Rauch company raided in December had contract dispute with city

Demolition contractor Steve Rauch is again doing work for the city of Dayton after a dispute in 2014 that resulted in the city terminating four of his contracts for problems that included allegations Rauch’s workers used improper fill material after demolitions, city records show.

Rauch was awarded a $267,320 contract in May 2016 to demolish nuisance residential properties through 2017, city records reviewed by the newspaper show. He has also bid on other contracts this year.

FULL STORY: Contract with Rauch followed dispute with city

Rauch had contracted with the city of Dayton for millions of dollars in demolition work prior to the roughly two-year hiatus from doing city work. He denied the stoppage was in any way involuntary, saying his company was simply too busy to do work at the rates the city was paying him.

But a Dayton Daily News examination of city records show Dayton terminated four contracts totaling $1.4 million with Rauch’s company — SRI — in 2014 after city officials said his workers “used improper fill at numerous demolition sites,” according to a November 2014 letter to Rauch’s attorney from the city.

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“Not only did SRI repeatedly breach the contracts by purposefully using improper fill on the demolition sites and failing to fully excavate the sites and remove the foundations, but SRI repeatedly failed to perform the work in a timely manner,” says the letter from Assistant City Attorney John Musto.

Explore Go here to read the full story and see the documents obtained for this story

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About the Author

Josh Sweigart

Josh Sweigart is an investigative reporter at the Dayton Daily News. His stories have focused on government waste, fraud, abuse and accountability in southwest Ohio, as well as the statehouse and U.S. Capitol.