Lebanon Redevelopment Commission awards bid for 124–126 N. Lebanon St. to Dunamis group

The Lebanon Redevelopment Commission voted 3–2 to award the redevelopment bid for 124–126 North Lebanon Street to the Dunamis group during a special year-end meeting.

The commission’s decision followed debate about competing proposals, changes to a bidder’s cost estimates that were provided to commissioners after the initial public submission, and legal guidance on how the commission must treat revised information. Commissioners also voted to allow the commission to consider offers below the original asking price of $497,500 and approved routine year-end claims payments.

Commissioners and staff spent the bulk of the meeting reviewing two proposals for the downtown property and the integrity of the bidding process. Ben (staff) told commissioners he had requested and circulated written communications and supporting documents from a bidder after a commission member forwarded an email from that bidder. Ben told the commission the Dunamis team’s per-project totals rose substantially following additional vetting with contractors: “They went from about 1,500,000 to 2,400,000.”

Commissioner Craig Parks objected to the timing of those revised numbers. “I was just taken aback that numbers are changed after…