Into every association, a little rain must fall. Our rain was the recent resignation of Mike Henderson. Personally, I would like to thank Mike for the many hours of dedicated service he has given to the association during the last 10 to 15 years. Unfortunately, we do not entirely control our own lives and sometimes we must make difficult choices that affect many others. Mike’s was a difficult decision, totally unrelated to health issues as rumor has it, that directly affects LCCA, but the Board of Directors and I are confident that Micky Day will step up and the transition will be seamless.

So why isn’t Micky writing this column? I gave her the month off to catch her breath, enjoy Daytona without a homework assignment and gather her thoughts. She will take over this column next month.

And LCCA will carry on business as usual. As we get closer to the primary this month, I see a change in LCCA’s attitude that will pay great benefits in the future. When I joined the association 10 years ago last month, I felt frustration from the members every time politics was mentioned. We complained about transportation, we complained about permits, we complained about many things that were a drag on construction and profits but threw up our hands when the source of the problem, government, was mentioned.

Since then, the leadership of LCCA has slowly come to the realization that without getting involved in who is elected; we have little to say about how the county or state is managed. In 2001 the LCCPAC was formed and the Government Affairs and LCCPAC Boards began looking closely at candidates to see just who would support transportation improvements, streamlining permit processes and many other issues important to contractors. Now we support these candidates financially and remind them of their commitments when the time is right.

Lyle Ehlers, Boller Construction, and Steve Dalbec, Jos. J. Henderson & Son, deserve special thanks for recognizing the potential to improve the industry and having the drive and dedication to make it happen. Change may be slow, but it is a given and the Rt. 120 Corridor Council and the special study completed last year by the county on permits are results that can be linked to our political involvement.

Graycor Blasting Co., Inc.

One Graycor Drive

Homewood, IL 60430

Phone: (708) 206-0500

Fax: (708) 206-0505

Contractor

Jeffrey E. Smith: Vice President

Precision Blasting

Sponsor: Graycor Industrial Constructors

Pecora Excavating Contractors, Inc.

P.O. Box 442

Wadsworth, IL 60083

Phone: (847) 856-1500

Fax: (847) 856-1520

Contractor

Matt Pecora: President

Site earthwork/excavating and demolition. Commercial and residential sites.

Sponsor: Gerry Dumalski, Boller Construction

The annual Membership Directory is at the printers and should be ready to mail in just a couple weeks. A special thanks to the advertisers who allowed us to add tabs and make it easier to use. Advertisers include:

• Air Con Refrigeration & Heating
• Becker Electric
• Boller Construction Co.
• Happ Builders
• Jack Frost Ironworks
• Lake County Building Trades
• LECET
• McCann Industries
• NorStates Bank
• Ogletree Deakins
• Ernie Peterson Plumbing
• Roughneck Concrete Drilling & Sawing
• TFW Surveying & Mapping
• Waukegan Roofing

Every member will be sent two copies. If you would like additional copies, just call Terry at the LCCA Office (847) 623-2345. A limited number of additional copies are available.

The Primary Elections are scheduled for March 21 and several key races deserve your attention. Last month we looked at the County Board Races. This month we turn our attention to State races. The state legislature holds the key to the bank for major transportation and education projects. They also can find hundreds of ways to complicate our lives and businesses. Having state legislators who understand business generally and construction specifically helps prevent bad legislation from passing.

LCCA’s Government Affairs Committee, chaired by Steve Dalbec, looked at the contested primary races at their committee meeting. While they did not make a recommendation in every contested race, they would recommend the candidates in BOLD for your consideration:

House District 52: (SW Lake County)

Mark Beaubien*, Republican

Denny Driscoll, Republican

House District 53: (Buffalo Grove)

Sid Mathias*, Republican

Scott Bludorn, Republican

Patrick Ludvigsen, Republican

House District 62: (Central Lake County)

Barb Oilschlager, Republican

Sandy Cole, Republican

* indicates the incumbent.

Each of the candidates that we are recommending for your support has shown an understanding of the needs of business and is committed to improving Lake County. We feel they are the best choice to move the county forward in a constructive way.

The proposed Rt. 120 bypass of Grayslake is one of the most talked about projects in Lake County. But talk does not build roads; money and determination build roads. The March Membership Meeting will explore how we are going to get from talk to construction.

To discuss the plan will be Bill Gentes, Mayor of Round Lake and Chairman of the recently convened Rt. 120 Corridor Council, and Tim Perry, Mayor of Grayslake and LCCA member.

There is movement in the right direction. Be sure and attend to find out just what is being done!

