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By David Pendered

An Atlanta official who was deeply involved in the airport concessions contracting program left her job with the city two weeks before Atlanta announced its decision to cancel the initial process and start anew, a city official confirmed Wednesday.

Contracting Officer Carla Cail left her city job on Aug. 17. On Sept 2, Atlanta COO Peter Aman announced the city was cancelling the concessions procurement process and would issue new requests for proposals. Aman didn’t mention Cail’s departure, although her name arose in conversation.

“She left city employment on Aug. 17, 2011 to accept a better opportunity,” Sonji Jacobs, Mayor Kasim Reed’s spokeswoman, said in an email Wednesday. There was no elaboration.

By David Pendered

The state has signed a contract to replace the bridge on U.S. 41 across the Chattahoochee River, and the project has renewed issues related to the Nature Conservancy’s purchase of riverside land almost 40 years ago.

The conservancy in the early 1970s purchased 16 acres in a negotiation that also allowed construction of an apartment complex with 427 homes to be built on the remainder of land held by developers Julian LeCraw and Tom Towles.

This past May, Cobb County took almost a half-acre of the Columns at River Parkway property to allow for the bridge replacement project.

By David Pendered

Even on the second round of bids, concessionaires who want a concessions contract at Atlanta’s airport had lots of questions about the process.

In fact, vendors submitted 157 questions. These questions provide a glimpse into the secret world of contracting that spans from local restaurants to global giants of the concessions industry.

The queries submitted by vendors indicate the level to which they are struggling to manage their way through the massive procurement process in a climate of heightened security and immigration compliance. In addition, some questions try to pry open the proposals that were rejected, possibly to learn more about the competition’s plans.

By David Pendered

The Chattahoochee, Flint and Savannah rivers have made the 2011 Dirty Dozen, a list of the worst offenses against the state’s waterways, according to the Georgia Water Coalition.

“This is more than a list,” Jerry McCollum, president of the Georgia Wildlife Federation and a founding member of the Coalition, said in a statement released Monday. “This is a call to action for Georgia’s citizens and its leaders. The sites populating this list are only poster children for the larger problem of a system that is failing to protect our water, our fish and wildlife and our communities.”

The Chattahoochee ranked fourth, the Savannah ranked third and the Flint River ranked seventh on the list.

By David Pendered

The construction of the planned streetcar system in Downtown Atlanta cleared its first big hurdle Wednesday at Atlanta City Hall.

The Finance Committee of the Atlanta City Council approved measures needed to start building the streetcar system. The committee approved plans to:

Lease almost two acres for a future parking lot and maintenance barn beneath the Downtown Connector, between Auburn and Edgewood avenues;

Provide a total of up to $10.7 million to relocate water and sewer utilities, and to add enhancements related to the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists along the streetcar route.

By David Pendered

The second round of proposals for concessions contracts at Atlanta’s airport looks a lot like those submitted for the first round.

The only difference is that one company, a joint venture that had been disqualified from Round 1, dropped out of competition for Round 2. However, half of that company did resubmit even more proposals with a new partner, city records show.

Atlanta also changed some reporting requirements concerning whether a company’s employees may legally work in this country. The reporting issue was one reason the city announced on Sept. 2 that it was throwing out all proposals and starting the bid process anew.