Ahh, September!

We still have summer weather, there is an abundance of golf outings, and the sky is filled with footballs. We can speculate about what a great season the Bears are about to have without the burden of any statistical information to crush our hopes.

It’s also the time when the summer hiatus comes to an end and “meeting season” resumes for LCCA and for all of the other associations you participate in. Once again, you need to set aside the fourth Thursday of each month and whatever other evenings you have committed for industry activities.

Be sure to take advantage of all of these opportunities to get together with your competitors, peers, vendors, and friends in the industry. Enjoy and learn from the programs that are presented. Bring some new people from your company - and introduce them to someone they should know.

I’ve been attending these regular monthly meetings for about thirty years now and I still look forward to them. I can’t wait to get the “season” going again. I look forward to this month’s meeting and I look forward to seeing all of the regulars along with lots of new faces.
 

See you on the 22^nd!

LCCA is pleased to welcome Heidi Diederich to the staff. Heidi will fill a new position as Director of Member Services. She will be responsible for Meetings, Membership and Education.

Heidi has a BS in English from Illinois State University and over 10 years experience in association management.

She is married to Dean and lives in Gurnee.

Want to see the funny side of our industry, our customers, and maybe even a particular LCCA member or two? Then don’t miss this month’s Membership Meeting at the Country Squire in Grayslake. Check-in starts at 5:30 pm, cocktails at 6:00, dinner at 7:00 and the show begins at 8:00.

The program will feature Chicago’s own Playground Theater’s Improv Ensemble. Come see this talented group’s take on our industry – guaranteed to be a great evening of laughter and friends! The Playground’s touring group will reveal quirky characters, surprising coincidences, hilarious outcomes -- all based on your suggestions. The suggestion of a location, a relationship, a line of a song - that's all they need to launch a terrific scene. It's all wild, all spontaneous -- and it's never the same show twice. So sit back, shout out what's on your mind, and laugh as they create skits around your inspirations!

I hope to see you there!

The annual trade show is set for the October Membership meeting on October 27 at Midlane Golf Resort. This will be a change from past years when it was held in November. In addition, the show will not “share” the stage with the annual meeting. The focus will be on the show and there will be some great prizes for some lucky members.

According to Program Committee Chair, Micky Day, DK Contractors, “The committee felt October would be a better month for the show and the exhibitors deserved to be the center of attention, rather than the warm-up for the annual meeting. It is really a great show and I encourage all contractors to attend. And did I mention that the exhibitors are hosting the bar?”

Exhibitor registration forms have been mailed. If you wish to have a booth, please return the form ASAP. Space is limited.

The 2005 edition of LCCA’s Holiday Party at the Lincolnshire Marriott is scheduled for Friday, December 3, 2005. If you want to attend one of Lake County’s great parties, put your group together and block out the date. Reservation forms will be in the mail soon. For those who have never attended, this is the best entertainment value in Lake County. Great food, drink, conversation and a show that will knock your socks off!!

This is a great opportunity to entertain employees, clients or other special people while leaving the arrangements (and the headaches) to us! Get your tables together soon.

Another beautiful day for golf greeted LCCA members again this year. The golf course staff made the event flow smoothly and the food was outstanding. Once again, Scott Nelson, H.H. Holmes Testing, did a masterful job as event Chairman and thanks to the Nelson clan for jumping in and helping with everything from putting prizes in carts to selling tickets.

This year the golf was as hot as the weather. A 59 bested the field in the annual Scramble Tournament winning the Low Gross Award by just one stroke. Winners were:

1st Place – Advance Drainage Systems – 59
Tim Fahey – Advanced Drainage
Dan Henrie – Advanced Drainage
Darren Henrie
Jerry Last

2nd Place – Drydon Equipment - 60
Steve Truitt, Drydon Equipment
J.C. Roach - Sycamore
Tom Dennis
F Dale

3rd Place – Mid American Water - 60
Jon Volpendesta – Mid American
Water Frank Lallino – Holiday Sewer & Water
Jeff Musinski – City of Waukegan
Dave Giannini – Giannini Construction

4th Place – Multiple Concrete Accessories - 60
Mike Longfield, MCA
Jim McGinnis, MCA
Jamie Jackson, Circle Concrete
Arnie Zirbel, Zirbel Concrete

Closest To The Pin:
Steve Truitt, Drydon Equipment

LCCPAC Raffle – There were three winners in this year’s LCCPAC Raffle. Mike Olshefke had the winning ticket for $1,000 and Ted Rawlings and Karen Vignocchi also won cash prizes. The LCCPAC was also richer by over $1,300!

