Watchdog: Some answers about the explosion in downtown Youngstown, six weeks later
One of the questions 21 news has been asking is why the city awarded this work directly to the building's owner without taking bids.
It's been six weeks since the explosion at the Realty building, and there are still questions that are left unanswered.
Much of the uncertainty lies with what crew was working on the building, and the qualifications of these workers.
One of the questions 21 news has been asking is why the city awarded this work directly to the building's owner without taking bids.
Deputy Director Chuck Shasho said that, because the parts of the utility lines run under public sidewalks, the city could have ordered Greenheart to move them. Instead, Shasho said the city decided to help by awarding them the contract for the work, since downtown businesses have been affected by construction.
Shasho said the city has not paid Greenheart for the work, but that it was approved by the board of control without a vote from council.
Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown said Shasho made this decision because of timing issues with the SMART2 project.
"We had the bill grant going on, we had a time issue on one part of federal street and we needed another part of federal street to be done, in order to keep the project in the building going, so this is what he decided to do," said Brown.
Another major question 21 news has been pressing the city on finally got a little bit more clear today. 21 news has asked how workers were vetted for safety before being allowed to perform the dangerous work. During a conference on June 6, and during another conference on June 11, Brown refused to talk about the vetting process.
But Tuesday, Brown admitted that only Greenheart had been vetted, based on their past work. And if the work was subcontracted, he doesn't know who the workers are or there qualifications.
"We had a developer who had done some work in downtown properties and buildings in several projects so we ranted and raved about how they renovated a couple of the buildings. So they had a track record for working with downtown buildings," said Brown.
Shasho also admitted not knowing who the workers were, directing us to the NTSB. 21 news reached out to NTSB but they tell us there are no conclusions as to who the crew is.