Wert: Jail contracts to prevent illegal hires
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/new ... 26322.html
Wert: Jail contracts to prevent illegal hires
By David Benson, dbenson@nncogannett.com
News Journal
MANSFIELD -- Construction contracts for the new Richland County jail will prevent the hiring of illegal workers, the county commissioners said Thursday.
"I can flat guarantee that," said Commissioner Tim Wert, who is acting as the point man on the $16 million project.
"The very nature of the bid packages and contracts will ensure there will be no single contractor who can then subcontract part of it to someone with illegal workers."
That apparently happened last week at the site of the Wal-Mart supercenter under construction in Ontario, where a subcontractor employed a number of illegal Mexican laborers to lay concrete blocks. Four of them were detained by the Richland County Sheriff's office and subsequently turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
In addition to avoiding any problem with illegals, contracts will ensure maximum participation by local contractors.
"The work will be broken up into eight to 10 bid packages that aren't too big for local firms to handle. The whole idea is to get local folks to bid on it and get the work," Wert said.
The project is expected to include about $5 million for labor.
Commissioner Ed Olson said the contracts, which will be awarded this spring, also will assure work is done by qualified firms who will be responsible for meeting design specifications.
"We're not going to have a repeat of what happened when the new dog pound got built," he said.
In that instance the design called for a sloping floor but the contractor poured it flat, Olson said.
Wert, who has a background in construction, will meet with the design team and contractors every Friday.
Wert: Jail contracts to prevent illegal hires
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/new ... 26322.html
Wert: Jail contracts to prevent illegal hires
By David Benson, dbenson@nncogannett.com
News Journal
MANSFIELD -- Construction contracts for the new Richland County jail will prevent the hiring of illegal workers, the county commissioners said Thursday.
"I can flat guarantee that," said Commissioner Tim Wert, who is acting as the point man on the $16 million project.
"The very nature of the bid packages and contracts will ensure there will be no single contractor who can then subcontract part of it to someone with illegal workers."
That apparently happened last week at the site of the Wal-Mart supercenter under construction in Ontario, where a subcontractor employed a number of illegal Mexican laborers to lay concrete blocks. Four of them were detained by the Richland County Sheriff's office and subsequently turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
In addition to avoiding any problem with illegals, contracts will ensure maximum participation by local contractors.
"The work will be broken up into eight to 10 bid packages that aren't too big for local firms to handle. The whole idea is to get local folks to bid on it and get the work," Wert said.
The project is expected to include about $5 million for labor.
Commissioner Ed Olson said the contracts, which will be awarded this spring, also will assure work is done by qualified firms who will be responsible for meeting design specifications.
"We're not going to have a repeat of what happened when the new dog pound got built," he said.
In that instance the design called for a sloping floor but the contractor poured it flat, Olson said.
Wert, who has a background in construction, will meet with the design team and contractors every Friday.
