Contractors who clean up debris and perform other services already are fighting over local government contracts that could be worth tens of millions in tax dollars.
It has been a month since Hurricane Ian wiped out parts of southwest Florida. Now multimillion-dollar cleanup contracts are generating new tempests in the Category 4 storm’s wake.
In response to the wide hurricane damage, county officials expanded the contract’s scope on Oct. 2 to include waterways and private property. But Bart Smith, an attorney for one of the contractors that lost the bid to Crowder-Gulf Joint Venture, told Lee County commissioners that not putting the extra work contained in the contract’s expansion out to bid put them at risk of a “clawback,” which is when FEMA takes back previously awarded money.
“In light of Hurricane Ian, it’s an enormous addition to the contract’s scope, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” Sanabria said. “It’s being improperly and uncompetitively awarded.” Lee County’s manager, Roger Desjarlais, dismissed the complaints, saying that vendors who don’t get a piece of the pie will try to “muddy the waters” because so much money is at stake in hurricane cleanup efforts.