“Regardless of geographic location, political affiliations, or personal opinions, there are some times during the year where everyone seems to be able to come together. The Fourth of July firework shows always seem to be one of those unifying events where everyone can at least agree to ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs.’ The displays can create new family traditions, remind many of old family traditions, and magically bring everyone together in quiet observation of the bright lights in the sky. If you haven’t taken a moment to be thankful for your freedom during the recent holiday weekend, please take a moment and visit Congratulations to Leroy and Margaret Bean
All of us at Easterday Construction Co., Inc. would like to congratulate Leroy and Margaret Bean on 50 years of marriage this week. Leroy and Margaret were part of the Easterday Construction family for over 40 years when Leroy retired. Leroy started here October 1st, 1961 as a truck driver and retired as a Site Superintendent demonstrating the potential for advancement in a Merit Shop company. We’ve been proud to watch Leroy become an active community volunteer in his retirement, working dilegently with the Lions Club, the Grace United Church of Christ and recently serving on the Culver Park Board.
Best wishes to Leroy and Margaret for many more happy years! There will be a reception for Leroy and Margaret at the Vandalia Railroad Station in Culver on July 30, 2011 from 1 to 5 pm.
Just for fun, you can see a reprint of an employee profile on Leroy from The Easterday Parade, our now defunct company newsletter here. This profile appeared in the Vol. I, No. 6, October 1990.
Culver Garden Court – Kiwanis
Reverend Liechty and I were the speakers at the Culver Kiwanis meeting last week. We were asked to give an update on Culver Garden Court, a little about the project and a little about the Garden Court organization. I spoke first and gave a brief run down on how long it took to make this project happen in Culver, the problems with finding a site, and the cooperation we received from the Town.
I discussed our progress on the project. (Framing has been completed, roofing is underway, rough-in of plumbing & electrical is underway.) I also discussed the schedule moving forward. I also told them of the other Garden Court projects we have completed in Argos, Bourbon, Knox, Plymouth (Fairfield), Mentone and LaPaz. There is one planned for Napannee if the funding comes through.
Reverend Liechty then spoke on how Garden Court began with their mission to provide affordable housing that they “would be willing to put their grandmother in”. He spoke on their constraints and their plans for the future.
Everything was well received and there were good questions as we went along.
As a quick status update, as of yesterday the windows are installed. Shingles are being installed and were approximately 15% complete yesterday evening. Internally the draft stops have been installed in the attic. The electricians and plumbers are working on their rough-in.
With the completion of the framing, we will be looking at beginning some of the initial site work finishes such as curbs and walks. Asphalt for parking and drives will follow the walks. We will delay the landscaping until later in the year to get out of the extreme heat.
See Jeff Kenney’s reporting on this presentation in the Pilot News here.
Really?
Well, I would have to say that I have been a fan of Star Trek since the original series. Yes, looking back it is cheesy, but it was one of my first exposures to science fiction. No I never had a pair of Spock ears. Yes, some of the current incarnations have been butchered mercilessly. But, really? Teenage Mutant Ninja Kirk? Really!?!
I wonder if Michelangelo’s realizes he’s toast in that red shirt…
Common Wage Hearing
This Monday I was asked to serve as ABC’s (Associated Builders and Contractors) representative at a Common Wage Hearing in Warsaw. The Hearing covered three sewer projects for the City of Warsaw and was held at the Kosciusko County Courthouse. This is the first Wage Hearing that I have attended since the Law changed on July 1. As of that date the five member panel no longer includes a representative appointed by the Governor’s Office but now has a member appointed by ABC. There are a couple of other changes to the Law. One is that a Wage Hearing is good for any other projects going forward for a period of three months providing that all of the wage classes named in the hearing cover the following projects. (This should reduce the number of Hearings required). The second item is a change in the project cost threshold from $150,000 to $250,000. Unfortunately due to a language error, the $250,000 threshold does not apply until January 1, 2012 and the language error caused all Hearings for the remainder of 2011 to have no threshold, i.e., any project must pay the common wage and have a hearing to set that wage.
In some ways it was apropos that I took this position as I was filling the shoes of Don Scearce. Don was a personal friend as well as a business associate for many years. I worked briefly in his office as a draftsman after college and I have a continuing relationship with his office, Scearce Rudisel Architects, to this day. Don was a staunch supporter of Merit Shop and served on countless Wage Hearings such as this striving to do the best he could for his community through these Common Wage Hearings. Unfortunately Don passed away last year. (Obituary)
The City of Warsaw and Kosciusko County have a long history of supporting ABC wages on their projects. Of the 231 construction businesses in the County, only three are signatory to unions. Since 2008 there have been 37 hearings and at 33 hearings the ABC rates were adopted. This makes the County very pro Merit Shop regardless of whether the companies are affiliated with ABC or not. The representative for the AFL/CIO brought several documents to present including a folder of affidavits from workers showing their wage rates. Unfortunately it appeared that many of those workers were not actually working in Kosciusko County though that was the implication. I also noted a significant number of the ones that I glanced through that were below the rates requested in their submission. Their submission was also heavy highway rather than providing rates across all classifications. It was not clear why they did not provide the complete list of rates but had that list been adopted, additional hearings would have been required if another building project came up.
The ABC Wages passed on a vote of 3 to 1 with the chair abstaining. Even though these projects are outside of our scope of work I still felt good about doing what I could to get the best rates for the City of Warsaw.
While I still believe that the best legislation would be a repeal of the Common Wage requirements, the changes to the new Law helped to promote competition and lower project costs for all of us. Once the $250,000 threshold is in place that will also help improve the situation Our Senators and Representatives should be commended for making this change and should be encouraged to continue the trend towards no common wage requirements.