Businessman: ICAR contracts invalid

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Sloan said in a lawsuit that Clemson erred in hiring J.E. Merit Contractors Inc. for program management services and O'Neal Inc. for architectural services. He wants Greenville County Circuit Court to declare the contracts invalid and to award him costs and attorneys' fees.

A Clemson official said Thursday afternoon the university hadn't seen the suit and couldn't comment.

"As soon as we receive it, we'll begin working on our response," said Cathy Sams, Clemson's chief public affairs officer. She said the contracts were awarded as part of construction of a four-story building at ICAR that will house a BMW research center focused on information technology.

Clemson is constructing the building with $15 million in state money and plans to lease it to BMW. The building, together with a graduate school of engineering that Clemson will build next door, will anchor the ICAR research park at the intersection of Interstate 85 and Laurens Road in Greenville.

Sams said Clemson awarded the contracts after the State Budget and Control Board exempted construction of the research center from state procurement rules. Clemson requested the exemption in December, saying BMW had to meet certain deadlines for "job creation in research and manufacturing."

At the time, BMW spokesman Bobby Hitt said his company figured the procurement law's requirements for advertising, bidding and appeals would add at least six months to construction time, making it difficult for BMW to occupy the research center during 2005 as it wanted to do.

Later, lawmakers passed legislation authorizing Clemson to use streamlined procurement rules for economic development projects such as ICAR. After that, the budget board rescinded the exemption at Clemson's request.

Sloan alleges in his suit that Clemson did not comply with the terms of the exemption and awarded the contracts "without generating any paper trail."

Thursday, Hitt said BMW has "every expectation that it will be found that Clemson and the Budget and Control Board followed the procurement code and the law."

The suit is the latest in a string of cases that Sloan has brought against the government.

Last year, he sued Gov. Mark Sanford over Sanford's service as an officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. The state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the governor.

Earlier this year, Sloan challenged the constitutionality of the Life Sciences Act. The suit, which the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear, contends the wide-ranging legislation violates a state constitutional requirement limiting bills to one subject.