Highland County land bank board awards bids for 3 Hillsboro properties
Members of the Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank) board held a special meeting Thursday, July 31, where they voted to award bids for three Building Demolition and Site Revitalization projects.
While the land bank typically bids each package to one contractor, in this case a different contractor was awarded each of the three properties.
According to land bank coordinator Jason Johansen, the projects have been awarded as follows: Land Lift Incorporated for package Y-1 (314 Bigelow St., Hillsboro), $12,750; Evans Landscaping for package Y-2 (625 S. High St. Hillsboro), $12,250; and B. Vance Excavating for package Y-3 (727 S. High St., Hillsboro), $21,500.
As previously reported, the original contractor notified Johansen that the company could not complete nine of the 14 demolitions they were awarded May 1.
In May, the board opened new bids for the projects and awarded them to the apparent low bidders. However, in July, Johansen said that the apparent low bidder of two of the three packages withdrew their offer, and Johansen awarded the projects to the second-lowest bidder.
Johansen told The Highland County Press Tuesday that the second-lowest bidders also declined to accept the project, leading to the land bank opting to rebid the projects again.
As discussed in July, the state granted the land bank an extension from their previous June 20 deadline, with the unfinished projects and corresponding reports now required to be completed by Sept. 30.
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