Health & Fitness
Three Commissioners Continuing 'Business as Usual' Policies of Previous Administration
Gwinnett BOC to meet with Briscoe consultants, but three of the commissioners want what they want, damn the facts and full speed ahead.
On Tuesday Sept. 20, the Gwinnett BOC will meet with IMG Consultants for a question and answer session. In April, the BOC engaged IMG to make recommendations on how the county should proceed with the Briscoe expansion/privatization FRP process.
The IMG report issued in early August pointed out the extraordinary cost (hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars) and the high risk/low probability of success the county would accept by expanding Briscoe Field to accommodate passenger airline service. The report stated, based on IMG’s experience, the private operator will expect very significant public (government) investment if passenger aviation is pursued, which will include direct Gwinnett County investment into the airport.
IMG also strongly recommended the County address four steps:
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- define a clear goal for Briscoe
- take time to understand the opportunity
- market the opportunity
- develop the RFP carefully
After receiving this report, the three legacy BOC members instructed the county staff to proceed with the RFP, without addressing any of IMG's four recommendations, without a public meeting, without a public vote on how to proceed on IMG's recommendation, and without including the two other commissioners in any discussions regarding on how or when to proceed with Briscoe.
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YES GWINNETT we still have three commissioners that want to continue the “BUSINESS AS USUAL” policies of the Bannister era. They want what they want, damn the facts and full speed ahead. When the project later fails they will blame the “staff” and consultants, claiming they were mislead or didn’t have all the information.
The meeting will be held after the 10 a.m. BOC business meeting in a second floor board room, so plan to arrive at 11 a.m., the session should end around 12:30 p.m.
The meeting is open to the public and may be moved to a larger room if attendance demands, so check at the commissioners office to determine the actual meeting location.