BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Martin County will rescind a $560,500 flood-buyout demolition award and start the bidding process over after learning required USDA steps were not completed before the project was advertised.
Deputy Judge/Executive Carolea Mills said Sept. 1 that the Aug. 20 bid award to Howell’s Recycling & Sanitation of Debord is invalid and the county must rebid the eight demolition projects.
County officials plan to meet again with USDA officials Thursday to determine the proper steps required before the project can move forward. Once those requirements are established, Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty plans to call a special Martin County Fiscal Court meeting.
At that meeting, the court will begin the process of rescinding Howell’s award and restarting the bidding process.
Mills said each property must have its own demolition plan and environmental assessment before the project proceeds.
The development follows Lafferty’s Aug. 28 decision to halt the federally funded flood-buyout demolition process after he said USDA officials informed him that required federal clearance had not been obtained before the work was put out for bid.
The halt came eight days after Martin County Fiscal Court voted to award eight demolition jobs to Howell’s for a total of $560,500, passing over bids totaling $157,500 from West Brothers Contracting of Varney, West Virginia.
Lafferty said the $403,000 difference between the two companies’ bids raised concerns that ultimately led him to seek a meeting directly with USDA officials.
“After those bids were opened, I, like you, became concerned by the significant difference between the lowest and highest bids submitted,” Lafferty said Aug. 28. “I was not comfortable moving forward without knowing that every requirement had been properly followed.”
Lafferty said USDA officials advised him that the consultant the Fiscal Court retained to administer the project did not complete necessary federal steps before advertising the demolition work for bids.
“The fiscal [court] proceeded, based upon the professional guidance provided to us and with the understanding that the necessary USDA requirements had been satisfied before the bidding process began,” he said.
Lafferty added that the consultant’s work on the project had otherwise been “exemplary.”
The disputed bids involve demolition and site restoration for eight properties in the EWP Buyout Spring 2025 Flood (5082-005) program.
At the Aug. 20 Fiscal Court meeting, both companies submitted the bid security required by the county’s bid packet, and the Fiscal Court did not disqualify either bidder.
District 1 Magistrate Cody Slone moved to award the work to Howell’s, citing the company’s local ties and previous assistance to the county.
Martin County Attorney Melissa Phelps questioned the substantial difference in cost and asked Slone to explain his reasoning for the record.
“I just think it’s a local person,” Slone said. “It’s federal money. I mean, it’s not like it’s coming through the local money.”
Slone noted that Howell’s had sponsored free swimming days for children at the county pool.
“I think they helped us out there and they helped us out before,” he said.
District 2 Magistrate Kermit Howell seconded the motion.
Slone, Howell and District 4 Magistrate Junior Hunt voted for the award.
District 5 Magistrate Ronald Workman voted against it.
“I just can’t with that much difference,” Workman said.
Lafferty said Aug. 28 that once USDA informed the county that required steps had not been completed before bidding, he directed that the process stop.
“Effective immediately, I ordered that no further action be taken on the USDA mitigation demolition until I can call a special meeting of the Martin County Fiscal Court,” Lafferty said.
“When taxpayer dollars and especially federal grant funds are involved, we have an obligation to ask questions, demand accountability and correct problems when they are identified.”