By JENNIFER RAYMOND

jraymond@thewakullanews.net

In light of the controversy over the weatherization project being administered by the Wakulla County housing department and the recent resignation of the weatherization director, County Administrator Ben Pingree has established a management review team to perform a review of the program.

The team will give a final report on its findings in less than four weeks.

The team will be chaired by Assistant County Administrator Lindsay Stevens, and includes Virginia Dekle, FEMA grants and purchasing information, and Doug Jones, director of public services, as well as Candice Wilson, director of Leon County’s Health and Human Services, Shanea Wilkes, finance and compliance officer for Leon County Housing Services Division, and Lisa Blair, president and CEO of Community Services Group.

Weatherization Director Jerry Nuss resigned after a county commission meeting where the housing department asked the board to give approval to some emergency bids for weatherization work on local homes..

Housing Director Alfred Nelson explained to the commission that the department was in an emergency situation and needed the process of bidding out these homes to move quickly so that homes could be weatherized by the end of the month.

This urgency came after a letter was received from the Department of Community Affairs, which threatened to take back nearly $1.3 million in federal stimulus money if the process did not speed up.

In Nuss’ resignation letter, which came just a week after the meeting, he questioned the emergency bid process that took place and said after that, after the commission meeting when the bids were approved, that he had never felt more defiled.

He said he was approached by Building Director John Taylor and housing staffer Eddie Franklin to get 18 job files and go out and get bids.

Nuss said some of those jobs had already been out for bid. There was some question of whether two weatherization contractors who had been doing jobs for the county were excluded from bidding as the county sought get more houses completed completed as soon as possible.

Nuss said that he also heard job specifications were not offered to some contractors by Taylor or Franklin.

Contractor Thomas Morse claims this isn’t the case.

Morse said he received spec sheets that were signed by Nuss.

The contractors who were excluded from submitting bids for the weatherization work said costs were above what should be charged for certain items.

Morse said a breakdown of how much each item was required and normally contractors don’t provide those.

He said they worked out to a reasonable amount and stayed under $5,000 per home.

Morse contended that Franklin and Taylor had to step in because Nuss wasn’t moving the program along.

“It was stagnant,” Morse said. “They single-handedly saved the program.”

Morse said Nuss let the program get to an emergency situation.

Morse was given bids on three houses and said all three have been completed.

Of the 18 houses that were bid out, Morse said contractors have completed them all.

"We all helped each other," he said.

The contractors worked together and offered advice and help to competing contractors, he said. "I've never seen that level of participation," he said.