The Board of Public Works and Safety for Richmond City opened bids July 10 for demolition of structures at addresses tied to the city's unsafe-building process, accepted proofs of publication and opened — then immediately closed — a public hearing with no public comment.

The action matters because the city will use the sealed-bid responses to determine contractors for removing unsafe structures at several properties; the board said the submissions will be reviewed and tabulated before any awards.

Board President Bowman read the list of targeted properties and then opened the bid envelopes. A law-department representative provided two proofs of publication for the solicitations; the board made and carried a motion to accept those proofs. President Bowman then read the bids aloud and said, "This will be submitted for review and tabulation." The board opened the floor for a public hearing and, with no speakers, voted to close it.

The board read multiple bids covering two groups of properties. Examples of totals announced included: Wicker Excavating (Liberty) — $66,000 for Lot 1 (1021 Butler St.; 1024 Sheridan St.; 1226 Butler St.; 1714 Northeast St.; 2002 Glen Court); R and R Electric (Cambridge City) — $94,310.03 for the same group; Mike Sell Excavating — a grand total of $133,000 across the combined list; Coley Contracting — $128,610; A. J. Shroyer Group — $55,600; Green Demo — $128,200. Separate second-part bids for other addresses were read as well (for example, R and R Electric second part total $81,993.69; Oleg Contracting second part total $64,880). The board did not award any contracts on July 10.

The board's formal actions on the item were limited to accepting the proofs of publication, opening and closing the public hearing, and directing staff to submit all bid packets for departmental review and tabulation. No contract awards or final approvals were made at the meeting.

Next steps: city staff will tabulate the bids and return a recommendation to the board; the board did not set an award date at the July 10 meeting.