MELFI'S RESEARCH Board rebids timber on city-owned lands

The new bidding process starts next week.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Mayor James Melfi is the first to admit he doesn't know anything about timbering. That's why he and other city officials felt it necessary to get professional advice from someone who does.
That advice, Melfi said, is what led earlier this month to his decision to rebid the timber harvest on city-owned land.
"We told council right up front that we had no experience in this," he said, referring to board of control members.
First impulse
The board -- comprised of Melfi and the city's safety and service directors -- originally recommended city council award the contract to Gustavus Hardwoods, which would have paid 60 percent of timber sales during harvesting.
City council is the only board with the authority to award contracts and had not acted on the recommendation when Melfi decided to put the project out for bid again.
Gustavus Hardwoods' owner William Spithaler, however, has threatened to file suit against the city. To date, no lawsuit has been filed.
But after speaking with David N. Coldwell, owner of Coldwell Timber Consulting LLC of Salineville, Melfi said he knew city officials needed help.
"He showed us we had gone about it all wrong," Melfi said.
Recommendations
Melfi said city officials had used general specifications from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in the bid packages, which Coldwell said was not good enough.
Coldwell, who will receive 10 percent of the sale price of the timber, also suggested the city accept bids based on species of trees to be harvested rather than the size of the trees. The city should also have the timber harvested in specific sections, as opposed to the entire area all at once, he added.
Though state law mandates that any requests for bids be advertised in a news publication with general distribution, Coldwell suggested the city also advertise in publications geared toward the timbering industry, Melfi said.
"He's also sending out a prospectus to about 70 companies he knows who specialize in this work," Melfi said of Coldwell.
Melfi said the new specifications will go out next week, and bids will be accepted until Aug. 18.
City officials plan to use at least a portion of the money generated from the timbering to balance the city's general-fund deficit.
In addition to the financial boost, timbering portions of the trees is expected to help maintain wildlife in the area,as well as help the growth rate of the remaining trees.
Once work starts, the process could take as long as a year to 18 months.
slshaulis@vindy.com