Moulton Elementry School, which closed in 2004.
Precious Grundy | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA — It’s not unusual for bids for a government contract to come in below the engineering estimate for the project. It is uncommon, however, when the successful bid is for less than half the projected amount.
That was the case on the final day of February when the Auglaize County board of commissioners opened bids for the demolition of the former Moulton school.
The state of Ohio, through the Ohio Department of Development Building Demolition and Site Revitalization, had allocated $300,000 for the demolition of the one-time school that closed its doors in 2004.
The state of Ohio has targeted sites that are at the point of disrepair. The demolition program is to remove existing structures and create properties that could be used for redevelopment in the future.
The former school property, owned by Moulton Midgets LLC, will be retained by the owners once demolition is complete. The landowners will make the decision for what the future holds for the property at a later date.
Eleven bids for the demolition work were submitted for the demolition project, with a proposal for $125,000 submitted by the Fort Jennings-based Fenson Contracting deemed by the commissioners to constitute the “lowest and best” submission.
Commissioner Doug Spencer said the state gave each of Ohio’s 88 counties $500,000 in demolition grant funds, with the understanding that projects that eclipsed that total would require a 25% match from the counties.
Auglaize County identified nine projects totaling approximately $1 million that would qualify for the site revitalization funding. The Moulton site was the last to go out to bid. Commissioner John Bergman said bids for all the projects were “good bids.”
Other bids were entered for the Moulton demolition project came from Mound Waste & Recycling, Chillicothe, $121,200; First Choice Excavation & Demolition, Piqua, $127,900; Schaub Excavating Inc., Wapakoneta, $129,900; Prestige Excavating & Demolition, Urbana, $174,850; Petty Farms, Mansfield, $259,250; Running G Farms, Rio Grande, $198,620; Advanced Demolition Services, McComb, $146,530; Badger Construction Co., Morgantown, W. Va., $158,888; Dore & Associates Inc., Bay City, Michigan, $224,400; and O’Rourke Wrecking Co., Cincinnati, $397,000.
