Commissioners stop paying consultant's bills
By DAVE GOSSETT, staff writerSTEUBENVILLE - The Jefferson County Commissioners voted Thursday to stop paying invoices from MS Consultants until billing issues are resolved, and also announced the sale of 4.4 acres of property in the county's industrial park for the expansion of an existing business.
The unanimous decision by the three commissioners to stop paying the MS Consultant bills came after they were handed two invoices from the Youngstown firm totalling $32,343.54.
Commission president David Maple said he had completed his personal assessment of recent billing by MS Consultants and noted the company had indicated clerical errors in 2006 internal billing procedures.
"I believe we have been charged more than $25,000 in over-billing," said Maple.
"MS Consultants has said they found Jefferson County to be a good customer. Our problem is people in MS Consultants were receiving promotions, and the billing process wasn't accurately reflecting what we were supposed to be charged. We are prepared to resolve these issues through arbitration," explained Maple.
"I am open to meeting with MS Consultants to resolve this issue, but I now believe they are $25,000 in debt to us," said Maple.
The move to put the MS Consultant invoices on hold came from Commissioner Adam Scurti, who said he supported Maple's position.
According to county records, the commissioners have paid MS Consultants more than $4.5 million since 1997.
In other matters, Commissioner Thomas Graham discussed the sale of 4.4 acres of county industrial park land to Don Snyder of Wildfire Motors.
"This is a good day for Jefferson County. It's not often you can announce the creation of new jobs," Graham noted.
"They expect to see 40 to 200 new jobs created with the expansion of their business. And if they successfully create those jobs within the next four years, we will waive the $22,000 sale price," said Graham.
Ed Looman, executive director of Progress Alliance, said Snyder plans to double Wildfire's warehouse and production facilities.
"This is a major development. Valuable assistance for this program came through the Ohio Department of Development. The entire project is contingent upon board approval at the state level for financing and tax incentives," explained Looman.
"This is good for Jefferson County because economic development is very competitive these days. This is an excellent example of all of us working together," Looman said.
The commissioners also approved a citizens advisory committee for the county's water and sewer department to look for interest from potential engineering firms for future projects.
County Sanitary Engineer Jack Gilmore requested approval of the committee that will be used to determine a qualified-based selection program and to assist in selecting qualified engineering firms for future projects.
The committee will include Gilmore, Maple, County Engineer Jim Branagan and Shannon Gosbin, assistant director of the water and sewer department.
In other business, the commissioners approved a purchase request from Branagan to order road treatment salt from the Morton Salt Co. at $108.50 a ton.
"Right now we are OK. But we were told it will be four to six weeks before we receive our order. So we are proceeding cautiously and mixing our salt with cinders. We used to use less salt on our roads three to four years ago. We will basically go back to that level of treatment, so motorists won't see a major change," noted Branagan.
He also said he expects to see salt to become more readily available next year.
"It is just like gasoline prices. I believe communities will cut down on the amount of salt they use this year and that will result in it being less expensive next year," said Branagan.
The commissioners also approved the re-appointment of Lori Sullivan, Charles Joyce and Steven Bolger to the Jefferson County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)
