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Commissioners approve vendor swap for fairgrounds sound system after contractor health, payment questions
Summary
County officials agreed to swap a vendor on an ARPA-funded fairgrounds sound-system project after the original contractor cited medical issues; staff flagged equipment already purchased, questions about past charges and the need for the fair board to sort unresolved vendor claims.
County commissioners discussed and moved to substitute vendors on an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) project to install a new sound system at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds after the original contractor could not complete the work.
Mike Slinski, the county building official, told commissioners the fair board had obtained a signed release from Ron Storer Commercial Sound after the company reported medical problems and could not finish the job. The board is being asked to replace Ron Storer with Hudson Communications LLC for the installation portion, Slinski said, and the fair board solicited Hudson at the same price.
The agenda packet lists items that staff and commissioners parsed in public: an $82,091 line item related to the installation, equipment on site that staff estimated at about $51,000, and a figure cited in discussion that tied earlier 4-H building work to a $718,008.47 total. A county staff member said some work done by the original contractor has not been accepted and that the fair board will need to resolve outstanding administrative and inspection issues with the vendor before final payment.
Commissioners and staff also raised a separate concern about roughly $6,000 of charges described during the meeting as engineering fees; the county building official said an unregistered person cannot bill for engineering services and that the county would not pay improperly billed engineering work. "That work has not been accepted," he said, urging the fair board to resolve quality and billing questions with the original contractor while allowing Hudson Communications to complete the installation before the fair.
Slinski and other staff clarified that no ARPA funds have yet been expended on the replacement vendor and that the proposal is intended to ensure the sound system is installed in time for fair events. The fair board will assume responsibility for reconciling any unpaid invoices or disputed charges from the first contractor, commissioners were told.
Next steps: staff will return with the formal amendment and contract documents; the fair board will continue to work out outstanding vendor claims before the county approves final payment changes.
