20,000 higher than Hunt's.

D.J. McGlothern, Hunt's Southeast region general manager, has questioned in statements at commission meetings and emails obtained by Flagpole why ACC staff recommended McKnight, which he says doesn't meet ACC's own standards for undertaking the project.

"More often than not, staff gets it right," McGlothern told the commission Tuesday night. "This time, they didn't."

To qualify to even bid to rebuild and expand the dilapidated and overcrowded jail, adding 662 beds, companies were required to have built a jail in the $50 million to $60 million range. McKnight has not built a project nearly that large, according to McGlothern. The largest project listed on McKnight's website is a $26.6 million terminal at Augusta Regional Airport. Two jail expansions, a $6.4 million one in Liberty County and a $13.7 million on in Columbia County, are listed.

But Will McKnight said his company has built five jails worth a total of $192 million, including three designed by ACC's architect, Rosser International.

"Our company was started in 1926, and we've never failed to complete a project," McKnight said. He even promised to pay for ACC's legal defense if any other bidders sued over the contract award.

But the delay of a lawsuit could cost the county more money than fighting it, ACC Attorney Bill Berryman said. "It's nice to have the cost paid for, but time is the real factor," he said.

After McGlothern raised concerns about the bidding process, officials recommended that the commission simply open up the project for bids again, advice commissioners took by a 9-1 vote.

Commissioner Doug Lowry urged his colleagues to hire Hunt. "It looks to me like the Hunt representative has a point, and it's something we ought to look into before we do a rebid."

Both McGlothern and McKnight opposed a delay. McKnight told the commission that a delay for rebidding could cost the county if the price of construction materials goes up in the meantime. Rebidding will take about three months, ACC Manager Alan Reddish said, a delay Commissioner Kelly Girtz said wasn't long enough to warrant making a decision Tuesday night.

After the vote, Lowry asked for "a full and accurate report from the manager's office on those very important questions" raised by McGlothern.

Also Tuesday, the commission approved a new in-house economic development department and a management agreement between ACC Leisure Services and the nonprofit Morton Theatre Corp. It also named a new pedestrian bridge connecting two trails at Sandy Creek Park for Ellen R. Jordan, a noted environmentalist and legal scholar and the late wife of former commissioner Carl Jordan, who helped lead efforts to build the bridge.