Court project could be subject to project labor agreement
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County lawmakers are considering whether a project labor agreement would help keep costs down in converting part of the Business Resource Center into the county’s new Family Court.
A proposed study, estimated to cost $25,000, was discussed during Monday evening’s meeting of the county Legislature’s Government Efficiency and Review Committee.
“What PLAs (project labor agreements) are meant for is the building trades and where you have multiple prime [contractors] for coordination,” said Marc Rider, director of the county Purchasing Department.
Rider said the recommendation to study whether a project labor agreement would save money and time on the $10.8 million court project came from the construction manager.
“He did the analysis and said ... this is the kind of project that we believe is the scope and size and coordination where a PLA could potentially could save money for the county,” Rider said.
The court is moving from a building in Uptown Kingston to the Business Resource Center in the town of Ulster under a plan approved by county voters last November.
Project labor agreements are contracts that establish a labor organization as the collective bargaining representative for all people employed on a public works project. Under a PLA, the county would be obligated to employ only contractors and subcontractors who sign a prenegotiated agreement with the labor organization.
Under state law, municipalities and school districts must conduct a study that examines whether a project labor agreement would provide substantial savings.
Among the concerns voiced at Monday’s meeting was that even with a project labor agreement, construction of the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center in Kingston wound up costing more than twice as much as expected.
Some, though, said that project would have cost even more without the agreement.
“It was not the labor’s fault,” said Legislator John Parete, D-Boiceville. “It was the planning, the site; everything was squeezed into an area that wasn’t big enough for it.”
The committee agreed to put off a vote on the project labor agreement study for the Family Court work until it has an opportunity to review the construction manager’s recommendation.