TERRE HAUTE — The Terre Haute City Council tonight will be hearing the pros and cons of a proposed ordinance that would add new requirements for companies seeking city construction contracts.
The “responsible bidder” ordinance, favored by local labor union leaders, requires that contractors meet several requirements, including disclosure of payroll records and the names and addresses of subcontractors.
The ordinance, which applies to city contracts of at least $150,000, would also require that “all apprentices to be used on the project are registered with an apprenticeship and training program approved and registered with the United States Department of Labor.”
The five-page ordinance, introduced by the council last month, is a “weeding-out process to make sure the city gets responsible bidders,” said Todd Thacker, business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 725 in Terre Haute. The ordinance would guarantee that contractors use only highly qualified workers, he said.
“We think that [taxpayers] should get what they pay for,” he said.
Opponents of the proposed ordinance, including the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, say the ordinance will reduce competition and raise the city’s construction costs.
Some local contractors are going to see the new requirements and say, “We just can’t do this,” said Rod Henry, president of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce. “That will increase the city’s cost of doing business.”
The City Council will likely discuss the ordinance, which was tabled last month, at tonight’s 7 p.m. “sunshine” council meeting in City Hall. Labor and business leaders are expected to present cases for and against the ordinance.
Several Illinois cities, including East Peoria, Wilmington, Macoupin and Decatur, have recently passed responsible bidder ordinances. The Decatur ordinance was passed in April 2009 but then repealed in August by a new city council.
According to the City of Decatur Web site, opponents of that city’s ordinance – which applied to contracts of at least $25,000 – said it eliminated too many qualified bidders and increased the city’s construction costs. Supporters in Decatur said those problems could have been addressed by simply limiting the ordinance to contracts of more than $1 million.
So far, four Hoosier municipalities, including Bloomington, have recently passed responsible bidder ordinances, the IBEW’s Thacker said.
The “gist” of the ordinance simply gives local authorities the ability to enforce state labor laws, said Tom Szymanski, business representative of IBEW Local 725.
In the current economic climate, some contractors are violating state laws, he said. State authorities are not enforcing those laws, which gives an advantage to contractors willing to cut legal corners, Szymanski said.
“Some things are being overlooked at the state level,” Szymanski said. The ordinance would give local officials the authority to make sure “everybody is playing by the same rules.”
Bill Lower, president of the Terre Haute Board of Public Works and Safety – which awards city contracts – agrees that most of the proposed ordinance is covered by existing law. For example, the ordinance allows local officials to grant contracts based on things other than bid price, such as bidder reputation and past experience.
“The Board of Works already does that,” Lower said.
Lower is concerned, however, that the other parts of the ordinance would reduce the number of bidders for city contracts. Several years ago, a large wastewater utility project attracted the interest of 10 contractors, but only one actually submitted a bid, Lower recalled. When asked why they had not submitted bids, three contractors told city officials they felt Terre Haute had a reputation for placing barriers in the path of construction projects, he said.
Terre Haute has dramatically changed that reputation, Lower noted, adding, however, that he is concerned that passage of the responsible bidder ordinance might cause that reputation to return.
The council could vote on the proposed ordinance at next week’s regular meeting. A full text version of the ordinance, known as General Ordinance No. 2, 2010, is available on the City of Terre Haute Web site, www.terrehaute.in.gov.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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