JONESBORO — Both the Clayton County Board of Commissioners and Invest Clayton ended their agreements with Roman United Construction for a proposed $800 million luxury development in Lake City.
In its regular meeting Tuesday, May 2, the Clayton County Commission unanimously approved to terminate its agreement with Roman United for a $4 million business incubator that was to be included in the proposed $800 million development.
In a May 4 interview, Invest Clayton Clayton Director Larry Vincent said Invest Clayton ended its agreement with Roman United as well with a letter sent out to Roman United Monday, May 1. The Board of Commissioners was CC’d on the letter, Vincent said.
According to the BOC, Roman United did not meet benchmarks set for Dec. 21, 2022 and letters were sent in January and March to Roman United.
The January letter said the county was no longer obligated to participate in the project, and the March letter asked for a repayment of $559,000 that was paid to Roman United for schematic designs.
In a county commission meeting last month, county officials said Roman United turned in a series of three “PowerPoint type” documents (many of which were duplicate pages) after being paid the $559,000.
“You all need to give us our $559,000 back tonight, not tomorrow night, not any other night,” Commissioner Alieka Anderson said to Roman United’s Jacques Roman during the April meeting. “I called you here because I want the money paid back to the taxpayers of Clayton County. It’s time for us to move forward… This presentation is terrible; it’s pathetic, and that’s why I brought you here tonight because I’m gonna tell it like it is. I want to know where is the money? When are you going to write us a check? And when are you going to give us our money back?”
If Roman United doesn’t give the money…
Read the full article here
