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Taylor County approves emergency exceptions, awards two SHIP home repair contracts and OKs HARP change order
Summary
Taylor County commissioners approved exceeding an internal SHIP cost cap to award two roofing/home-repair contracts, approved a $36,740 change order to add a bedroom to an HARP home, and authorized seeking outside counsel to pursue a SHIP lien repayment where the heir declined to repay.
Taylor County commissioners voted to allow two Homeowner SHIP (State Housing Initiative Partnership) repairs to exceed the program—ap and to award the lowest responsive bidder for two rehabilitation projects, county staff said.
At a public meeting county housing staff recommended awarding Certified Roofing & Construction the contracts for repairs at the homes of Glenda Smith and Alicia Cooley and asked commissioners to waive the SHIP arbitrary per-project cost limit of $150,000 because of rising construction costs. Melanie Cox, who presented the item, said Certified Roofing was the lowest bidder and staff recommended the county approve exceeding the SHIP cap and award the projects.
The request to exceed the per-project cost limit followed staff dvice that construction costs had increased since bids were received. Cox told the board one recipient ccounting entry would be paid with a discount and that new SHIP funding ($350,000 awarded to the county) would cover shortfalls.
The board separately approved change order No. 1, adding $36,740 to the construction of an additional bedroom in a home for Christine and Robert Harp. Madeline Cox (agenda presenter) said the household needed the second bedroom because a child had documented medical needs; the change order put that home—ost at $221,005.40 and was described as 100% grant funded.
Members also approved seeking outside legal counsel in a separate SHIP matter after a homeowner eath left a repayment obligation on a SHIP lien. Staff said the heir declined to repay $34,375.78 that is due to the county under the program lien; the heir has hired counsel. Staff asked the board to authorize outside counsel to pursue the county—laim.
Why this matters: SHIP funds are federal/state-backed housing dollars administered at the county level; approving exceptions to per-project caps and extra construction increases the county—ommitment for these homes and reduces the pool of funds available for other eligible residents.
Commissioners asked about conflicts of interest and whether any board member had a relationship to bidders; staff said no conflicts were declared. A motion to approve the SHIP exception and awards was made during the meeting; the minutes did not include a roll-call tally in the transcript provided to staff.
The board also heard that one of the awarded recipients would be paid under a discounted schedule and that incoming SHIP allocations would cover the shortfalls staff cited, information staff offered while seeking the waiver.
