MANSFIELD — The Richland County Land Bank board agreed Wednesday to reexamine its contractor selection process for $1.35 million worth of work funded by the Ohio Department of Development’s Lead Safe Ohio Program.
The decision came after two area contractors questioned how the Land Bank developed its “round-robin” plan to award three contractors five projects each, rather than seeking individual bids for each.
“We want to be equitable and make sure every (contractor) has a fair shot at this,” said Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero, a Land Bank board member.
Money from the state Lead Safe program can fund exterior rehab projects at homes and other facilities across the county, including replacing siding, windows, exterior doors, roofs, downspouts, gutters, exterior trim, fascia or soffit, as well as repairing or replacing porches.
But any work done must mitigate the presence of lead. Land Bank board manager Amy Hamrick said 57 applications had been received, including 43 owner-occupant houses, 12 investment houses and two shelters.
Other grant funds would be used for cleaning contractors, lead-clearance technicians and demolitions.
Hamrick said 17 contractors applied for the rehab work. Of those, she said, nine submitted all required information and agreed to the board’s pricing list.
Each of the 15 projects to be awarded was estimated at $40,000, which means three contractors would each receive $200,000 for their work, a decision questioned by Jeff Bryant of Jeff & Jeff Renovations and Thomas Miller of Marminos Services.
“Why give three contractors $200,000 when you have other contractors that want money, too? You got other contractors in this town,” Bryant said.
“I’ve got my state license. I am a state (approved) abatement contractor. I have funds available. I have my trucks. I have my own equipment already. You don’t have to get all your jobs from one place,” said Bryant, who also questioned if minority set-aside requirements were included in the state grant program.
“Why not give every contractor their fair share like every other county is doing? I just went on a bid tour yesterday in Ashland, the day before in Marion. Why can’t I have my fair share in my county?” Bryant asked.
Miller, who said he does statewide training on lead abatement, said the Land Bank misunderstood the requirements of ODOD’s Lead Safe contractor program.
“It does not state that you have to have five bids in contract to get the $100,000. It states you must bid on five contracts within the State of Ohio. Richland County chose, the Land Bank chose, to make it stipulation, that you have to get the five bids in contract before (Hamrick) writes a letter. It does not,” Miller said.
He said the Land Bank chose to award five contracts to each of three contractors based on an “errant understanding” of the ODOD requirements for workforce development.
“It would have been fairer to me, as far as I’m concerned, like normal, (to do) like all the other counties do. You put it out for bid and you save a lot of money. You let contractors come in, give a fair bid, and you save money because you take the lowest/best bid,” he said.
“What you’re doing is making three contractors rich, which is great. I wish I was one of them. I’m jealous. I do believe in the three you chose. They’re good contractors. I can’t say anything bad about them. So it’s not about knocking the other contractors,” Miller said.
Vero suggested the Land Bank take another look at its process. “We still have a little bit of time, right?” he asked.
The deadline to have 75 percent of the state grant funds “obligated” is May 31.
Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry, a Land Bank board member, agreed.
“If there were other contractors that met all the requirements, I think that’s (the right thing to do),” Perry said.
Richland County Treasurer Bart Hamilton, chair of the Land Bank board, also agreed.
“If there is something that we’re not understanding properly about this, I want us to take a look at it,” he said.
Hamilton asked attorney John Studenmund, the board’s legal advisor, to work with Hamrick and state officials to make sure the Land Bank was following proper procedures in its contractor selection process.
“We do have some time to do this,” Hamilton said. “We want to make sure we do this the right way.”
“Our attorney just needs to read it and get familiar with it before we would have a discussion with the people that run the program and go from there. I don’t see any reason why this can’t get done relatively soon,” he said.
