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Judge halts Nashville's parking negotiations

Nashville Seeks Proposals To Modernize Parking
Posted at 5:40 PM, May 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-03 23:26:16-04

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Davidson County judge has issued a temporary stay, preventing Metro from moving forward on it's plan privatize the city's on-street parking.

The Mayor's office had been planning to take the framework of a deal to the Metro Council on Tuesday to begin the approval process, but that will now have to wait at least two weeks.

Metro announced last month that it intends to award a 30-year contract to LAZ Parking Georgia, LLC after the only other bidder, NTN+, had their proposal deemed non-responsive by Metro.

Metro did not even evaluate NTN's multi-million dollar proposal because the city said the company failed to attach a key financial spreadsheet to their proposal. NTN says that was an inadvertent error and has appealed Metro's decision to award the contract to LAZ.

Attorneys for NTN+, which is a joint venture between Atwater Infrastructure and Republic Parking, asked a court to issue an emergency stay on Friday while they await a decision on their appeal.

The stay prevents Metro from having any further negotiations with vendor LAZ Parking Georgia LLC

In issuing the stay, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled late Friday that "there are disputed facts on whether the petitioner was legitimately disqualified from bidding."

Another hearing is set in Chancery court on May 9 to determine whether to keep the stay or reverse it.

We reached out to the Mayor's office but a spokesman told us they do not comment on pending litigation.