tony jeter dot com

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

I had a few people inquire as to why “Belton” is in red letters in the PDF from Workman Construction.  This is a good question. I changed the color for my benefit during of my analysis of the documents provided by both contractors. In the original document provided by the contractor Aspen Air was listed as a local contractor being from Temple. So I changed it to Belton after I caught the mistake. I instantly wondered whether this was an innocent or intentional mistake. Either way it definitely had an impact on my vote.

For those of you that are clueless as to what I am writing about click here to view my first post on a local preference issue we voted on last week.  Click here to read my second post on this topic.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

Tonight I voted, with the rest of the Council, NOT to award the construction contract for the Sammons Aquatics Center to the low bidder.  Instead, we voted to award the job to a Temple-based contractor whose bid was $40,000 higher.  My post last night really stirred the pot. I received considerable input from folks weighing in on both sides of the issue.  Tonight’s decision proved easier than I originally thought it would be due to fact that Cheney Cox is going to use considerably more local sub-contractors on the project than Workman would have. Had this not been the case I am not sure I would have voted the same way. So how do I know which subs were going to be used you ask? I requested that each contractor submit a list of their intended subs and suppliers.  Click here to view what each contractor provided.

The real issue is what happens next time? What if the non-local contractor is actually going to use more local subs and suppliers?  What happens if the local contractor just has small office and is not really based in Temple? What if the amount in question is $400,000 and not $40,000? BTW, how should we define local? There are a lot of businesses in Belton that were listed as subs in Workman’s list. People from Belton shop and eat out in Temple, they buy cars in Temple, they go to Temple doctors, etc. There is whole lot more to consider on this issue. I have requested a council workshop to further discuss this issue. We have some big projects on the horizon, namely a couple of fire stations. I think it would be prudent for us to have a plan in place on how we might deal with this situation if it were to arise again.

I’ve got a question for you. How much is a local business address worth?  This Thursday we will be voting on a local preference issue that pertains to the Sammons Aquatic Center.  The low bid of $1,553,183 came in from an Austin contractor. The second low bidder is located in Temple. Their bid exceeds the low bid amount by $40,373.00, which is 2.6% higher than the low bid. Both contractors have good reputations and are planning on using a lot of local sub-contractors. In the old days this was a cut and dry deal… we’d go with the low bidder.  But as with anything these days there is a wrinkle. The City of Temple has the ability to award the work to a local contractor if the bid is within 5% of the low bid through the local preference legislation adopted by the State of Texas and the City of Temple.  So back to my original question… Is having a local address worth a $40,000 premium.  Some people think so others don’t.  I look forward to a vigorous discussion at the Council meeting. Feel free to forward me any wisdom you would be willing to share. Click here to view the agenda item with all of the supporting documentation. It may take a few seconds more than usual to download this PDF due to its size.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.