LCCA will return to Miller Park again for a Cubs-Brewers game on Friday, July 7. We have ordered 180 tickets again this year for the 7:05 start game. We will once again offer bus transportation from Lake County and are still working on food and beverage options.

As soon as the final package price is determined, we will get reservation forms out. But for now, mark July 7 on your calendar and plan to go. This is always a great night, rain or shine!

 The Lake County Building Trades have elected new officers and trustees for 2006. We congratulate the following union leaders:

President: Lynn Karner (Plumbers, Local 93)

Vice President: Kurt Anderson (IBEW, Local 150)

Secretary-Treasurer: Dennis Martin (Operating Engineers, Local 150)

Sergeant of Arms: Frank DiMarco (Machinery Movers, Local 136)

Trustees:

Dale Eldridge (Brick Masons, Local 20)

Scott Shultis (Laborers Local 152)

John Szech (OP & CMIA Local 11)

Several area contracts are scheduled to be renegotiated this year including:

• Boilermakers, Local 1
• Bricklayers, District Council 1
• Cement Masons, Local 11, 502 and 803
• Glaziers, Local 27
• Ironworkers, Local 1
• Ironworkers, Local 63
• Laborers District Council
• Plasterers, Local 11
• Plumbers-Pipefitters, Local 501
• Plumbers, Local 93

As we get closer to contract deadlines, LCCA will once again provide updates for Contractor Members to assist you in your planning.

Recently, all Contractor Members were sent a request to assign Bargaining Rights for the upcoming Laborers Negotiations. If you do not employ laborers, please disregard. If you do, however, there are some changes from past practices that you should note.

This year, you are being asked to only assign bargaining rights, and become signatory, to the agreements you work under. You have the opportunity to assign your rights for any or all of the seven agreements that MARBA negotiates with the Laborers District Council. In the past, if you assigned your bargaining rights, it covered all of the Laborers contracts.

MARBA recommends that you assign your rights only for those agreements that you actually use in your operations. As an example, if you work only under the Sewer and Tunnel agreement with Local 2, you should delegate your bargaining rights only for that agreement.  If you operate under more than one agreement, we recommend that you check off each such agreement.

The second difference in the attached form is that the delegation of bargaining authority remains in effect only until midnight, May 31, 2006. If an agreement is reached with the Laborers District Council prior to that time, you will automatically be covered by the terms of the new agreements that you have checked off on the form. If no agreement has been reached by May 31, 2006, then the bargaining delegation form ceases to have any force or effect.  In that circumstance you will be free to enter into your own agreement with the Laborers Union or you may decide to continue to authorize the LCCA and the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association as its bargaining agent to continue to represent you. In any case, you will control your own destiny after May 31.

LCCA was very busy last month as the Legislature heads towards an April 7 adjournment. ICIC hosted a legislative reception and Lyle Ehlers, Boller Construction and Steve Dalbec, Jos. J. Henderson & Son, joined Executive Vice President Gary Dowty in Springfield for the day. In the afternoon, we visited several legislators including Rep. JoAnne Osmond and Rep. Ed Sullivan to talk about our positions on the Truth in Employment, Prompt Pay and fixing the Prevailing Wage Act to eliminate the requirement to report start and stop times. In the evening several members of the Lake County delegation attended the ICIC reception including Sen. Terry Link, Sen. Adeline Geo-Karis, Sen. Bill Peterson, Rep. Kathy Ryg, Rep. Sid Mathais and Rep. JoAnn Osmond.

Truth in Employment – House Bill 5002 has passed the House Labor Committee by a 12-7 vote, was approved on Second Reading and is now awaiting final action in the House. While the bill is moving, the definition is still of great concern to us and ICIC. A meeting was held at the request of the AFL-CIO, and LCCA plus ICIC and several other groups participated. Nobody except ICIC had a recommendation for change and our suggestion that the New Mexico definition of Independent Contractor be included was finally accepted by Labor. Is this a perfect bill? No! But it is all we could get. Now it remains to be seen if the bill can pass. We will not help in its movement, but remain neutral.

Prompt Payment – House Bill 5260 was approved by the House State Government Administration Committee and passed the House by a 113-0 vote. This bill, that was written and pushed by AHEAD (a coalition of construction associations in Chicago including LCCA) will require State agencies to tell contractors why a payment request is deficient within 45 days. It also permits contractors to stop work if not paid. This might be a start, but it’s not much. AHEAD is planning to try to get more teeth in the bill in the Senate.

