VALDOSTA — The fight continues in the Moody Family Housing fiasco that began with its groundbreaking on Oct. 13, 2005 and the official grand opening Jan. 31, 2007.

Congressman Jack Kingston met with subcontractors Thursday to discuss the status of the project at the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce.

Along with other members of Congress, Kingston has been instrumental in the fight to resolve the situation surrounding the housing project at Moody Air Force Base that has forced many subcontractors into debt, out of business, and into the sacrifice of personal property due to non-payment or accommodation for services performed.

WHERE’S THE MONEY?

The issue that most are pondering is if subcontractors remain unpaid, then where has all the money gone? And even more perplexing is the fact that not one audit has been conducted. Overall, only investigations as to what can be done to prevent a reoccurrence of this situation.

“What we continue to hear is how this wreck happened and what can be done to prevent it from happening again,” Heath Wolfer of Southeastern Stud. “Meanwhile we have bodies lying around bleeding (money) that need assistance. We need to get the injuries and casualties taken care of, solve current problems, and you’ll find out how it happened and how to prevent it.”

Today, Magnolia Grove stands as a ghost town, littered with the materials that subcontractors such as MS Plumbing, Preferred Builders, Southland Contractors, and a multitude of others use and need to make a living. At the conclusion of the meeting, Congressman Kingston stated that, among many other issues, he would address the GAO (general accounting office) or Air Force conducting an audit to determine where the unpaid wages have ended up, interest on debt services, the creation of a hotline and legal advisement team, and how the contract with SRC was transferred to the FHA with hopes to obtain more answers to subcontractors’ pressing questions at the upcoming townhall meeting to be held April 10, 2008 at Moody AFB.

Kingston answered as many questions as possible and told subcontractors that on their behalf he would retrieve further answers to as many issues as possible. “In February, we received a response to the request for a new contractor to get the housing project and payment issues back underway and discussed how Carabetta was selected through a two-step process. In the process, Carabetta was selected as a low-to-moderate risk (contractor),” said Kingston. Carabetta filed bankruptcy in 1992 and in 1993, Carabetta was in federal litigation with HUD.

“On March 14, we met with the Air Force. In an audacity beyond audacity, Carabetta contested the naming of a new owner or contractor as Carabetta would like immunity from future lawsuits and the federal watchlist,” said Kingston. Kingston said that they had hoped to have a new owner for the project by March 28.

During the meeting, the letter of intent for the project was also discussed as receiver Johnny Dukes was present. The letter of intent can indicate the closing date to be the end of the year for the project. Because of the immunity request from Carabetta, as indicated to Kingston on March 14, the letter of intent is being held up although it can not be held up indefinitely. Also, the letter does not specify the purchase price of the project in its entirety which some of the subcontractors attributed to the bond market’s unfavorability to a project of this type at this time. Accordingly, the project is worth 40 percent less than it was 12 months ago with the current market. The government will attempt to be of some assistance when the new contractor is selected by allotting a $23 million low interest loan towards the estimated $60 million-plus project.

SUBCONTRACTOR’S LIENS AND LAWSUITS

An additional problem being faced by the Moody Family Housing project and subcontractors is bond specifications. Although other Carabetta projects remain in limbo, the payment bonds for Moody are different. The variation lies in the fact that the other three projects were completely bonded where Moody had select items that are bonded; this complexity has contributed to the slower severance process of the project.

Specifically, anything that is not part of the house or the system of a house is not bonded, such as perimeter fencing and some roofing.