This is a continuing saga of this story: http://www.demolitionforum.com.....-mess.html

As some York City property owners continue to complain about bills they received for the demolition of their properties after an explosion earlier this year, one of the disputes is over whether demolition contractor Washington & Dowling Contractors Inc. charged a reasonable amount for its work.

Two regional demolition contractors said they could do a similar demolition involving multiple brick row houses for 60 percent or less than what Washington & Dowling charged. But a Washington & Dowling representative said those lower prices were unreasonable.

And a city official backed up Washington & Dowling's claims, saying the company's prices are in line with other demolition work, the company does a good job and that the other contractors might have ulterior motives for saying their prices are better.

Two row houses were leveled and three others were severely damaged in a March 10 explosion on York City's College Avenue.

The city called three contractors to see if they could demolish the remaining buildings and remove the debris from the explosion, said Kim Bracey, York City's community development director.

Washington & Dowling was chosen and was on scene in a matter of hours. Another contractor didn't pick up the phone and the third didn't give a "good response," Bracey said.

Earlier this month, the city sent the property owners bills of $26,500 or more for the demolition of each property. Some protested.

"I couldn't believe that they were in good conscience billing people that," said Paul Stoeckle, owner of Mike's Nut Shop. His business was located at 961 W. College Ave., but he moved it to another site in the city after the blast.

But Benjamin Washington, president of Washington & Dowling, said his company has managed to stay in business 35 years by offering competitive prices.

"We live here," Washington said. "We aren't going to inflate the prices."
Comparing costs: Washington & Dowling charged between $26,500 and $32,000 per building for demolition, debris removal and the installation of new sidewalks, according to invoices Washington provided yesterday. He said the unusual conditions surrounding the explosion drove up the price a few thousand dollars, and a more typical demolition of brick row houses would cost closer to $20,000 per building.

Bracey said the cost is in line with other demolition work done on behalf of the city.

"They are always fair to the City of York and typically come in as the lowest bidder," Bracey said. Others, however, say they would typically charge less.
Robert Warihay, owner of Conestoga Demolition in Manheim, Lancaster County, said the demolition of multiple brick row houses would typically cost him only about $10,000 a house. Though Lancaster is Conestoga Demolition's main market, the company has done work in York and said disposal costs here would be only slightly higher.

Dick Olszewski, president of Harrisburg-based Swatara Contractors, said a multiple row house demolition typically wouldn't cost more than $15,000 per brick building. His company has also done work in York and said the price would be about the same here.

Washington said such prices are unrealistic. The five-house demolition job on College Avenue cost his company $65,000 to $70,000 just to dispose of the materials. That equals up to $14,000 per house, not counting labor or equipment costs.

Typical for W&D: In a similar emergency demolition for the Harrisburg Department of Building and Housing Development, Washington & Dowling charged $62,000 to tear down three fire-damaged row houses earlier this year. Washington said those were three-story brick structures, like those damaged in the explosion at York, and the bill averaged almost $21,000 per property.

Washington said the buildings in York cost more to tear down for a number of reasons. A big one was that the explosion mixed a lot of brick together with the rest of the rubble, which increased disposal costs.

The contractors also had to spend a few days sifting through the rubble for investigators hunting for the cause of the blast. Plus, the houses contained the belongings of the people who lived there, resulting in a couple more Dumpsters' worth of trash to dispose for each property; those factors drove the cost up a few thousand dollars each, Washington said.

Washington said his company often puts in the lowest-priced bids for construction jobs in York and Harrisburg and sticks close to the going rate.
"If we were the highest (priced) demolition contractor in the city, we wouldn't get any of the demolition work," Washington said.

Though other demolition contractors agreed that brick mixed into the rubble could increase the disposal costs, they said the per-house demolition costs would still be well below $20,000 for a typical row home demolition.

Bracey said the contractors might say they could come in lower in hopes of getting some of Washington & Dowling's business.

"No one else is raising any eyebrows about what's being charged except a contractor outside the city," she said.