Victoria County commissioners said on Monday they will “protect the taxpayers” by ensuring that post-Hurricane Harvey restoration work that the county has paid for is performed, the Victoria Advocate reported.
Present on Monday when commissioners made that vow were officials with Virtus Group, now called Commercial Restoration Company, the firm hired to repair the many county facilities damaged by the 2017 storm. County officials have faced scrutiny over their management of CRC’s work.
Victoria County officials hired CRC at the recommendation of the Texas Association of Counties, but they haven’t been happy with the results. County Commissioner Gary Burns has called for a Texas Rangers investigation.
Nearby Refugio County also hired the company at the suggestion of TAC and has sued the association, asking for $1 million in damages, The Texas Monitor previously reported.
Victoria County Commissioner Kevin Janak said at the meeting that a work group has conducted an extensive review of insurance documents, scopes of work, invoices and change orders, the Advocate reported.
Last month, Janak asked all county departments to report on work that may have been paid for without being completed. He said he discovered that some criticism of CRC’s work is based on misinformation.
“There’s lots of misconception there that ‘This was hurricane-related, this is what [CRC] was supposed to do, but [CRC] didn’t do it,’ while that’s not really the case,” he said.
Janak said the work group recently met with CRC representatives and asked them to perform their own review. After that is done, CRC will submit a bill that reflects an agreed-upon scope of work, the Advocate reported.
“We’re here to get it right, and we will get it right,” Janak said.
