County Dumps KBR Over Iraq Work

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Hays County Commissioners on Tuesday rescinded a contract for engineering design on the first portion of the San Marcos Loop that they had previously awarded to KBR.

The move came one week after Iraq War veterans Gregory Foster and Bryan Hannah spoke of the company's record in that country in less than glowing terms.

On a motion by Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe, the court decided to give the contract to S&B Infrastructure LTD.

In making her motion, Ingalsbe noted that the commissioners "need to be good stewards" of taxpayer money. In remarks before the meeting, she noted a "number of concerns" that residents had brought up in phone calls and e-mails. "Certainly the court holds the responsibility to listen to concerns of our constituents in determining what's best for our community."

Just prior to Tuesday's vote, Foster told commissioners that if they rescinded the contract it would "resonate with people" and "send a message to companies like KBR."

"It's setting a precedent for the country," Hannah said before Tuesday's vote.

Commissioner Jeff Barton thanked the veterans for showing up, and acknowledged that while rescinding the contract could be the beginning of a "slippery slope," there are thresholds "particularly with professional firms."

"Sometimes it does matter who you associate with and what's going on in your company," Barton said.

The vote was unanimous; however Commissioner Will Conley noted that his vote was not a reflection of an "anti-war sentiment" but instead because of new investigations the federal government has undertaken against the firm.

"It's important that we go through the processes at the federal level," Conley said. "In the meantime we have a road to build and we have a lot of firms that are very capable of doing this work." He said the vote to rescind the KBR contract allows the county to "move forward with a clear conscious."

"We are disappointed with the Commissioner's decision. KBR has a solid track record of high-quality construction and infrastructure work that could serve the county well on this project," Heather Browne, KBR's director of corporate communications, said in an e-mail after the vote.

"Hays County conducted an open and transparent process to select an engineering team for this assignment and determined that the KBR Team was best qualified. It is regrettable that this decision was apparently overturned because of misrepresentations of KBR's performance," she said.

Though the company won't be associated with the first phase of FM 110, from IH-35 to Hwy. 123, KBR is involved in the city's Wonder World Drive extension project.

The city had also turned to KBR three years ago when the old Rio Vista Dam was transformed into Rio Vista Rapids.