Charlotte OKs $78 million deal after investigation clears James ‘Smuggie’ Mitchell
A $78 million Charlotte Water project passed during a called meeting Tuesday morning after being deferred last year during an investigation into a Charlotte City council member.
The deal would give a maximum of $78.21 million from the Charlotte Water capital investment plan to a joint venture involving PC Construction and R.J. Leeper to build a new pump station at the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Council members voted an hour after the original time Tuesday because not enough were in attendance to form a quorum — the minimum number of people needed to conduct official business.
At-large Councilman James “Smuggie” Mitchell asked to be excused from the vote, which occurred five days after Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said a state investigation found he had no ownership of R.J. Leeper. The councilman claimed throughout 2022 he owned a 25% stake in the company he formerly led as its president.
Under N.C. law, it’s illegal for a city do business with a company if a member of the city’s governing board owns more than 10%.
City Attorney Patrick Baker said Mitchell had no conflict and did not need to be excused based on the district attorney’s findings. But Councilman Ed Driggs made a motion to excuse him and Councilwoman Renee Johnson seconded the motion.
Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston and Councilmen Tariq Bokhari and Malcolm Graham voted down Mitchell’s request. But the motion failed because it didn’t receive support from a majority of the entire council, not just those present, Mayor Vi Lyles said.
The wastewater treatment plant project passed, despite Mitchell’s request to abstain from the vote. Council members who also voted for the project include Winston, Bokhari, Graham, Driggs, Johnson, Dante Anderson and Marjorie Molina.
“We’re looking forward to that kind of infrastructure growth of the $78 million dollar investment in Charlotte Water,” Mayor Vi Lyles said.
Neither Lyles nor members of the council or staff acknowledged the deal’s initial delay in November. Lyles, however, referred to it as “time sensitive.”
The city deferred the project in November during a Charlotte City Council action review meeting when a staff member walked to the lectern to tell the Mallard Creek project needed to be deferred to a December meeting with no explanation.
At the time, Mitchell and City Attorney Patrick Baker didn’t comment on why the project was pushed back.
What we know about the project
The new station is part of a bigger multi-phase project by Charlotte Water to expand the Mallard Creek Basin. The project would expand the wastewater treatment plant’s capacity from 13.1 million to 16 gallons per day.
In June 2021, the city approved a contract for almost $1 million with the joint venture for pre-construction services. On July 11, days before Mitchell was elected to the council, the city approved a guaranteed maximum price of $7 million for equipment and preliminary construction.
Phase one of Mallard Creek plant improvement projects is expected to wrap up by the end of 2025, city council documents show.
This story was originally published January 10, 2023 at 10:37 AM.
