George Wood asks for Martin Oats apology to County Management Staff and the Public for statements made at Board of Commissioners Meeting on February 4, 2013.
At last night's Board of Commissioners meeting, Martin Oakes made the statement that the per square foot cost of the shell building built by ShelbyICleveland County was $300. He then stated that he had talked to builders who could do this building for about $100 per square foot, so this was a terrible deal for the county. He then accused the Lincoln County staff of trying to bury additional money in the shell building proposal to help offset the development costs of Airlie Business Park.
As he often does, Mr. Oakes started out with the wrong "facts", and then impugned other people's integrity and motives. If you divide a $2,800,000 cost by the 100,000 square feet in the building, that comes to $28 per square foot, not $300. Remember, this is an unfinished building. That is why they call it a "shell" building.
If Mr. Oakes thought that a reasonable cost per square foot was $100 based on his "research", and Shelby's came in at $28 per square foot, I can only assume that he thinks Shelby got a great price on its construction.
Mr. Oakes owes the County's management staff an apology for making outrageous accusations based on nothing more than his own inability to do long division. He also owes the public an apology for using erroneous information in this public hearing.