Commission tries to help contractors get paid for demo

By Teresa Moore | The Tribune

Published Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Lawrence County Commission Thursday agreed to send a letter to J&L Management of St. Clemons, Mich., asking what can be done to expedite payment to several local business operators who worked on the old River Valley Hospital Demolition project but have not been paid in full for their services.

Randy Harper, who owns a Kitts Hill trucking company, said he and three or four other local business operators are still waiting to be fully paid.

Harper said he started work at the site last November and was paid through January of this year. He said the Ironton Port Authority and Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Agency, which partnered with Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital on the demolition project, paid him part of what he was owed for work performed this year but he is still owed approximately $6,000.

“I’m asking for help,” he told the commission.

Commissioner Les Boggs said it was his understanding that one of the subcontractors failed to hand in proper paperwork for asbestos removal to the Clean Ohio Fund program, the agency that provided the funding for the project. That agency has said it will not forward the rest of the money for the local project because of the paperwork snafu. That subcontractor has already been paid but because local officials have not gotten the rest of their money, some local businesses have not gotten paid.

The commission will also send a copy of the letter to the Ohio Attorney General.

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