Awarding of bids for foundation of new JHS Gym on hold

December 02, 2011 – In a fax statement from Greater Jasper School Superintendent Dr. Jerrill Vandeventer, the awarding of the foundation bid that was set for Monday at 8 am has been cancelled upon recommendation of the architect.

School Corporation Attorney Art Nordhoff says that the reason is because the School and architect do not feel comfortable entering into a contract with unresolved pending litigation regarding the wage determination dispute over what prevailing wages will be paid to construction workers.

The wage determination committee meeting was held October 20th at 10 am in the Dubois County Courthouse Annex to fix wages for the building of the new gymnasium on the campus of Jasper High School. After prevailing wages were presented by Steve Wilson of AFL/CIO and Felisha Minnik from Associated Builders and Contractors, Minnik made a motion to accept wages submitted by Associated Builders and Contractors. The committee voted 3 to 1 to accept those wages but after the meeting, Kenny Overton, who represents labor union interests stated that he was not satisfied with the outcome and that there could be litigation due to the wages presented by Associated Builders and Contractors being voted as prevailing pay for the labor.

A restraining order has now been filed by Southwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council against the Greater Jasper Consolidated Schools and the Common Wage Committee over the wage information used to determine the pay rates for the work.

To further complicate matters, Judge William Weikert has recused himself from hearing arguments in the case, so another Judge will have to be chosen. On November 29th at 2pm, 10 bids were opened. The awarding of the bid for the foundation was scheduled for December 5th at 8 am. The initial bid is for phase 1 of the project, which is the foundation upon which the rest of the gym will be constructed. The highest bid was $1,434,045.00 while the lowest was $884,268.00.