Prevailing Wage – HB 2108 was introduced to correct a problem created by the passage of a Prevailing Wage reform bill in the last session. This bill was introduced in the Veto Session last fall to eliminate the requirement that prevailing wage reports “include the starting and ending times for each employee.” It was approved by the House by a vote of 115-0. SB 2399 with similar language has passed the Senate 57-0 and is likely to be the bill that will pass. But to date, both bills remain in their chambers Rules Committee.

The LCCA Education Committee chaired by Tim Staples, Camosy, Inc.; has set the dates for two Education to Careers activities:

On April 11, we will be hosting an Apprentice Panel for the students enrolled in the High School Tech Campus Building Trades Program. We invite Apprentice Coordinators from all over the Chicagoland area to share with the students information about their trade, what the apprentice program is all about and how to get involved.

We have also set May 2 & 3 as the dates for the Career Expo at Lake County Fairgrounds. This annual event attracts 600 8th graders from all over Lake County for a look at what the construction trades are all about.

Steve Dalbec, Jos. J. Henderson & Son and chair of the Government Affairs Committee, is urging all LCCA members to join the Lake County Transportation Alliance (LCTA).

Transportation continues to be a major deterrent to an improved quality of life and economic development, and a financial drain on the bottom line of employers working in Lake County. The Lake County Transportation Alliance has been formed to take the issue in a new direction – and hopefully provide a better outcome than past efforts. Consensus is the key to unlocking a solution and LCTA will be the leader in achieving this consensus – and making sure the political leaders follow through.

You can help by joining LCTA! A copy of the Membership Application is available from the LCCA Office. Consider this an investment in Lake County’s (and your) future.

Congratulations to all members who won a 2005 Safety Award. This year’s applicants were judged against the national averages for Lost Workday Accidents both by size and by type of construction. This is a very good measure of just how well a company is doing in safety.

Below are the winners. Those in Bold either tied for the best record in the division with Zero Lost Workday Accidents, or were the best in the division. The remainder had Lost Workday Ratios better than the national average.

Special congratulations to the Safety Directors who are listed beside the company. Their hard work and dedication to a safe workplace is responsible for the excellent results.

Division I - Less than 20,000 hours

American Acoustics, Inc., Ken Hairrell

Green Mechanical, Inc., Todd Green

Illinois Architectural Glass & Aluminum, David Swarthout

Premium Concrete Cutting, Inc., Brian Mraz

Division II - 20,001 - 100,000 hours

Benson Electric, Inc., Howard Biederer

Car-Min Construction Co., Inc., Vince Carravetta

D. L. Franzen Construction, Deborah Freeman

DK Contractors, Inc., Micky Day

Ernie Peterson Plumbing, Inc., Ron Peterson

Jaymor Electric, Inc., Mary Barreca

John Keno & Company, Inc., John Vignocchi

Lakeland/Larsen Elevator Corporation, John Frecking

Lenny Hoffman Excavating, Inc., Larry Hoffman

Roughneck Concrete Drilling and Sawing, Karen Johnson

Stuckey Construction Co., Inc., Chad Nate

Becker Electrical Group, Jim Becker, Jr.

Glenbrook Excavating & Concrete, Inc., Terry Barnett

Manusos General Contracting, Inc., Jamie McKeown

MK Industries, Inc., Art Kopp

W.B. Olson, Inc., Luke Lukowicz

Division III - 100,001 - 500,000 hours

Diamond Unlimited, Inc., Renee Willis

Greg Greenhill Construction Co., Rusty Welch

Joseph J. Henderson & Son, Inc., Dave Henderson

Pickus Construction & Equipment Co., Inc., Rob Schiller

Ragnar Benson, Inc., Loren Whitney

Alliance Contractors, Inc., Mike Paulson

Althoff Industries, Inc., Stacia Hahn

Bane-Nelson, Inc., Scott Nelson

Berger Excavating Contractors, Inc., Julie Berger

International Decorators, Inc., Peter Graham

Martin Petersen Company, Inc., Derrick Person

Mechanical, Inc., Joe O’Tool

Midwest Masonry, Inc., Frank Dziadus

Plaza Excavating Contractors, Rich Soda

Riley Construction Company, Inc., Mark Toepfer

Thatcher Engineering Corporation, David Cooper

Thelen Sand & Gravel, Inc., Chad Broege

Division IV - Over - 500,000 hours

Aldridge Electric, Inc. , O’Brien Mills

Ahern Fire Protection, Bruce Goranson

Continental Electrical Construction Co., Tom King

Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc., Jack Carlson

Kelso-Burnett Company, Cathy Kay

Turner Construction Company, Michael Blackburn