MANSFIELD — The City of Mansfield seeks to recoup money and damages incurred as the result of an improper demolition of the former YMCA on Park Avenue West.
The city retained the Canton law firm of Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Mathews to file and pursue a complaint in Richland County Common Pleas Court against Page Excavating of Lucas.
The complaint was filed in April, though the defendants, including Jeff and Landa Page as individuals, were not successfully served until July 24 by a process server.
A dollar amount is not specified in the complaint, though the city paid Page Excavating $500,000 for the work done on the 3.2-acre site at 455 Park Ave. West in late 2018 and early 2019, using a portion of the city’s PRIDE tax funds.
The city also contributed another $600,000 in PRIDE funds earlier this year during a $1 million “re-do” by a different contractor on the site. The property is now owned by the Richland County Land Bank, which also utilized a $405,000 state grant to fund the work.
(Below is a PDF showing a complaint filed by the City of Mansfield against Page Excavating and Jeff and Landa Page as individuals in April 2024.)
Mansfield Law Director Rollie Harper, who took office in January, said March 19 he was considering outside legal counsel for the work.
“That’s certainly the goal,” Harper said during a Board of Control meeting in reference to a Richland Source question about recouping expenses.
“We are in the process of hiring outside counsel. We’re looking at negligence and fraud and we’re going to take it from there.”
Harper said Tuesday evening he is hopeful for a settlement in the case, which came when the Land Bank discovered a massive amount of material left buried in the initial demolition done by Page Excavating.
It’s unknown exactly how much money the city is seeking. Richland Source called and left two messages with Harper’s office Wednesday and received an email response.
“The case is currently in active litigation. It would be inappropriate for this office to comment further at this time. We are willing to provide updates as appropriate,” Harper said through an email from Traycee Davis, his executive assistant/case coordinator
Land Bank board executive director Amy Hamrick said in March the new contractor crews dug down as deep as 40 feet to remove material left behind by Page Excavation.
“Once we tell them everything is buried, (developers) quickly lose interest,” Hamrick said in March.
“To be honest, in my worst dreams, it was never this bad. I don’t know what else to say. It’s unbelievable,” she said of what was found at the site.
The complaint against the company, written by attorneys Gregory Beck and Mel Lute Jr., alleges breach of contract; breach of implied warranties; breach of expressed warranties; fraudulent misrepresentation; negligent misrepresentation; and negligence and resulting damages.
It also claims Jeff and Landa Page didn’t properly operate as an LLC as defined by state law and are therefore individually liable for damages, as well.
The complaint alleges the defendants signed a contract with the city on Sept. 7, 2018, after the city determined the company had submitted “the lowest and best bid” for the project.
Under the terms of the contract, according to the complaint, Page Excavating was required to demolish and remove all structures, “including footings, foundation, floors, concrete slabs, walls, roof contents … and remove all demolished materials from the site.”
None of the material was to be burned or buried on site, according to the contract.
The complaint alleges Page Excavating conducted much of its work in the evenings and on weekends “when there would be less scrutiny by the city.”
“This deceptive conduct by (the defendants) … was designed, in part, to allow the defendants to bury certain material or undemolished remnants of the large building without detection,” according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that during inspections “it was not discovered that (Page) had not demolished most of the lower floors of the building, including the existing swimming pool, locker rooms and other structures. The site also contained demolished material that was to be removed from the site.”
Page Excavating provided a bond for its work, but it expired one year after the project was complete in 2019, according to the complaint.
The improper demolition was not discovered until 2022 when the Land Bank sought developers for the land, who declined citing underground issues.
Subsequent testing by the Land Bank discovered the material buried underground.
“The land in issue is prime real estate in the City and was designated for sale and use when it was discovered that the demolition was not completed pursuant to the contract terms,” according to the complaint.
The city had paid the Canton law firm $6,188.50 from March through July, according to Finance Director Kelly Blankenship. The funds come from the law director’s contractual services line item.
City Council has not appropriated any additional money to the effort. In fact, the complaint had not been discussed during an open council session until Tuesday night.
Richland Source has failed in several previous attempts to contact Page Excavating. According to Richland County court records, the defendants are represented in the case by attorneys from the Columbus law firm of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP.
One of those attorneys, Joseph Guenther, declined to comment Wednesday.
“I don’t know if I have authorization to comment at this time,” Guenther said Wednesday when contacted by Richland Source.
He asked that questions be posed via email, which were sent just after noon.
When asked when the Columbus law firm was retained by the defendants, Guenther said he “could not answer that at this time.” No response was received to the email when this story was published.
According to court records, both Richland County Common Pleas Court general division judges, Brent Robinson and Phil Naumoff, recused themselves from the case July 24, citing concerns over impartiality in the matter.
The Ohio Supreme Court appointed retired Medina County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Collier to preside over the case on July 25.