Door Prizes – As always, Chairman Nelson found some spectacular prizes to give away. Mark Carabello and Chris Dabek walked away with $2,000 six burner Weber Grills. Jamie Jackson, Fred Rodheim, Bill Booker, Randy Rathmann and Todd Vikre all took home Apple IPODs.

We had close to 300 golfers participate in this year’s event and we congratulate the winners and appreciate all the golfers. We would also like to thank Countryside Golf Course for their professional attention to details that helped make this year’s event a success. If you have comments on the outing, we would love to hear from you. Call Gary at (847) 623-2345 or email gdowty@lcca-il.org.

Sponsors - Every year we owe a special thanks to the many members who sponsor the outing, helping to hold costs down for everybody who plays. This year’s sponsors were:

Hole In One Sponsor
Bank of Waukegan
Anthony Pontiac-GMC-Buick

Beer Cart Sponsors
Waukegan Roofing/North Coast Supply/ Johns Manville Corp.
Blue Book Building & Construction

Hole Sponsors
T J Adams Group
Aldridge Electric, Inc.
Avalon Petroleum Company
Berger Excavating Contractors
Blue Boy Portable Toilets
Boncosky Oil Company
Bornquist Inc.
Burris Equipment Co.
Camosy, Inc.
Case Construction Equipment
Chicago Area LECET
CISCO
Curran Contracting Company
Flow-Technics, Inc.
D. L. Franzen Construction
Gatwood Crane Service, Inc.
Goss Plumbing
Joseph J. Henderson & Son
H.H. Holmes Testing Laboratories
Lake County Building & Construction Trades Council
Lance Construction Supplies
McCann Industries, Inc.
McClure Engineering Associates
McGraw Hill Construction
Mechanical, Inc.
Meyer Material Company
Multiple Concrete Accessories
NES Rentals
Northern Illinois Mack, Inc.
Palatine Oil Co, Inc.
Patten Construction Products
Prairie Materials Sales
Thelen Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Turner Construction Company
Vulcan Construction Materials
Wm. Schwartz & Co.

Miscellaneous Sponsor
Blue Boy Portable Toilets, Inc. – Portable Toilets

MARBA Proposes Bylaw Amendment – As a result of recent negotiations and at the urging of LCCA, MARBA is voting this month to amend their bylaws to require Craft Committees to vote on any proposed settlement before the issue is presented to the Board of Directors.

This change is in response to the Carpenters negotiations last year. In this case, a proposed contract was brought to the Board of Directors and the Craft Committee appointed to advise and participate in the negotiations was not notified of the proposed settlement until later and never had the opportunity to express their opinion. This was an unusual negotiation anyway since the contract did not expire for over 6 months. But the contract was brought to the MARBA Board who voted to approve by a very slim margin.

The new bylaws will, if approved, require Craft Committee input and a vote – up or down – before being presented to the Board.

Teamsters Local 705 Allocates Increase – The Teamsters Local 705 have allocated the $1.60 wage package due June 1, 2005 as follows:

Wages - $.95
Health & Welfare - $.30
Pension - $.30
Training - $.05

Technical Engineers – Negotiations continue with Technical Engineers Local 130 for a new agreement to replace the contract that expired May 31. According to MARBA, negotiations continue and subcontracting remains one of the last issues to resolve.

Teamsters Training Certificate – The Illinois Department of Transportation requires low bidders to submit copies of the Apprenticeship and Training certification for all trades used in an IDOT project. An issue developed regarding performance of striping and traffic safety control services which has been performed by Teamsters. Teamsters Joint Council No. 25 was responsive to the issue and provided the Certificate of Registration and Revised Construction Driver Apprentice Curriculum. A copy of this certification is now available from the LCCA Office.

Prevailing Wage Act Changes – There are two important Illinois Prevailing Wage Act changes that were recently passed regarding certified payroll requirements and increased penalties for prevailing wage violations. Effective August 10, 2005, contractors and subcontractors on public works projects must submit certified payroll records on a monthly basis to the public body in charge of the construction project. Any contractor who fails to submit a certified payroll or knowingly files a false certified payroll is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Effective January 1, 2006, penalties for violations of the Prevailing Wage Act will increase from 20% to 50% of the underpaid amounts for second or subsequent violations. An additional penalty of 5% of the underpayment penalty must be paid to workers for each month the wages remain unpaid which is up from the current 2% penalty.

