Construction Projects

Rep. Andy Harris has introduced legislation to end the favored treatment union contractors receive on construction projects paid for by the federal government. The proposal, which in the past has been strongly supported by construction trade groups but opposed by labor, is a response to an executive order President Barack Obama signed early in his first term that required agencies to consider using project-labor agreements to set wages and site rules on federal construction projects.

The list is long enough to give contractors a stiff workout. There are roof repairs and resurfacing due for Georgetown East Elementary School and painting for George Fox Middle School. Mills-Parole Elementary will get tiles, carpet and terrazzo. Crofton Elementary is due for kitchen equipment and fire sprinklers. Those are just some of the more than two dozen projects that the Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved this week as consent items — they are funded, and the board has given its blessing for them to be awarded to contractors.

In the wake of a troubling audit, a legislative panel's decision to delay some construction projects at Morgan State University sends a proper warning for the school to get its house in order. A House of Delegates subcommittee voted unanimously to eliminate or restrict $6 million for various capital projects - actions that must still be approved by the full House and the Senate. Morgan officials complain that as a historically black institution, the university is being singled out for harsher treatment than other institutions that receive state dollars.

Ernest T. Davis, a retired construction project manager and a World War II B-24 pilot, died Feb. 13 of heart failure at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 92. The son of a civil engineer and a government worker, Ernest Theodore Davis was born in Bemis, Tenn., and later moved with his family to Washington. He was a graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and started engineering studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 1942, he enlisted in what was then the Army Air Corps, and after completing training as a B-24 Liberator pilot, was assigned to the 8th Air Force in England.

The public will have its first chance tonight to comment on next year's 40 proposed school construction projects, which have a price tag of $77 million in state and county money.The hearing, sponsored by the Board of Education, will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the school system's central offices on Riva Road in Annapolis. The school board meets on the first and third Wednesdays each month, but moved this week's meeting because of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah this Wednesday.Among the items the school board will be considering tonight is a proposal to seek the state's approval to plan a new Meade Area Middle School as well as the state's commitment to give construction money immediately.

When developers began construction on the Four Seasons hotel and condominium tower in Harbor East early last year, it was shaping up to be one of Baltimore's tallest buildings, at 43 stories. But earlier this year, the development team announced plans to complete only 18 stories, delaying condominium construction until the residential real estate market improves. That means the waterfront tower won't set a city height record any time soon. Elsewhere in Baltimore, projects representing a proposed investment of more than $1 billion have been postponed, scaled back or scrapped altogether.

The University of Maryland College Park has embarked on an ambitious series of construction projects, totaling more than $200 million, that administrators there say will transform the campus for years to come.From playing fields to plant science research to the performing arts, the university has pursued broad-based plans for several years that now are taking shape as the most visible construction push at College Park in decades."It's like Christmas, Hanukkah and all the holidays wrapped up into one," said Thomas A. Fretz, dean of the university's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

School officials statewide -- in the midst of the largest construction and repair campaign in recent history -- worry that fierce competition for reliable contractors may drive up costs and delay badly needed projects.Blessed by $257.5 million in state school construction money this year, school systems are putting up modern buildings and replacing everything from the pipes and wiring to the roofs on aging structures.But they've run into snags: In Anne Arundel County recently, officials found no takers when they put out bids for installation of a sprinkler system at South River High School.

The list is long enough to give contractors a stiff workout. There are roof repairs and resurfacing due for Georgetown East Elementary School and painting for George Fox Middle School. Mills-Parole Elementary will get tiles, carpet and terrazzo. Crofton Elementary is due for kitchen equipment and fire sprinklers. Those are just some of the more than two dozen projects that the Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved this week as consent items — they are funded, and the board has given its blessing for them to be awarded to contractors.

Highlights in Annapolis today:Senate Budget and Taxation Committee hearing on state construction projects. Noon. Room 100. Senate office building.House Appropriations Committee hearing on state construction projects. 1 p.m. Room 130. House office building.Senate meets. 8 p.m. Senate chamber.House of Delegates meets. 8 p.m. House chamber.Pub Date: 3/15/99

It's not much of a surprise that the Maryland State Highway Administration is again looking at making I-95 wider in Harford County from the Route 24 interchange south to the Baltimore County line and beyond. The state has dozens of projects in the long-term planning phase at any given moment and, depending on the politics of the moment, any such project can be jumped to the head of the line, or bumped back. The latest series of I-95 construction projects that have included major upgrades of the Route 24, White Marsh Boulevard and Baltimore Beltway interchanges, as well as the addition of extra lanes, was a low priority early in Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration, then it suddenly became a high priority and construction was begun.

Most of the Howard County public library's 184 employees would have the right to unionize and bargain for pay and benefits under a bill that has been endorsed by the county delegation to Annapolis. The legislation follows an unsuccessful attempt in the 2010 legislative session to pass a bill that would apply to all library employees in the state and is one of 17 county bills now before the Maryland General Assembly. Other county measures cover alcohol sales, charity casino nights, the county sheriff's salary and an array of bond bills for construction projects.

Rep. Andy Harris has introduced legislation to end the favored treatment union contractors receive on construction projects paid for by the federal government. The proposal, which in the past has been strongly supported by construction trade groups but opposed by labor, is a response to an executive order President Barack Obama signed early in his first term that required agencies to consider using project-labor agreements to set wages and site rules on federal construction projects.

Construction is beginning on a $72 million garden-style apartment complex on the grounds of Fort Meade. The 14-unit building is a first for the base and the Army, according to the developer, Picerne Military Housing. It will house more than 1,400 unmarried service men and women who are currently stationed at the base. The Army is developing the housing in a public-private partnership with Picerne. Known as Reece Crossings, the complex will boast 432 one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Recently, a group of elected officials who represent Baltimore's east side held a press conference calling for more inclusion of minority-owned firms and more jobs for their constituents through the $300 million in ongoing construction projects generated byEast Baltimore Development Inc.(EBDI). Surprisingly, they proposed to achieve their objective of increasing construction employment and inclusion by acting to "shut down" several construction projects. As president of the Maryland Minority Contractors Association and the owner of P&J Contracting in Baltimore, I share their desire to increase economic inclusion.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies and a chance of showers, with a high temperature near 81 degrees. Thursday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low temperature around 68 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... First black Naval Academy graduate dies : Wesley Brown started at the academy in 1945, after the first five black men to attend failed to complete their first year there.

A brief article Friday about a corruption case failed to note that the University of Maryland, Baltimore County alerted the attorney general's office after finding discrepancies in construction projects and cooperated in the resulting investigation.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will give the oil and gas industry two years to comply with a storm water regulation that goes into effect tomorrow, and it will consider granting the industry a permanent exemption. Environmental groups and environmentalists in Congress criticized this as granting special rights to a favored industry, at the risk of polluting the nation's rivers and lakes. The administration said it needs more time to determine the impact the rule would have on the industry and whether it should be applied to production and exploration for oil and gas. The rule orders builders and others whose construction projects cover anywhere from 1 acre to 5 acres to get the permission of state or federal officials before beginning the work.

State officials approved more than $161 million in school construction funding Wednesday that will allow school systems in the Baltimore area to undertake renovation projects, tackling problems that include sweltering and overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings and amenities. The Maryland Board of Public Works approved the last round of construction dollars being doled out to schools for fiscal year 2013. The state approved $187.5 million in funding in January, bringing the total amount for school construction projects to nearly $350 million, a more than $85 million increase from fiscal year 2012.