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STEUBENVILLE -- Before awarding the new contract for pest control services, the Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Authority is hoping to figure out a way to hold tenants accountable if they don't do what they're supposed to.
The board, meeting virtually for the first time Wednesday, also rewarded Executive Director Melody McClurg with a 10 percent wage increase, applauding her performance since taking the job in October 2018.
"Our executive director seems to have us going in the right direction," board member Michael Zinno said. "I'm fairly new to the board, but what I've seen over the past eight months has been a nice improvement -- I think I speak for the board when I say that. Certainly, there's a lot more that needs to be done. Mel has done a great job in a very, very difficult situation she stepped into."
Zinno said after studying similar-sized housing authorities, board members realized McClurg's salary "was not where it should be."
"Ten percent speaks to her performance and gets her in line where she needs to be with other housing authorities similarly sized," he added.
Prior to the adjustment, McClurg was making roughly $85,000 and will now earn roughly $93,500 a year.
The board was told bids had been opened for pest control services at JMHA properties, but action was tabled after Chairman Tony Morelli said he'd like more time to review the information.
"We spend a lot of money on pest control," he said. "It's not always clear to me who's doing what. (Currently), it's not (unusual) to have two different companies in the same building doing different things."
Rather than just base their decision on bid totals, McClurg said she would analyze the scope of work to be done as well as cost "per company, per unit, per treatment" before returning in May with a recommendation.
"There's a lot of info (here)," Morelli said. "I'm just not sure who does what. I do know since we've had more competition (for the contract), prices have gone down."
Maintenance Supervisor Bob Ribar suggested part of the confusion is because "one of them has a larger scope of work than the one we're using now."
"There's a $50,000 difference between the two," he said, explaining that at least one of the companies will do the prep work, too, wrapping furniture and using vacuum heat, "do whatever they have to do" to treat bedbug infestations. "The other company doesn't heat it, they spray."
Traditional bedbug treatments rely on the tenant bagging their clothing and bedding, then washing it or running it through the heat cycle long enough to kill pests.
What sometimes happens is people put the clean, debugged clothes and bedding back in the bags they'd used to cart them to the laundry room, the board was told. Others know that if they don't do the work, JMHA will do it "and foot the bill," so they do nothing, or see bugs in their apartment but don't report them.
"Tenants need to take some responsibility in this and the prep work," Zinno said. "How much responsibility do we give tenants if they do their prep work, wrapping and everything? I certainly see benefit doing it for the tenants -- but the tenants need to take some responsibility."
Board member Daysha Wade said reasonable accommodation should be made for tenants with physical limitations, "but if you are capable and your home has bugs (you should do your own prep work)."
"We definitely need to look at this in depth a far as are we getting a bang for our buck," Morelli said, adding it's important to let tenants know there are consequences if they don't properly maintain their residences. "We can't just keep doing it.
"They need to take some responsibility," he said, adding,"We're going to be changing some policies."
McClurg said in recent weeks the JMHA staff has been focused on protecting residents and themselves from coronavirus exposure, saying residents have been using colored cards to alert neighbors when they need help with things like groceries or essentials.
"People are using it," she said. "We actually have a couple tenants walking the halls and giving us a list" of residents who need assistance."
McClurg also applauded groups that have gone out of their way to look after JMHA residents, including Urban Mission Ministries, the Friendship Room, Big Red's football team for delivering groceries and Steubenville City Schools, which is bringing lunches to neighborhoods in need.
JMHA Security Chief Joe Buchmelter told the board two shootings had been investigated, one in the North End family units and the other in the South End.
A suspect has been identified and an arrest warrant issued in the north end shooting incident, while the other remains an "open investigation."
The board also asked McClurg to draft a letter of thanks to former board member JoAnn Welday.