Warrant filed for JHS sign contractor

[Erik Sine]

Warrant filed for JHS sign contractor
Wednesday, June 17. 2015

Eight months after paying a nearly $10,000 down payment to a central Georgia sign company to construct an electronic marquis sign for Jefferson High School’s new gym “The Arena,” the contractor that was awarded the bid appears to have cashed the check and stopped correspondence with the school system altogether.
Now the school system has filed a warrant pertaining to the incident.

“The city’s attorney has made every opportunity to litigate this,” Jefferson City Schools superintendent John Jackson told the newspaper. “We get absolutely no response whatsoever. This was not the first effort by a long shot that we made to get this resolved and our efforts just seem to go no where. When you hear nothing, at some point you just have to face reality.”
A report filed with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office states that on June 8, an investigator received an email from the Jefferson School System and was asked to contact JHS principal Kevin Smith in reference to a theft.

Smith told the investigator that the school had accepted bids for the sign and agreed upon a proposal that had been submitted by Steve Hall, the owner of Colorwheel Sign Services, located in Sandersville. The Jefferson City School Board then signed a contract with Hall in October, hiring him to construct a new $19,000 sign for the school.

The report says according to the contract, a 50 percent down payment had to be made before construction would begin. The check for $9,915 was written on Sept. 24 and cleared the BOE’s bank account on Nov. 14. However, Smith reported that Hall has not replied to the multiple attempts by the BOE’s attorney regarding the job by phone, emails and letters.
In the report, Smith said the BOE ultimately had to hire another company to construct the sign and the BOE is now out $9,915 for a job that was never done.

[alltex]

I'd have to see the drawings. But 19K seems a little cheap for constructing and EMC sign. I wonder why it took 6 weeks for the check to be deposited and clear? Was it deposited in Brazil? I'm sure there's more to the story. But my guess is being low bidder. He couldn't produce the product or deliver for contracted price. So he cashed the check. Decided to double his money, to cover his low bid. Put it all on Black. The Roulette Wheel hit Red....

Or he's being a thief, or died....