MOULTRIE — A lawsuit that claims the bidding process in a development project here was flawed has been amended.

The project, which would bring a Publix food store here, has been in a state of limbo for weeks as plantiffs have jockeyed their position on the issue. The suit wasn’t filed until one year after the bid was awarded to Teramore Development LLC in Thomasville.

The plaintiffs, Northlake Development LLC. and W. Lynn Lasseter, initially directed their lawsuit at Colquitt County Commission, the Economic Development Authority and Teramore. The amended action drops Teramore as a party but continues against the Economic Development Authority and specifically sues each county commissioner as individuals. 

County commissioners named in the suit are Luke P. Strong, James Winfred Giddens, Marc Demott, Donna Herndon, Pual Nagy, Johnny Hardin and Terry R. Clark.

The order adding these names was signed July 13 by Superior Court Judge James G. Tunison Jr. of Valdosta.

Larry Franklin, chairman of the Economic Development Authority, said an effort will be made today (July 23) to get all parties on the phone with Judge Tunnison.

“We will ask that a hearing on this matter be scheduled as soon as possible. We were ready on July 7 and the plaintiffs did not show,” said Franklin.

A temporary restraining order expired at that point. It was later indicated the plaintiffs would ask the court for a writ of mandamus to stop the project and rebid it. 

 The commission awarded the sale of the nearly 13 acres of land to Teramore Development of Thomasville on July 28, 2014. 

Teramore offered $2.67 million, or $207,211 per acre, for the 12.88-acre tract at the corner of Highway 37 West and Veterans Parkway.

Northlake /Wilwat Properties, the only other company to take part in a second bidding process, tendered an offer of $2.34 million, or $182,080 per acre. 

Wilwat Properties, an Atlanta company that was working with Northlake to purchase the land, is not a party to the lawsuit. In the initial bidding process, Northlake was the highest bidder but the land was bid out then as a parcel. The county then decided to refuse all bids, have the land surveyed and rebid on a per-acre basis.

Will Horkan, an attorney with the Macon firm of James, Bates, Brannan & Groover, said, “The county has a strong legal position. The plaintiffs’ claims are without merit. Colquitt County has and will continue to obey the law for land sales.”

The suit was filed after the development authority confirmed in June that it would serve as a conduit for an additional 1.29 acres of land at the proposed grocery store site.

The authority took possession of the land with the understanding that it would transfer the land at no cost to Teramore after the company said it had determined the potential tenant needed additional land to make the proposal work. That process was necessary because the county cannot transfer land but development authorities are allowed to do so to promote economic development.

The Publix project would bring with it several other stores, and developers have voiced an interest in other nearby out-parcels if the Publix project comes through.