City of Danville
“Danville City Council will be discussing a petition it
received from local contractors asking the city to use a competitive bidding
process rather than public works crews for blighted property demolitions during
its work session Tuesday night. In the summary supplied to council members by
Deputy City Manager Ken Larking, the city argues that using public works crews
for the majority of the simpler demolitions saves the city, and taxpayers,
money.
‘City staff has determined that the cost to demolish a
structure is typically about $3.50 per square foot cheaper when done by public
works crews,’ the summary reads. ‘Due to the magnitude of blighted property in
the city and limited financial resources, staff consequently uses public works
crews for most routine demolition projects.’
Larger or more complex demolitions — such as the demolition
of Hylton Hall, which is costing the Industrial Development Authority $30,000
for asbestos and lead paint abatement, plus $70,000 for the actual demolition
being done by Marshall Construction — that require special equipment does go
through a competitive bidding process, the summary notes.
Larking supplied council members with a list of the 116
demolitions public works has done since 2008, at an average cost of about
$5,300 per structure. Using the estimate of it costing $3.50 per square foot
more if the jobs are contracted out, a 1,500-square-foot building would cost
$5,250 more to be demolished by a private contractor. If each of the 116
buildings demolished by public works crews were at least 1,500 square feet in
size, that means the city has saved at least $609,000 demolishing those
buildings themselves.”
~Writes Denice Thibodeau of the Go Dan River
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