A mathematical misunderstanding could increase a county storm debris removal project by nearly $3 million dollars.
The Yazoo County Board of Supervisors held a meeting with representatives of Looks Great Services, which is contracted to remove debris mainly from District 2, following a recent major storm. A storm that was deemed as a disaster by the federal government is coming with a heftier price tag than county officials anticipated.
The county board also held a teleconference with DebrisTech, who was appointed to monitor the debris clean-up by Looks Great Services.
County leaders thought the project could be completed for $1,183,075. But as the project nears completion, the cost has increased to nearly $4 million dollars.
At first, the county board was at a loss for words over the almost $3 million increase.
“Now I am looking at what responsibility the county is going to have financially,” said District Supervisor Jayne Dew.
Although the county will have to pay the project in full, it will be reimbursed by state and federal funds. After reimbursement, the county will be obligated to pay about ten percent of the total project cost. But the wait for reimbursement could put the county’s budget in a bind.
“We have to pay until we are reimbursed,” Dew said. And if we go by past tornadoes and floods, that could be several years. That is not healthy for our budget.”
“It’s way out of proportion on what we thought it was going to be,” added District 1 Supervisor Van Foster. “That is going to put the county in one heck of a bind.”
Representatives from Looks Great Services said they did not provide that initial $1.2 million dollar figure to the county board.
“This is the first time I have heard of this,” said Kristian Agogolia, Looks Great Services president.
Agogolia said his company did not provide a flat-bid with a total cost in their bid proposal. They said they provided its rating sheet.
“I remember these numbers,” Dew said. “These numbers were given to us. Somebody had to come up with these numbers.”
“Where did we get this total from,” asked District 2 Supervisor David Berry. “That is what I want to know.”
Chancery Clerk Quint Carver searched for documentation for nearly 30 minutes, but could not find any record of Looks Great Services providing a total estimate.
“I don’t remember reading off any number figures,” Carver added.
“Bottom line is that we were given one figure, and it’s doubled that,” Dew said. “The bill has gotten close to $3 million. That would have been stupid on our part.”
After searching for documentation, the board suggested that perhaps the figures were provided by the project monitors, DebrisTech.
DebrisTech was then called via teleconference with the board.
Les Dungan with DebrisTech said they “underestimated” their costs based on preliminary debris estimates given by MEMA.
“It turned out to be a lot more debris out there than what was initially estimated,” Dungan said. “That’s why the costs have gone over. That is an explanation of why the costs are where they are. It all boils down that the estimates we pulled out of the information we had from (MEMA and our assessment).”
Dungan said his company took the estimates and applied them to the unit prices from all three contractors who submitted a bid.
Despite the confusion, Looks Great Services would still have been the lowest and best bid for the county.
Estimates first provided by MEMA did not include “leaners or hangers,” damaged trees that are leaning or broken limbs hanging down.
“None of the contractors gave you a total,” Dungan said. “They gave you unit prices. We had to assume a quantity of each item in order to get a total.”
Dungan said the estimated amount of debris was used to come up with the $1.2 million figure.
“Actually what was really out there was more than that,” he said.
“You missed terribly,” replied Board President Cobie Collins.
“We missed terribly,” Dungan admitted. “We didn’t estimate enough of these items. It turned out to be a lot more out there.”
Other surrounding counties with debris removal are experiencing the same thing, Dungan said.
Agogolia suggested that Yazoo County join together with the few other counties involved with a similar situation to work with the state.
“It is not reasonable for a county to pick up this expense,” he said. “It has happened in the state where the state has stepped up and helped with the expense. That is where I would be focusing on a solution.”
Agogolia said he would begin that process quickly before it becomes “a major issue.”
“I think if you go at it alone, it’s just a waste in the wind,” he said. “If you go in as three or four major counties and you pull together...these things are handled politically.”
Berry, who represents the area affected by the storm, said there has been no criticism of Looks Great’s performance, adding that everything “looks great.”
“We are very grateful for the work, and we want to do a good job to finish this contract right,” Agogolia said.
