$150 million Charleston airport construction contract contested

The second-place bidders on the $150 million expansion of Charleston International Airport are contesting how the contract was awarded, saying an airport board member has ties to the group that won the contract.

Holder Construction Co. of Atlanta and its Charleston-based partners filed a protest filed Thursday with Charleston County Aviation Authority,

The document says board member Joey Jefferson’s firm, Palmetto Civil Group of North Charleston, is a member of the team that was awarded the contract.

Holder and its partners want the airport authority to award the contract to them or solicit new bids, according to their attorney, Boyd B. Nicholson.

The authority unanimously awarded the contract on March 22 to a team led by Dallas-based Austin Commercial LP and its local partner, Hitt Contracting Inc. The runner-up Holder-led team included local firms Mashburn Construction Co., CCCS and Cumming.

Airport Authority Chairman Chip Limehouse, who is also a member of the state House of Representatives, said Jefferson recused himself from any votes on the project and did not participate in the selection of the construction firm.

The Holder team said his presence influenced the decision and “irrevocably tainted” the selection process.

Jefferson declined to comment when reached today.

Read more in Saturday’s editions of The Post and Courier.

Reach Warren L. Wise at 937-5524 or twitter.com/warrenlancewise.