Laborers Craft Committee Formed – LCCA has formed a Craft Committee to begin preparing for the 2006 negotiations with Laborers. Rick Grabowski, Pickus Construction & Equipment, will chair the committee. If you have issues relative to the Laborers contract that should be considered by the negotiating committee, please direct them to LCCA. Email your comments to gdowty@lcca-il.org, or call Gary at the LCCA Office.

The Illinois Construction Industry Committee, along with AHEAD and several other construction industry groups, were directly involved in the negotiations leading to the Workers Comp Reform Bill recently signed into law by Governor Blagojevich on July 20. As with any bill as sweeping and as technical as this, critics and supporters both claim to know the impact on construction. The reality is that it will be some time before the merits or flaws are known.

In the meantime PA 94-0277 is the law. Enclosed with some newsletters is a Legislative Bulletin published by AHEAD that describes details of the act from the view of Guy Maras, a Workers Comp attorney who represented construction during the negotiations.

Do you want to do business with Wal-Mart and just need to know how? Then this seminar is for you. All potential owners have their own ways to get involved. Wal-Mart is no different and they have asked for the opportunity to speak to general and subcontractors in LCCA who would be interested in working on Wal-Mart projects.

The seminar will be held at the Country Squire in Grayslake on September 22, 2005 beginning at 4:00 p.m. There is no cost to register but seats are limited. Members will be limited to just two registrations each to make sure as many companies as possible are represented.

Wal-Mart has several projects planned for the Lake-McHenry area over the next few years and this is your opportunity to get in on the ground floor. The new Wal-Mart Super Store at the old Lakehurst site (Rt.43 and Rt. 120) is just one. David Oshinski from Wal-Mart’s construction department and Bryan Novak, Senior Director of Construction will conduct the seminar.

To register, go online to www.lcca-il.org/events. Remember, first come, first served.

Do you want to do business with Wal-Mart and just need to know how? Then this seminar is for you. All potential owner have their own ways to get involved. Wal-Mart is no different and they have asked for the opportunity to speak to general and subcontractors in LCCA who would be interested in working on Wal-Mart projects.

The seminar will be held at the Country Squire in Grayslake on September 22, 2005 beginning at 4:00 p.m. There is no cost to register but seats are limited. Members will be limited to just two registrations each to make sure as many companies as possible are represented.

Wal-Mart has several projects planned for the Lake-McHenry area over the next few years and this is your opportunity to get in on the ground floor. The new Wal-Mart Super Store at the old Lakehurst site (rt.43 and Rt. 120) is just one. David O’Shinski from Wal-Mart’s construction department will conduct the seminar.

To register, go online to www.lcca-il.org/events. Remember, first come, first served.

The former site of the Academy Theater just west of the Genessee Theater is the subject of a RFP issued by the City of Waukegan. The city is looking for a developer who can bring an innovative project to the site for a hotel, office-condo/retail project or other use that is consistent with the Master Plan. A pre-submittal conference is scheduled for Friday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. and proposals are due by October 3. If you or someone you know might be interested in this opportunity, contact Robin Schabes, Director of Lakefront and Downtown Redevelopment at (847) 856-6425.

The LCCA Annual Conference Chair Mike Ryan, H.H. Holmes Testing, is pleased to announce two additions to the program:

Margery Newman, Ogletree Deakins – Back by popular demand, Margery Newman will bring you up to date on several new legal issues that will impact your business.

Bill Zeigler, Zeigler Associates – Bill Zeigler will join us this year with an update on computer issues that will impact members.

The new tentative itinerary now includes:

Friday, March 3 – Arrival with a Welcome Reception in the evening.

Saturday, March 4 – Morning Seminar on Controlling Stress presented by Wayne Pratt, Oasis Business Group.

    Afternoon seminar by Margery Newman, Ogletree Deakins.

Sunday, March 5 – Free day to enjoy the area.

Monday, March 6 – Morning Seminar on Time Management by Wayne Pratt, Oasis Business Group.

    Afternoon seminar by Bill Zeigler, Zeigler & Associates.

Tuesday, March 7 – Morning and Afternoon free to enjoy the area. Evening will feature a dinner party at the hotel.

Wednesday, March 8 – Departure.

The cost is just $1,125 per person double occupancy, and includes 5 nights at the Marriott Marco Island Resort. You can register (deposit) online at www.lcca-il.org/events .