Lorain County approves CHIP project payments amid concerns about single-bid contracts; officials launch contractor outreach

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners on May 9 approved several payments and a $1.6 million Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) application, while county staff described an outreach push after multiple projects attracted only a single compliant bid.

County staff said the $1.6 million CHIP application will be submitted to the Ohio Department of Development, and the county authorized procurement help from Kleinfelder for the application process. "This is just for the application process, itself," said Dave, a county staff member addressing commissioners about the Kleinfelder contract and timeline; he said the firm’s $15,000 application work would be reimbursed if the county wins CHIP funding.

The approvals included single-bid construction awards for home-repair projects in Sheffield Lake, North Ridgeville and Lorain: an authorized payment of $46,858 to Jen Mack Construction for work at 824 Irving Park Boulevard (item 13), and multiple awards to Gemma Construction totaling about $92,000 across items 14–15. Commissioners recorded votes approving those actions. Staff said these awards are payable from CHIP accounts and related local rehab accounts.

Why it matters: CHIP funds support repairs for low-income homeowners and are federal/state-funded capital that county officials said must be spent or returned. County leaders voiced concern that single compliant bids limit competition and may raise costs for taxpayers.

Discussion and staff response: Commissioners and staff debated why many walkthroughs did not turn into bids. County staff reported that they sent more than 925 direct emails to contractors and are organizing a contractor outreach event to increase participation; 12 contractors had RSVP'd at the time of the meeting. Staff said barriers include heavy paperwork on federally funded jobs, slow payment concerns and contractors seeing other bidders at pre-bid walkthroughs and declining to compete.

Dave told the board the county is "doing a very aggressive outreach" and described outreach tactics including flyers, QR codes at big-box retailers and direct emails. He said the Ohio Department of Development will attend the outreach event to provide on-site lead-remediation certification and training at no cost to contractors.

Rehab specialist Garvin, answering a commissioner’s question about pre-bid cost estimates, said, "The answer to your question, Commissioner Moore, is yes. So the rehab specialist from Kleinfelder prepares a detailed specification for each job…part of that process is to determine an amount that they expect the project will cost." Garvin added that if bids vary widely from expected costs, staff could re-bid.

Directions given: Staff said they will (1) hold a contractor outreach and training session (next Thursday from the time of the meeting), (2) survey bidders who attended walkthroughs but did not submit bids to identify barriers, and (3) work with state partners to speed contractor certification and reduce payment delays where possible.

Formal actions: Commissioners approved the CHIP application submission and multiple contractor payments. Staff said the Kleinfelder application fee will be reimbursed if CHIP funding is awarded; commissioners also approved individual payments to contractors to proceed with homeowner repairs.

What’s next: Staff said they expect to submit the CHIP application before the June 25 deadline and will report back on the outreach event and any change in bid participation.