MANSFIELD — Contracts were signed Thursday to begin demolition and remediation of former Westinghouse properties on Mansfield’s east side.
The Richland County Land Bank board and officials with R&D Excavating of Crestline signed the $3.99 million deal to remove one of the longest-standing industrial eyesores in the city.
The Land Bank had awarded the contract to the local company on Aug. 11 to knock down the former “A” building at 200 Fifth St.; the adjoining 13-acre concrete slab; and a nearby vacant building, most recently owned by Electrolux, based in North Carolina.
The sites have been idle since Westinghouse ended local operations at the end of 1990.
However, the process was slowed after two out-of-state companies that submitted lower dollar bids for the project sent the Land Bank letters complaining about the decision.
The local agency has responded to those concerns via letter and is now prepared to move forward, according to Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero, a Land Bank board members.
“We were holding off on signing (the contract) as we discussed responses to the unsuccessful bidders,” Vero said. “Once we felt comfortable with our response, we signed the contract.”
Vero said R&D began working on obtaining necessary permits from the Ohio EPA once the company was awarded the bid.
“I think once (Land Bank manager Amy Hamrick) calls them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they come in to sign today. That’s one of the advantages of having a local contractor,” Vero said early Thursday morning.
The Land Bank responded earlier this week to complains Dore & Associates from Bay City, Mich. It now has also responded to concerns expressed by Green Demolition from Chicago, which had submitted a bid of $3,869,000 for the project, about $126,000 less than R&D.
The project was estimated at $4 million — including $3 million via state funds and $500,000 each in American Rescue Plan Act money from Richland County and the City of Mansfield.
In choosing R&D over Green, the Land Bank executive committee said it had checked the Illinois company’s references and found a “reliance on numerous change orders” and that its asbestos abatement subcontractor was not known to have ever worked in Ohio.
“(The Green bid) left us little to no wiggle room, as per their (own) references should they want to request change orders,” Vero said. “That weighed in the minds of the land bank board in awarding the successful bid.”
David Barnhart, co-founder of R&D with Ryan Lykins, said Thursday the company has sub-contracted with Erie Environmental from Sandusky to handle the asbestos abatement work inside the “A” building plaster.
That work will begin shortly and will be done as the effort to remove the 13-acre concrete slab also gets underway.
Demolition of the building will begin once the asbestos is removed, which could take a few months, according to Barnhart.
“In terms of the asbestos, you won’t know how long a process it will be until you start digging into it,” Barnhart said. “There are many factors involved in that work. But we will be starting on the concrete, as well.”
A 2006 Shelby High School graduate who now lives in the Crestview Local School District, Barnhart said he and Lykins launched the company in 2018 and remain owner-operators of the firm’s heavy equipment.
Vero said the Land Bank has worked with R&D many times in the past on smaller demolition projects and also pointed to the company’s successful work to bring down the nearly 600,000 square foot Cooper Energy building in Springfield, Ohio.
“They have been nothing but excellent to work with … with little to no change orders,” Vero said. “They have a great working relationship with the Land Bank and provided all of the required documentation.”
Vero helped launch a year ago the effort to finally demolish and clean up the site that’s sat idle since Westinghouse ended local operations in 1990, saying, “I think it’s time we start looking at doing some things.'”
The Ohio Department of Development, which awarded the state grant funds, has a deadline of next summer to complete all such work around the state funded through the program.
“We will see how that goes. I would imagine at some point there will be some flexibility to that June 2023 deadline. But right now, the plan is to have it done in accordance with the guidelines established in the (state) grant,” Vero said.
“That building and that property has sat vacant for more than 30 years and has been the source of much angst in Mansfield and in the community at large,” Vero said.
