The Town of Liberty held a special called meeting on Monday, August 15, after confusion arose over a contract to resurface the Liberty Tennis Courts. One newly elected member of the town council expressed concerns over whether the town had a legally binding contract to perform the work and had called for work to be stopped.
In May, 2022, the Liberty Town Council voted unanimously to hire Seal Rite, Inc, doing business as Sport Rite, Inc. of Tullahoma, to begin work on the tennis courts at a bid price of $28,600. According to the council minutes from meeting, “It was decided that there would be two tennis courts. A basketball goal would also be installed on the outside of the fence facing the parking lot.”
The minutes also stated that the town had received a $1,000 donation from one individual, with total donations at approximately $4,000. In July, the DeKalb County Commission also earmarked $18,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the renovation, with the project also supported by a matching grant.
But newly elected councilwoman Kendra Stanford said she had concerns about the contract, whether the company was legitimate, and whether there was even a legal contract in the first place.
“My question is about this contract. It looks like it was printed off of a phone,” Stanford said. “I thought a contract was supposed to specify when you start a job and when you are going to finish a job. This is not even a contract. This is an estimate.” Stanford also questioned whether the town had properly submitted the project for bids as required.
Liberty Mayor Audrey Martin told the council that because of the concerns, she temporarily stopped work on the tennis courts on the Thursday before the meeting until the special meeting could be held.
Mayor Martin explained that the town had advertised for bids for the project, but had not received any replies. Later, former councilman Derek Johnson contacted Sport Rite, Inc. on behalf of the city and the company submitted an estimate.
Johnson said in the meeting that the entire council met with the owner of the company before voting to award the project based on the quote. “The whole board met with Sal (The owner) and he gave us a price, and he had to revise it because we delayed the process. That is the new one (price) that he sent back to us ($28,600). When he sent that back to us, he said if we all agreed to do it that night, to sign that piece of paper and send it back to him and that would be our contract between us and him.”
Councilman J.D. Bratten questioned why the town was even having the discussion. “I’m not even sure why we are discussing this,” Bratten said. “We voted unanimously as a board to pass this. This is old business. The town of Liberty people came to us and said this is what we want. We got this bid and this is what we want to do with it. Okay, that’s what we did, and we all voted on it.”
But Stanford argued that the ownership of the company had changed recently and contended that the new owner is not a licensed contractor. She said she believed the company is operating under the previous owner’s license. “This guy (owner) doesn’t have a contractor license,” Stanford said. “It is under the previous owner’s name. He didn’t own this company until July 13. He has to have a contractor’s license with the state of Tennessee under his name.”
Stanford had reportedly traveled to Tullahoma and questioned Seal Rite about the project without the council’s or the mayor’s knowledge, something that upset some of the council members.
“I think we’ve already decided what we’re going to do. One person doesn’t have the right to stop something when it’s been voted on unanimously. We’ve got a grant for this. We’ve got 80 percent that, we raised $4,000 and got $18,000. People have donated for it and are starting to ask for their money back. Sal said to me that he is responsible for it and has the license and also has the insurance,” said Alderman Bratten.
Mayor Martin told the council that because of the questions raised, the town contacted Smithville Attorney Vester Parsley, who told the mayor the town is in a legally binding contract with the company.
“If Vester Parsley says that this is a binding contract, we have to go with it,” Martin said. “He is a lawyer. He said if we wanted to do away with it (agreement) then we would be in the middle of a lawsuit and we could lose.”
“I don’t think there would be a lawsuit if they (company) are not legitimate,” said Alderman Stanford. “That’s what it seems to be to me.”
Even though a vote was not needed to proceed with the tennis court project, the board voted to reaffirm the contract, with only Stanford voting “No.” Work on the tennis courts are expected to resume.
