fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Project labor agreement not a good deal for school district, analysis finds

by Crispin Kott
August 31, 2016
in Education, News
1
Paul Padalino. (Photo: Dan Barton)
Paul Padalino. (Photo: Dan Barton)

The Kingston school board has decided against a project labor agreement (PLA) for the $137.5 million “Second Century” Kingston High School renovation plan. An engineer’s study for the district found that limiting construction bids to union contractors could add between $4.73 million and $11.18 million to the project cost.

A little over a month after being hired to conduct a study of the viability of a PLA, consulting forensic engineer and Cornell professor Paul G. Carr said that potential savings in wages by eliminating non-union contractors from bidding on the project would be dwarfed by the likelihood of higher bids to cover the benefits for union workers, legal administrative costs and other fees.

The project, to be completed in two separate phases due to state aid constraints, could save between $191,539 and $632,227 in labor costs with a wage-setting agreement, Carr found. But Carr’s study concluded that increases of up to $3.02 million in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and plumbing would be likely for union contractors’ employee benefits. A further $2.98 million could be lost by eliminating competitive non-union bids. Carr also determined that delaying the work due to begin this summer at the Kate Walton Field House could result in a $191,773 loss.

Superintendent Paul Padalino said that Carr’s estimates were not a guarantee, but we rather based on the professional’s review of past projects of similar scope. “No one has a crystal ball,” Padalino said. “How do we know this? We don’t. [Carr] did his best to do the research and show the board data from past similar projects. But it really is hard to say.”

Initially, the school board opposed a PLA study, but reversed the decision last spring following numerous comments from local labor union members who disputed concerns that a limiting the construction bids would eliminate competition and drive costs up. Superintendent Padalino said he was withholding his recommendation until the study was complete.

“There’s a lot of talk and misunderstanding out there that we’re trying to avoid a PLA, or at least I am,” Padalino said back in April. “If the study comes back and says that they’re going to save us money, entering into a PLA would be my recommendation. If we can see real savings, I think my track record here looking at our financial situation, it’s proven that where we can find savings and we can find efficiencies, we do. We can guess and people can make statements, but by law we need a study to enter into [a PLA].”

This week, Padalino said he was pleased the study was completed in time to move forward with project work due to begin this summer. “One of my biggest concerns was just getting it done,” Padalino said. “We didn’t want to end up behind the eight-ball with bidding. The longer we would have had to wait, the possibility of an escalation was there. Prices don’t tend to go down. They go up.

“And really, the lost time of not being able to mobilize some of the construction crews over the summer, and do some of the asbestos abatement that we have to do in the summer because with students in the building during the school year we can’t do it then. Those were things that if we didn’t get them done this year, they would have been held until next year. Now we can move forward.”

School board Trustee James Shaughnessy was, however, skeptical of the report. Shaughnessy said he felt he knew what the outcome would be even before Carr’s June 4 presentation at a special meeting of the school board. “Dr. Carr put a lot of effort into his study,” Shaughnessy said. “However, it was designed from the start to produce a negative finding. As I predicted when we hired him, he concluded that a PLA would result in fewer bidders, and this would result in higher bid prices.

“This conclusion overwhelms any possible savings,” added the former school board president. “There are studies that don’t support his finding. Dr. Carr fails to consider the other factors may impact the number of bidders and deviation from estimates. The bidding history during Kingston’s Excel project from 2008 to 2010 supports the conclusion that the general economic environment has a significant impact on bidders — from a booming economy to the Great Recession in a span of two years.”

Padalino said he wasn’t playing favorites with the project. “As I’ve said from the start, it makes no difference to me who builds this building as long as it gets done the way we want it to for our students,” Padalino said.

Following Carr’s presentation, trustees voted to release Carr’s study to the public.

In March of this year, the capital project was reduced in scope from 420,000 square feet to 360,000 square feet, and the proposed date of completion was pushed back to 2023 from August 2018. School officials said the changes were necessary when a funding issue left them having to figure out how best to complete the renovation without exceeding the dollar amount approved by voters in December 2013.

Tags: James ShaughnessyKingston High School renovationPaul Padalino
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Crispin Kott

Crispin Kott was born in Chicago, raised in New York and has called everywhere from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Atlanta home. A music historian and failed drummer, he’s written for numerous print and online publications and has shared with his son Ian and daughter Marguerite a love of reading, writing and record collecting.

 Crispin Kott is the co-author of the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City (Globe Pequot Press, June 2018), the Little Book of Rock and Roll Wisdom (Lyons Press, October 2018), and the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area (Globe Pequot Press, May 2021).

Related Posts

21-year-old dies in fatal Thruway crash near Kingston
News

Fatal motorcycle accident in New Paltz near Thruway exit

May 29, 2025
Letter: New Paltz gun range poses “dire situation” for neighbors
Crime

Kingston shooter arrested after months-long investigation, police say

May 29, 2025
Two-alarm fire displaces five in Kingston
News

Two-alarm fire displaces five in Kingston

May 28, 2025
Quick Brown Fox Letterpress launches retail shop in Saugerties
Art & Music

Quick Brown Fox Letterpress launches retail shop in Saugerties

May 27, 2025
Ulster County DA’s office investigates complaints against Saugerties police officer Dion Johnson
Crime

Saugerties police arrest 14-year-old on several charges, including two felonies

May 27, 2025
Queens man in Saugerties catches 4 felony drug charges, 3 misdemeanors
Crime

Kingston woman assaulted 12-year-old, police say

May 27, 2025
Next Post

Juneteenth fest at New Progressive Baptist Church in Kingston

Please login to join discussion

Weather

Kingston, NY
57°
Partly Cloudy
5:22 am8:25 pm EDT
Feels like: 57°F
Wind: 2mph E
Humidity: 90%
Pressure: 29.76"Hg
UV index: 0
SatSunMon
66°F / 48°F
64°F / 46°F
75°F / 48°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing