Columbus councilmen are expected to consider a lease agreement and compensation for J5 Broaddus, the company they hired July 2 as the city’s project manager, when they meet 5 p.m. today at the municipal complex.
Councilmen created the project manager position July 2 before accepting an unsolicited proposal from J5 Broaddus and hiring the firm for the new job. Councilmen Charlie Box and Bill Gavin voted against the motion approving creation of the position.
City attorney Jeff Turnage said while he was not a party to the negotiations regarding compensation, he drew up an agreement for councilmen to consider that would lease a space in the strip mall by the municipal complex to the company for $6,000 annually.
“I am not sure what the figure is for the compensation aspect of the master services agreement. Otherwise, I’ve reviewed it and it seems everything about the master services agreement is perfectly legal as far as I can tell,” Turnage said. “I just haven’t been a party to their negotiations over the compensation to be paid, and it’s not set forth in that agreement.”
J5 Broaddus is a local branch of Austin, Texas-based project management and planning firm Broaddus & Associates. J5 is headed by Jabari Edwards, who was a co-manager of Mayor Robert Smith’s re-election campaign earlier this year. The creation of the project manager position was not on the agenda emailed to local media outlets prior to the July 2 meeting but was on the amended version available to the public at the meeting.
The proposal states J5 Broaddus is a comprehensive team of project management and construction firms assembled to address the needs of the city of Columbus.
Papers filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office list Edwards as the registered agent of J5 and his wife, Jewel, as a member of the company. J5 Broaddus was formed as a Limited Liability Company under the J5 GBL name.
Also shown as a member of J5 is Russell Sheffield, who owns RDI Waste Services and Sheffield Construction. Sheffield’s and Edward’s companies share the same address, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
During Edwards’ tenure as president of the Columbus Light and Water board, members voted in favor of an option to buy 118.8 acres of land from Sheffield for $996,000 in October 2010. Edwards cast the tie-breaking vote in a 3-2 decision to purchase the property.
The sale ultimately did not take place because the option was conditional on Sheffield obtaining environmental permits. The one-year period to secure the permits elapsed and the purchase was never consummated.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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