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Anne Arundel hires probers in artificial turf contract flap
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“We approved the outside help to maintain the integrity of the investigation,” said Council Chairwoman Cathy Vitale, R-District 5, like many council members will not openly talk about the investigation in hopes of not tainting the results.
But some council members have said they were concerned about how Davidsonville-based Sunny Acres Landscaping Inc. — whose operators are politically connected with the county’s Republican Party — won a $10 million contract to build three turf fields at county high schools.
Sutherland said the technical expert will help her retrieve electronic files and e-mails in the county’s database archive, including those that have been deleted. The legal help is there to protect the technical expert and the confidentiality of the retrieved files, she said.
“We’re not guessing whether they need to use Kelly green or forest green turf … but if they followed the county’s purchasing laws,” Sutherland said.
Sutherland also said she will determine if the county’s consultant properly looked into Sunny Acres’ credentials and its work. Sunny Acres has already begun work on high school turf fields as part of a previously awarded contract.
County officials told The Examiner in May that Sunny Acres beat out 10 other competitors in a sealed bid process, and that the process was fair and legal. Sunny Acres’ Vice President Les Belcher’s wife, Debbie, is a member of the Republican Central Committee.
County Executive John R. Leopold, a Republican, said he welcomes the investigation. Requests for comments Tuesday from Sunny Acres were not returned by press time.
The council halted funding the contract until Sutherland completes her investigation, which she hopes to finish within a month. Council members have said they hope to have everything in order to not delay construction.
jflanagan@baltimoreexaminer.com
